Dmitry Muratov. Biography and journalistic activity

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

Novaya Gazeta covers the dark side of Russian reality. The publication was founded by a group of journalists in 1993. The newspaper denounces corruption, human rights violations and corporate crimes. Even now, when many topics have become taboo, Novaya remains an outpost of free speech in Russia. Open threats were repeatedly made against the editorial office. But the team continues to work. Including the editor-in-chief of the publication - Dmitry Muratov.

Biography of the chief editor

Dmitry Andreevich was born in the city of Kuibyshev (now Samara) on October 30, 1961. At school I dreamed of becoming a photographer. I walked around the stadiums, took pictures. It was then that I decided on the choice of profession. But the city university did not have a faculty of journalism, so I entered the philological one.

Muratov says he was lucky that he got "not in his speci alty" because they had amazing teachers. During his studies, he worked at the plant as a transport worker and in the regional youth newspaper Volzhsky Komsomolets.

In 1983, after graduating from university, ingot the same newspaper by distribution, traveled around the country and wrote about construction teams. I wanted to continue working there. But the party committee decided that the young journalist should work in the party newspaper, where Muratov did not want to go. In case of refusal, he had to go to the army. And he chose the second option. According to him, at that time he was already married, he had a student wedding. His wife supported him. The journalist does not particularly cover his personal life. Only once the family of Dmitry Muratov was mentioned in the press - in 1997, when he said that his daughter wanted to become an architect, and he would like to see her as a lawyer.

So, in 1983, Dmitry joined the ranks of the Soviet Army. When he returned from service in 1985, perestroika began in the country. At first, he worked all in the same "Volzhsky Komsomolets". Soon Dmitry was offered to become a correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda in Kuibyshev. On the same day, the editor of the Komsomolskaya Pravda department called him and warned that Muratov did not agree to be a staff correspondent. Soon, without a single day of work in the newspaper, Dmitry Muratov became the head of the department at KP. And he went with his family immediately to Moscow.

Years of work at KP Muratov remembers warmly: there was a great team that made sure that the newspaper was read from the front page. The circulation of Komsomolskaya Pravda reached 22 million. In 1992, a conflict broke out in the team: one part of the journalists believed that the newspaper should remain independent of the authorities, others that the publication should bring money. The dialogue did not work out, and the journalists who disagreed with the policy of the editorial office left the newspaper and registered the LLP"6th floor". Muratov was among them.

New newspaper - new editor?

In 1993, the partnership established the Novaya Daily Newspaper, where Dmitry Muratov worked as deputy editor. At first they huddled in the building of the Moscow Bulletin. They hoped that some of their readers would be “taken away” with them. But this did not happen - they sold the newspaper themselves, offered it at kiosks, handed it out near the metro.

In 1994-1995 he was in Chechnya as a special correspondent. When I returned from a business trip, it turned out that the newspaper was not published at all. Since August 1995, its release has resumed, but it has become a weekly. The word "daily" in the title began to interfere, the publication was renamed Novaya Gazeta. Muratov was elected editor-in-chief at the general meeting. Since then, he has been doing this.

What is it like to be a journalist?

MS Gorbachev helped restore the newspaper. I found sponsors, they helped pay off part of the debt. During his work as editor-in-chief, Muratov repeatedly found a way out of difficult situations, even when it seemed that there was no way out. In the entire history of the existence of "Novaya" there was no help from the state. At times they were kept only on enthusiasm. This is the main quality of the team.

In 1996, the circulation of the newspaper grew to 120,000. From the very beginning, Novaya had a direction - investigation. Decency of business or corruption schemes, abuse of position or honesty of power - it was all in the newspaper. After the tragic death of journalist A. Politkovskaya, the editor-in-chief gathered allto an urgent meeting, where he said that he wanted to close the newspaper, because no profession is worth dying for. Nobody supported him.

Muratov says that their team is wonderful. Nobody needs to be motivated. Professionalism, honesty, impartiality, accuracy, perseverance and empathy - these traits are inherent in all members of the team. They take risks, but carefully check the information. The trust of readers is important to them.

Muratov's name was repeatedly mentioned in the press. He published both as the author of the materials and as the editor-in-chief. Dmitry Muratov was mentioned in reports about the tragic death of Novaya journalists. He connects the incident with the professional activities of employees.

In 1997, Muratov hosted the "Press Club" program on ORTV, from 1998 to 1999 he was the host of the "Court is coming" program on NTV. Collaborated with the Scandals of the Week program on the TV-6 Moscow channel.

Community activities

Muratov is one of the founders of the Free Choice Committee. He was among those who applied to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with a statement about the cancellation of the results of the elections to the State Duma, which took place in 2003. According to the applicants, the procedure for disseminating information was violated, which led to a distortion of the results. The actions of the applicants did not bring results. Muratov left the committee in 2008.

Since 2004, Muratov has been a member of the Yabloko Democratic Party. In 2011 he entered the electoral list of the party.

Dmitry Muratov was a member of the Public Council under the Central Internal Affairs DirectorateMoscow, but in 2011 he publicly announced the suspension of activities. His entry into the organization was prompted by the opportunity to receive those who were deceived or offended by law enforcement agencies. Muratov perceived his work in the Council as a continuation of his journalistic activities. After the events of 2011 on Triumfalnaya Square, when the organizers of the rally were detained and arrested, Muratov said that it was a shame for the country, and in January 2012 he resigned from the Council.

New Media

In 2006, M. Gorbachev and businessman A. Lebedev became co-owners of Novaya Gazeta: 10% of the shares went to the first, 39% - to the second, 51% went to the staff of the publication. The co-owners promised that they would not interfere in the politics of the magazine. In addition, they offered Muratov to create a holding, which would include several newspapers, radio stations, social services, and Internet resources. In 2008, the New Media holding was established.

Proofs and rebuttals

In 2003, after the publication of the article “The Kursk Case” in Novaya Gazeta, the Ministry of Defense filed a lawsuit. The experts on whom the editors relied proved that the submariners did not die immediately, but lived for several days. The court's decision was not in favor of the Defense Ministry, which defended its admirals.

In 2003, a hearing was held with the Prosecutor General's Office in the Basmanny Court, where the deputy prosecutor addressed with a statement that the publication of Novaya Gazeta dated August 18 "The Looping Vector of the Prosecutor General's Office" contained words discrediting his reputation, and asked to recover from the editorial office 10 million rubles ascompensation for non-pecuniary damage. The court ordered the editorial office to pay a fine of 600,000 rubles and publish a refutation.

In 2008, after the scandalous admission of R. Kadyrov to the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Muratov, among many well-known journalists, openly protested and announced his intention to leave the Union. In March of the same year, the secretariat of the Union canceled its decision to accept Kadyrov as a member of the organization. The refusal was motivated by the fact that it is contrary to the charter, since not a single evidence of Kadyrov's journalistic activities was found.

In 2009, Kadyrov filed a statement to initiate proceedings against journalists from Novaya Gazeta and personally against Muratov. He called slander a number of publications of the publication in which he was accused of involvement in crimes. These were the articles “There is no fear”, “Hunting for languages”, “Markelov’s last case”, “Mukhavat Salah Masaev”, “The name of Russia is death” and the publication “Viennese murder”, dedicated to the results of the investigation into the murder of U. Israilov.

In 2010, Kadyrov's representative and Novaya's lawyer in the Basmanny Court abandoned the settlement agreement. In February of the same year, it was refused to initiate a case on Kadyrov's application. He himself withdrew several lawsuits: against O. Orlov, the head of Memorial; to L. Alekseeva, head of the human rights organization MHG; to Novaya Gazeta and its chief editor.

Awards and prizes

Muratov Dmitry Andreevich was awarded the Order of Honor and the Order of Friendship. In 2007, he was awarded the Henry Nannen Prize, which is awarded to the best journalists of periodicals. For his citizenship and contribution to the development of journalism, he received the award of the Stalker International Festival. In 2013, for defending freedom of speech, Muratov was awarded the highest state award of Estonia - the Order of the Cross of Maryamaa.