New Newspaper Publisher Mikhail Gorbachev: “There Is No Going Back To The Past. Of That I Am Sure”

Philip Stone in Moscow June 7, 2006

One sure way of telling who the heroes are is to see how many people adoringly crowd around a speaker after he has given an audience an hour of his time. Based on the reception Mikhail Gorbachev received from the Russian and foreign media after a speech and a Q and A Wednesday it’s fairly obvious that the last President of the Soviet Union is indeed a hero in Mother Russia today.

Gorbachev, reminded his luncheon audience at the World Editors Forum luncheon that he is 75, he has just published his latest book “Understanding Perestroika” (which he pushed at least three times during the hour – a little western marketing savvy there!) that he probably has another 10 years to go before he retires for good and then he writes his “main book”.

And at the end of his presentation he said he had a special announcement to make and he thought this was as good an audience as any to break the news -- he has bought a major shareholding in the Novaya Gazeta newspaper that has sometimes been very critical of the government, especially its Chechnaya policies, although Gorbachev said he personally agrees with the government’s policy there.

Gorbachev has a long history with the newspaper – he helped finance it in 1993 out of his Nobel Peace Prize money that he won in 1990. He is joining with Alexander Lebedev, a billionaire Member of Parliament to buy 49% of the newspaper’s shares. The shares are being sold the newspaper’s staff and they maintain a 51% shareholding.

Gorbachev said that Lebedev did not want to announce the price of the investment. It is thought in Moscow that most, if not all of the money, will come from Lebedev and Gorbachev’s main purpose for being there is to act as a buffer against any possible Kremlin pressure on the paper.

Lebedev is a leading member of the United Russia Party controlled by the Kremlin, so this sale is also seen as yet another in which the Kremlin gains some influence over an independent media, although its editors are saying their editorial line is not about to change and for now, at least, they still have the controlling shares.. As for Gorbachev’s buffer role, he became head of the independent NTV television public council in 2000 with the job of ensuring the television station’s independence, but the next year it was sold to energy giant Gazprom in which the government holds the controlling shares.

Gorbachev said: "The paper should retain its editorial policy, but should also secure a pluralism of opinion and express the public opinion of Russia. We as shareholders promise not to use the publication for our own commercial purposes."

Novaya Gazeta used to be a daily but has been in financial crisis for some time, reducing its publication to twice weekly. It has a circulation of around 550,000. Gorbachev said he wants to protect our paper's independence, and that the newspaper will appear in new format in January. Whether that means in color, tabloid, or a different political line he didn’t say.

On the subject of a lack of freedom of the Russian press, there seems to be very little daylight between what the Putin government has been saying all week to calls by some 1700 editors and publishers in Moscow for the World Association of Newspapers congress for the government to promote more freedoms and what Gorbachev had to say on the issue – that the media is in transformation and needs to be given time. Gorbachev made quite clear in his comments that he is a full supporter of President Vladimir Putin, in fact on every subject he seemed to be saying that Putin has got it right.

On press freedom he tried to put things in perspective. “If you take today and compare it to 20 years back, it is like the earth and the sky.” He said there are, for instance, so many magazines covering every walk of life and we are moving on with history. There is no going back to the past. That I am sure of. Already we have a new generation that knows no other way. We will not go back.”

He said the Russian press is in a period of transition. (Transition, incidentally seems to be a Russian government code word for “not very good and needs all the help it can get from the state.”)

He reminded his audience that under the Soviet Union the media was a monopoly owned and strictly controlled by the state. Once the Soviets were gone the oligarchy came in, controlling the media for its own purposes. “I cannot agree with that kind of approach,” he said. Now most of the oligarchy ownership has been replaced by commercial interest, most of which are state entities or at least favorable to the state, and Gorbachev said it is all part of the transition process.

At times he sounded like Putin’s campaign manager (although Putin’s second and last term is up in 2008 he joked recently when asked what he would then do and he said perhaps he would start an opposition party.) “Putin stabilized the country and he stopped its disintegration. People support the President at least to the level of 50% and perhaps up to 70%. And now is a period of great transformation,” Gorbachev declared.

He is not shy in accepting that his Glastnost policy was the main vehicle that changed the Soviet Union into the Russian Federation and the Russians are thankful for that. One Russian journalist started her question by thanking him profusely for Glasnost. He acknowledges there are those who at the time objected to Glasnost, including writer and dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who, according to Gorbachev, complained that “Glasnost spoiled everything.”

“Without Glasnost Solzhenitsyn would not be in Vermont today cutting wood. That in a nutshell is what Glasnost is all about,” Gorbachev declared.

Switching to Russia’s place in the world today he was quite adamant that Russia must be treated as an equal partner with other major powers.

“Russia cannot be a small partner of the West,” he declared. He believes Russia is getting stronger by the day. People believe we have an optimistic approach going forward and we will become stronger. But do not worry, Russia is not going to become an empire.”

And with a not-so-subtle dig at the US Administration he quipped, “We cannot agree with those who want to demand of us, rather than seek our equal support. There is no room for a sheriff! We must all find common grounds.”

He may be semi-retired he still seems active in the diplomatic arena. Giving very few details he said he met this week with the Iranian ambassador to Russia. He said the Iranians are nervous about a possible Western attack because of the nuclear issue and they say all they really want is just want to live in peace.

It was obvious he was having a good time talking on a variety of subjects and he was in his element on the world stage – or at least in this case a stage before international media.  He seems content with his place in history and seems to believe that Russia now is in good hands as it moves forward.

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