Russian editor out over news coverage of school standoff

By MARIA DANILOVA
The Associated Press

Raf Shakirov blamed firing on Russian media policy.

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The editor, Raf Shakirov, said in an interview with Radio Liberty he had published a sensational photo spread of victims in Saturday's edition, the day after hundreds died in the siege, to convey "this is a war."

"The leadership of Prof-Media (Izvestia's publisher) and I disagreed on the format of this issue. It is considered too emotional and poster-like, and in general papers aren't made like that," Shakirov said, according to an interview transcript published on the Web site www.newsru.com

"We did it ... proceeding from our perception of what this means for the country. And actually this perception proved to be right — that this is a war," Shakirov said.

Prof-Media declined to comment on Shakirov's exit. Izvestia posted a brief news report about Shakirov's resignation on its Web site.

Some have criticized the government for initially trying to ward off public anger over the school crisis by seeking to downplay its extent — including by avoiding graphic images. Other newspapers have shown gruesome photos of the violence that ended the standoff, but Izvestia is one of Russia's most prominent papers. Government television held off from showing any strong images until late.

Izvestia published some of the most thorough and probing accounts of the crisis. In yesterday's edition — apparently the last under the leadership of Shakirov — Izvestia raised questions about the official version of how the crisis came to such a bloody end, which stressed that authorities had no plans to storm the school and that the final confrontation was triggered by unexplained explosions inside the building.

Izvestia reported that its correspondents and a rescue worker said the final clash began with shooting, possibly from outside, rather than with an explosion inside the building.

Analysts have speculated that in the aftermath of the tragedy, the state would strengthen control over society and the media, and that Shakirov's exit seemed to be one of the first steps.

"I think the sacking of Raf Shakirov was a public execution of an independently thinking journalist who tried to lead the public away from the fog of official lies," said Oleg Panfilov, director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, a Russian group that advocates media freedom. "The authorities did this with brazen arrogance."

"This very emotional and harsh coverage ran counter to someone in the authorities, and the shareholders were asked to take measures," said Anna Kachkayeva, a TV analyst for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
 
Masha Lipman, an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment's Moscow Center, said it was still unclear, however, whether Shakirov's exit was a move "by a fearful owner or [whether] it is the new state policy."

Izvestia is one of Russia's largest daily newspapers, with a circulation of 234,500. Its publisher, Prof-Media, is owned by metals magnate Vladimir Potanin.

Shakirov, 44, was named Izvestia's chief editor in October. He is widely respected for his journalistic and managerial skills.

He said yesterday that the restrictive media policy reflected in his firing "will eventually result in the president getting more and more one-sided information, and hence making more and more mistakes in the future."

"I was sacked for the Saturday issue," Shakirov said. "The explanation boiled down to the idea that we overreacted to the Beslan events and presented the news in such a light as if the country were at war."

Shakirov acknowledged that the Saturday paper, which contained numerous extremely large photographs of the injured, was "partly motivated by emotions."