Report ENG Body

8/2/2019 Report ENG Body

1/36

[Not Quite Samizdat]

2007

A look at the Russian blogosphereA special report from the Moscow ofce of Mmd

I myself create it, edit it,

censor it, publish it, distribute it,

and may get imprisoned for it

Vladimir Bukovski

Soviet disident, Samizdat author and human rights activist


2/36

2007 Mmd Corporate Public Affairs and Public Relations Consultants. Published by the Foreign Representative

Ofce of Mmd Public Relations (Cyprus) Limited. All rights reserved. No responsibility is accepted for the content of

any third party website material referred to in this document: always consume the Internet responsibly. This report is

based on telephone and email interviews with Russian journalists, online research and our virtual, media focus group.

Created, design and cover design by Global Media Line

Written by:

Arseniy Rastorguev, edited by Stephen Lock.

Research by:

Alex Cherny, Elmira Basharova, Irina Molkova,

Ekaterina Kotlyar, Ekaterina Yazykova.


3/36

LETTER FROM STEPHEN LOCK: NOT QUITE SAMIZDAT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYINTRODUCTIONDenitionOverviewWhy do we read blogsBLOGGING IN RUSSIA

Focus around one blog-hosting platformBlogger proleNumbers and gures

JOURNALISTS AND BLOGGINGResearch toolAlternative publishing platformNetworking tool

Trust issues

PR PROFESSIONALS AND BLOGGINGMonitoringCampaigningNetworking

CASESArutunyan case

Ivannikova caseCharity

DOs AND DONTsDosDonts

OUR BLOGROLL

Contents

...............4

.........................................................................5

......................................................................................9....................................................................................................9...................................................................................................10

...............................................................................11

.........................................................................13

..................................................13..........................................................................................14

.................................................................................15

.........................................................18............................................................................................19

................................................................20........................................................................................21

................................................................................................22

..............................................24................................................................................................24

.............................................................................................25...............................................................................................26

......................................................................................................27..........................................................................................27

.........................................................................................28.......................................................................................................30

...................................................................................32...........................................................................................................32

........................................................................................................33

....................................................................................34


4/36

Welcome to our report on the Russian blogosphere, Not Quite Samizdat. I hope you enjoy it, wecertainly have enjoyed putting it together.

Of the now fourteen years I have spent in international public affairs and nancial communications,

now entering the fourth based in Moscow, no communications phenomenon has caught my imagination

more than blogs. I am a self-confessed blog addict. Whereas once I used to end my day in bed with a

book, now its a lap-top perched precariously on my knees, catching up on my favorite blogs. As well

as the blogs I read for the pleasure of it, I regularly read

http://foreignnotes.blogspot.com/ for the latest in the Italianate soap-opera that is Ukrainian politics,

the acerbic http://russtech.blogspot.com/ for the latest views on Russian business and economics and

http://rusenergy.blogspot.com/keeps me up-to-speed with events in the global world of big oil.

I have even, in less hectic times, been an ardent blogger myself. In the information-drenched world in

which we live today, the blogosphere provides us news that suits our own agendas and preferences,gossip and infotainment and even glimpses of enlightenment.

With this enthusiasm then, it seemed natural to ask my colleagues what their opinions were of the

Russian blogosphere. Indeed, how relevant or healthily growing was it? I was delighted to hear that the

Russian blogosphere is strident, vital and highly inuential, in ways specic to Russia.

In so many ways, Russians are the ultimate early adopters and early adorers of new technology. The

fast growth and rich depth of the Russian blogosphere is proof-positive of this. Blogs are political, they

are awkward, they are vibrant, they are occasionally silly but they are, almost all of them, the social

litmus paper of the world in which we live. They are - if you know how to appraise them - the ultimate

focus group.


5/36


6/36

Today there are a lot of changes going

on in the Russian blogosphere: rapid

growth, standalone blogs becoming a morewidespread phenomenon, controversy

services for Cyrillic LiveJournal.com users

licensed to Russian start-up company SUP,

the buzz around various ways of earning via

blogs. And last but not least - the ongoing

attempts to use blogs as a PR tool.

The Russian blogosphere is closely

interwoven with the media, with prominent

journalists being authors of popular blogs,

discussions of published articles happening

across the blogs and the blogosphere in

general serving as an infrastructure for

intensive networking.

Trust remains a highly controversial matter

in the blogosphere. On the one hand, theblogosphere is a perfect environment for

rumours and has many times served as such,

helping to disseminate false or distorted

information. Moreover, unlike newswires or

press, blogs often cannot be efciently sued

for inaccurate reporting. On the other hand,

with a stronger link between the author and

the reader, under certain circumstances blogscan be regarded as far more trustworthy

sources than any traditional media. This is

especially true with political issues, given

the deep rooted distrust between various

political camps and the government in


7/36

@ look at the Russian blogosphere

Russia.

While blogs help to improve thecommunication across different political

groups, they still remain highly partisan and

value-driven.

PR professionals seem to be well aware

of the opportunities offered by blogs, but

proactive work with the blogosphere remains

a quite exotic activity in Russia. Several

successful cases can be found (and some are

described in our report), but generally PR

managers and consultants tend to observe

the blogosphere and network with colleagues

and their media contacts through it rather

than launch campaigns within it.

While we believe there is room for more

decisive action on the part of our colleagues,it seems that the rule of a thumb in dealing

with the blogosphere is to think twice and

be careful: negative information or opinions

have a far greater potential to spread around

the web and grasp the attention of bloggers.

We looked closely at three cases to

illustrate the most important features of

the Russian blogosphere in this report. TheArutunyan Case shows how the Russian

blogosphere operates as an afterparty

area for the journalist community - a place

where they discuss things that do not t

in the pages of their publications. The

6|7


8/36

Ivannikova Case discusses the impact that

the blogosphere had on the fate of AlexandraIvannikova, charged with murder and set

free after a massive campaign. And the

Charity Case studies how the blogosphere

facilitates charity activities.

The Russian blogosphere is a complicated

social mechanism that involves intense

emotions, hard thinking and a complicated

maze of interpersonal and inter-group

relations. Some of these merely reect

ofine life, others are 100% online, which

doesnt make them any less true or strong.

For anyone dealing with communications

and media, ignoring the blogosphere

becomes less and less of an option. It is an

environment that offers great opportunitiesbut also great risks and one should have a

very clear idea of where he or she wants to

go and a strong determination to embrace

the rules and traditions of this world in order

to achieve anything in it.


9/36


INTRODUCTIONBlogging is one of those trends in

public communication that makes

PR consultants and managers

shiver both with excitement and

with fear. It provides us with new

communications tools but also

presents potential threats to a more

conservative, control-freak styleof managing communications.

Now ubiquitous in the West, the

Russian blogosphere has reached

a point where it is possible to

speak about its distinctive features

and trends of development.

In this respect, Russia is still

largely ahead of the rest of the

CIS although blogs for those

countries do exist but blogging

in Russia is about to become

huge. The year 2007, it is said,

will be the year of the Russian

blog. Particularly as 2007 is the

year we expect President Putin to

nominate his preferred successor

and we will see plans laid out

for his (or indeed her!) landslide

victory in 2008. Most Russian

bloggers were born well after

the generation made famous by

Soviet-era Samizdat; yet, perhaps

unknowingly, the rich and vibrant

Russian blogosphere draws on the

deep literary traditions of Russia,

to which Samizdat belong

DenitionA blog, or its full name web log,

is typically a website structured

as a diary - a series of articles or

records (post) sorted in reverse

chronological order, written

by one author (sometimes a

group of writers), often offering

opportunities for comments.

This denition outlines the key

formal characteristics of a blog

but hardly grasps its nature. Blogs

are regarded as a revolution in the

web mostly due to their social

features, however simple-to-usepublishing tools (site engines and

blog-hosting services) played

an important role. Being easy to

edit and publish, blogs present

an opportunity for any of us to

become an editor-in-chief of ones

own news bulletin and publish

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Samizdat

8|9


10/36

our view of current events and

related hopes, fears, aspirationsand concerns, while blog-

aggregators and social services

like Digg.com, Del.icio.us (or their

Russian versions like Mazoo.net

or Habrahabr.ru) help creators of

interesting content in ghting for

recognition with already popular

bloggers and traditional online

media.

OverviewThe social aspects of blogging

can be discussed in a very lengthy

manner, however there are

several key points that should be

highlighted and present majorinterest:

1. Blogs are built around their

author. Sometimes the author is the

only thing that actually binds the

blog together, sometimes a blog

has a subject matter but its purpose

is still to present its authors

position or opinion.

2. Blogs are almost always a

part of an intensive cross-linking

network. Since blogs are one of the

rst publishing formats that were

actually born in hypertext web,

it is a kind of etiquette to publish

posts that are rich with references

to other resources on the web.

Indeed, if you truly want to know,

see and understand the DNA of

viral marketing, this cross-

connected, hypertextual world is it.

In fact, many popular blogs are, forthe most part. collections of links

to other blogs and websites with

or without the authors comments.

Even when posts are standalone

texts with few outside links, blogs

exist in a space where quotation

index and trackbacks are the

major asset (or social capital),

so a blogroll (list of recommended

blogs) is almost a must.While limited only by the language

used by the blog itself, it unites a

collective of individuals globally

in the way no other communication

medium or community can.

3. Blogging is both a way

of publishing and a way of

communication. Blogs are

Social Capital MarketsIn the US, this social capital, as bets the home of

capitalism, has attracted a process of valuation: the

fantasy blog stock market at http://www.blogshares.com

Not surprisingly, in the US bloggers have sought to make

money out of their social capital, as demonstrated by the

ads for blogs offered by Google and the resource site,

www.pro-blogger.com.

In Russia, the preferred early adoption of LiveJournal

with its groups of inter-linked networks has expandedthis social capital and created surprisingly strong virtual

communities (that often manage to coordinate non-virtual

activities).

Rumours that Russian bloggers on LiveJournal will have

an opportunity to cash in their popularity have been

circulating around the web since the deal between Six

Apart and SUP was signed, but we have yet to see that

happen. In the meantime, some bloggers started offering

services to boost the popularity of other blogs on a paid

for basis.


11/36


magazines of one editor (or

sometimes, occasionally, a smallcollective of editors), but they

would hardly have become

the Big Thing on the web that

they have had they not been

a communication platform.

Linking, tagging, comments

and blog-hosting services create

an environment for the exchange

of ideas that is not available

in the conventional media in

Russia, while the core of blogging

posting ones daily thoughts

represents public content that is

missing in other communications

means.

Why do we read blogsThe rise of blogging as a means of

information distribution is driven

by four key factors:

1. Need for more topical

information. We are ooded by

news and nd comfort in focusing

on a small number of topics that

are most interesting for us. We are

lost in uncertainty and nd comfort

in relying on a collective rating of

news as trustworthy or not; one

that reects our own priorities and

prejudices.

2. Need for opinion. Conventional

media is governed by strict

impartiality principles (or so it

claims, perhaps less so in Russia

than elsewhere) and offers us

information that is bleached of

any subjective or value-driven

evaluation. However, we often feel

iReportsThis mirrors, forinstance the i-

reports phenomenon

on CNN, and its

equivalent on BBC

News online, where

traditional media

outlets scramble to

embrace the eye-

witness and passer-

by reportage oftheir readers caught

up in news events.

Blogs can and do

take this citizen

journalism one step

further: a collective

of self-edited eye-

witness reports and

op-ed.

10|11


12/36

that professional journalists have

well-mastered the art of imposingeditors opinion on the audience

without violating the formal rules

of engagement. Globally, we

think this particularly accounts

for consumers turning to sources

that usually have informed bias

and do not let their opinion drown

in attempts to observe the rules.

In other words, we feel more

condent in media and blogs we

know to be biased, than ones that

claim not to be, but often are.

3. Need for rst-hand information.

Oddly enough blogs are also often

seen as more reliable sources of

facts, preferred over newswires.

Readers suspect a hidden agenda

behind journalists work, or in the

Russian context, the agenda of the

media owners, and wish to receive

information from the witnesses ofthe actual events. As the density

of bloggers increases, we get

higher chances of any major events

being covered by independent

bloggers.

4. Need for self-expression. We

seek opportunities to speak up and

share our beliefs, hopes and critical

notes with others. Traditional

media leave very little space for

dilettantes (in fact, letters to

the editor is the only option),

traditional web-mastering tools

are either too complicated or too

poor in features (often both) and

eventually leave you with your

carefully crafted homepage out

there without readership or live

feedback. While blogs did a great

job to solve the technical problemof publishing, they did an even

greater job in bringing a certain

level of legitimacy to an ordinary

persons urge for self-expression.

With blogs it is no longer too

weird or too presumptuous for

anyone to be a publisher of

ones own newspaper. As a cross

between a private journal or diary

and a public bulletin, blogs make

the entry to the world of mediasmooth and easy.


13/36


A common conclusion in Western

studies of the blogosphere is that

blogging has become a way of

giving ordinary people their 15

minutes of fame. This is true of

the Russian blogosphere as well;

however there are certain specics

that should be highlighted.

Focus around one

blog-hosting platformBlogging started in Russia with

the LiveJournal.com service

around 2001 and it remains the

core of the Russian blogosphere

(as opposed to the West where

Googles Blogger/Blogspot service

predominates and a far larger

proportion of blogs are hostedindependently). LiveJournal.

com provided an easy publishing

engine which was free to use

and featured great networking

opportunities. It was very

convenient to create a friends

list - a stream of posts from

every other blog on LiveJournal.

com you were interested in. This

was before RSS (Really SimpleSyndication a standard for site

content update feeding) became a

universally accepted vehicle for

such updates and before web-based

aggregators from Yandex (Lenta.

yandex.ru) and Google (Google

Reader) became available. And

last, but not least, LiveJournal got

BLOGGING IN RUSSIAa Russian interface as early as May

2002, long before blogs became

a mainstream thing in Russia.

Even now, when there is stronger

competition from Liveinternet.ru,

Mail.ru, Rambler.ru, Diary.ru - and

despite Russian users traditional

preference for local services -

LiveJournal.com remains the coreof the Russian blogosphere.

The blogosphere in Russia grew

up as a close-knit network, not as

a number of standalone blogs (this

was one of the core reasons for

Googles initial lack of popularity).

Even today when many of the most

popular Russian bloggers move

to independent hosting platforms

to set up standalone blogs, they

LiveJournal.comLiveJournal.com is one of the most popular blog-hosting

services in the world. Created as a server-side software

for a personal journal by student Brad Fitzpatrick, it has

eventually turned into an online service for thousands of

bloggers. Unlike many other blog-hosting solutions (most

notably the worlds number one, Blogspot by Google),

it is based on a community-oriented approach and hasadvanced features for sharing your blog and reading others

using LiveJournal.com. The service is available for free or

on a paid basis, depending on the number of extra features

the user needs. The software that LiveJournal runs is open-

source and has been deployed in a number of other similar

services. Currently LiveJournal is part of Six Apart, which

also owns several other blogging tools, such as Movable

Type software for standalone blogs.

12|13


14/36

normally maintain interoperability

with LiveJournal.com to maintaintheir connection with larger

audiences. The media buzz

generated around the recent deal

between Russian start-up company,

Sup Fabrik, and Six Apart, owners

of LiveJournal goes to show the

importance this service and its

independence and impartiality

have for Russian bloggers and

the media community. However

ungrounded rumours about the

nature of the deal may be, it is not

yet clear whether LiveJournal will

retain its leadership, especially in

the segment of serious political

blogging.

Blogger proleLiveJournal.com worked as a

community and the system of

invite codes inhibited its growth

and helped to preserve the Russianblogosphere as a kind of elite

club. Critics with a sense of irony

will add that despite the open and

global nature of the blogosphere, it

is typical of Russian intellectuals

that they wanted to elite-ize it.

There are several important

characteristics which made the

Russian blogosphere develop in

this way. It began as an intellectual

pastime for journalists, political

analysts, writers and columnists.

The Russian community of

LiveJournal.com users evolved

into a highly distinctive

phenomenon, very different

from its Western analogues.

While the general audience of

LiveJournal.com was primarily

a student/teenager crowd,

LiveJournal controversyOne of the key advantages of LiveJournal.com for many bloggers in Russia, is its independence from the

political climate in Russia because it is an American company, whose servers are well outside the reach

of Russian police or courts. Even though LiveJournals Abuse Team was engaged in several scandalous

shutdowns of blogs (and sometimes its members failed to distinguish serious extremism from mere mocking)

it has always acted only in response to other bloggers complaints and never proactively.

The contract signed by Six Apart with Russian company SUP raised concerns that the service will become

more vulnerable and the Abuse Team will become less impartial. The concerns were based on the fact that

SUP is known to be owned (among others) by oligarch, Alexander Mamut, and media manager, Anton

Nossik, whose political alignment has always been very clear in his blog. The company has reassured users

that its task is only technical optimization of the service for Cyrillic users and implementation of extra

services for them.

The social market of the Russian blogosphere will, of course, vote with its feet if it doesnt trust the

Six Apart/SUP tie-up and users will simply move their blogs to other similar services. There have been

several exodus initiatives before users alarmed by the activities of LiveJournals Abuse Team migrated to

alternative platforms (many of them using LiveJournals engine and supporting the OpenID authorization

feature to enable virtually seamless interoperability with abandoned friends). Bloggers are not apathetic

and the US experience suggests they can and will move blogging platforms. Indeed, it is this lack of apathy

that makes bloggers so attractive to marketers and PR-types.


15/36


focused on everyday problems,

music, movies, sex etc., theRussian segment worked as a

communications infrastructure

for the expert community, a stage

for marginal writers, a platform

for social interaction and a news

discussion forum. In other words,

it became very much the post-

USSR, hi-tech version of the rich

Samizdat tradition. Over time, the

demographics of the blogosphere

have dramatically changed today

the Russian blogosphere is also

dominated by younger users

(and, as elsewhere worldwide,

the blogospheres users are even

younger than the internet users

general demographics), but there

is still a nucleus of the Russian

blogosphere that is formed by

the most popular bloggers and

communities, most of whombelong to the rst generation of

Russian bloggers.

Numbers and guresYandex estimates the Russian

blogosphere at over one million

blogs with about a half of them

being regularly updated. The four

leading blog hosting platforms are

LiveJournal.com (228,000 activeblogs + 115,000 abandoned blogs);

Liveinternet.ru (over 160,000 +

115,000); Blogs.mail.ru (72,000 +

75,000); Diary.ru (over 44,000 +

22,000). Another important metric

is the share of new posts per day

(which shows the intensity of

bloglife in its different segments).

Livejournal is the obvious leader

here with 44.78% of posts inthe Russian blogosphere, with

Liveinternet being the closest

competitor with 19.98%.

The number of standalone blogs is

estimated by Yandex to be around

4,500, more than 60% of them

based on the WordPress engine.

A typical blogger in Russia is a

female student, age 21, living

Moscow with a readership of

about 24. However, this statistical

median should not draw attention

away from the fact that the

top-ranking bloggers that have

audiences of several thousands,

have a quite different portrait.

Another important trend

highlighted by the Yandex research

is the positive correlation between

the age of the blogger and the

number of blogs on the blogroll

company.yandex.ru/

articles/yandex_on

_blogosphere_autum n

_2006.pdf

14|15


16/36

(friends list in LiveJournal

terms). We believe this is largely

due to the fact that older bloggers

tend to use blogs not only as a

peer group communication tool,

but as a source of news and a

personal publishing platform

(which effectively broadens their

audience).

Many Russian publications now

have blogs on their websites, but

independent blogs of Russian

journalists so far seem to boast

better success and are more active.

Global guresThe latest available State of the Blogosphere Report by Technorati.com (August 2006 - next report due February 2007) estimates the

number of blogs worldwide at 50 million, with about 1.6 million posts

a day. However these numbers are outdated by now as growth rate

estimates of this report suggest that the size of the blogosphere doubles

approximately every 200 days. In other words, by now the numbers are

likely closer to 100 million, however many observers suggest that the

blogosphere has probably reached a certain maturity and its growth

rate may slow down. The English and Japanese languages are the most

widespread in the global blogosphere with 39% and 31% of postings

respectively. Chinese has the only other two-digit result of 12%. Russianholds about 2%.


17/36


stardogs.ru/corporate

An emerging phenomenon but

one with scant success globallyand even less so in Russia is

the corporate blog published on

corporate websites. It is more

difcult to name their number but

available estimates vary between

50 and 100 in Russia of varying

quality and success. Nonetheless,

we salute these early adopters of

success. Some of the blogs are

quite unusual for the prole of the

company (for instance the Stardogs

blog on the site of the eponymous

fast-food chain publishes a very

wide range of information); others

are virtually reformatted corporate

news feeds and are all the moredreary because of it.

Another recent phenomenon

is unofcial blogs started by

companies outside their domain

space that seem to be driven

by the feeling of blogs being a

frontier territory where no laws

apply. These blogs often serve

to collect negative information

about competitors, for example

the unofcial website of the

Shokoladnitsa coffee-shops chain

http://cofex.blogspot.com

16|17


18/36

The Russian blogosphere is

closely interwoven with the media,

serving as a extension and

networking infrastructure for thepress. Initially journalists played

an important role in shaping the

Russian blogosphere, as they

were one of the most active

groups. Blogs and communities

on LiveJournal.com were used

as a way of publishing texts and

discussing them with peers and

readers.

We have interviewed a number

of leading journalists in different

segments of the press to

understand their attitudes towards

blogging. These interviews

focused around the role of blogs

in their everyday work, their own

participation in the blogosphere

and the evaluation of information

JOURNALISTS AND BLOGGINGthat can be obtained through blogs.

We also used public sources and

blogs.

Our brief survey of the journalists

shows that blogs play an important

part in their work and this is

especially true of business,

political and general interest

journalists. Interestingly, the

opposite is true of technologypress (IT and Telecom journalists

are less enthusiastic about blogs

possibly because rumours play a

less important role in their jobs or

perhaps they dont like daylight

being let in on the mystery). Our

estimate, based on our virtual

focus group, is that virtually all

active journalists are aware of

blogs, about 80% of them readblogs, and more than a half of

them do this on a regular basis.

The Paparazzi journalist

community on LiveJournal.com is

a popular message board for both

journalists and PR professionals.

It has 4,000+ members and is

watched by an even broader

audience of LiveJournal.com users

and other readers. The community

is a pretty busy place with about

50 posts per day. Although one

needs moderators approval to

enter, the criteria are quite liberal

and anyone dealing with the press

gets in without much trouble,

moreover, virtually all postings

paparazzi.livejournal.com


19/36


are open to the public as well as

commentators.Journalists have always been

a very important part of the

Russian blogosphere and many

of the key personalities in the

Russian media world have their

own blogs on LiveJournal.com.

Russian journalists normally

do not conceal their identity on

blogs because for them it has

become an integral part of their

professional networking (it is quite

interesting how the tacit code of

conduct in respect to things said

in blogs has evolved over the

past two or three years: in the

Russian blogospheres earlier days

things said in blog or comments

to a blog entry were considered

as equivalent to something said

in a private conversation, today

it is denitely a part of publicdiscourse). Our research shows

that there are several ways that

Russian journalists use blogs in

their everyday work.

Research toolThe blogosphere offers journalists

great opportunities to nd new

stories, witnesses, experts and

characters for their writings.The Paparazzi community

on LiveJournal.com, the major

media discussion board, is lled

with information search inquiries,

contact requests, postings about

orphaned texts, jobs wanted and

vacancies offered. However, due

to negative experiences in the past,

community moderators try to steerit away from in-depth discussions

of journalists ethics.

During interviews with our

researchers, many journalists

said that they often turn to the

blogosphere to nd information

on subjects of interest or gather

opinions around issues. In extreme

cases (emergencies, catastrophes)

blogs can serve as impromptu

newswires, quoted even on TV,

again reecting that CNNs i-

reports is merely the vanguard of a

global trend.

One of the recent cases that can

serve as a good example are

the Kondopoga riots. As Echo

Moskvy Radio Editor-in-chief,

Alexei Venediktov, recently said

at a media roundtable, his radio

station picked up the news aboutethnic riots in the Kondopoga

township, in the Karelia region,

from blogs and relied on

information from blogs when it

raised the issue before any other

newswire launched the story into

the conventional media. Another

acclaimed case of blogs serving

to provide information for the

big media was the attemptedrevolution in Kyrgyzstan in Spring

2005, when some of the blogs of

Bishkek citizens were quoted as

sources by NTV news. This is

all the more extraordinary if one

considers how much smaller and

less developed the blogospheres

are of other countries in the CIS,

18|19


20/36

Russias near-abroad.

Other less sensational applicationsof the blogosphere that can

be mentioned are the search

for experts and characters for

stories being developed by the

journalists. In conversations with

our researchers, journalists have

often mentioned that blogs provide

excellent opportunities for nding

people with the right skills andknowledge as well as for hard-

to-formalize inquiries where they

need to nd people who have

experienced specic situations.

Alternative publishing

platformMany journalists use their own

blogs as an alternative publishing

ground that allows them to havemore control over their text.

Blogs give them space to publish

articles that do not t their primary

publications format, are too

subjective or dedicated to the

issues that are not in the news or

favoured by the editors. In a sense

blogging gives every reporter the

freedom that has only been grantedto selected columnists before.

But more importantly, this is also

an opportunity to switch from

broadcasting to a more interactive

type of publishing. Even the same

text as in print, when published in

a blog, becomes an invitation for

discussion that sometimes may

even involve people mentioned in

the article. Columnists use blogs to

elaborate further on their writings,

collect feedback and see readers

reactions.

The blogosphere is also a source

of ? inspiration for columnists

it provides a lot of searchable

material on what is hot among

the public, what issues are being

discussed and what concerns,

aspirations and arguments circulate

in society. Even if blogosphere isnot an accurate (representative)

model of society on the whole, it

is denitely a good representation

of the educated readership that the

quality press, at least in Russia, is

working to attract.

Some journalists, whose political

views or manner of writing kept

them outside the mainstream

media, have managed to gainhuge acclaim through blogging.

This is especially true of Russias

right-wing nationalist intellectuals,

some of whom have become quite

notable political commentators.

Konstantin Krylov and Egor

Holmogorov are the two most

vivid examples. Both would most

Cross-camp communicationAnother important feature of blogs (especially the

community-focused services like LiveJournal.com), is

that not only do they help to build groups of like-minded

people, but also improve communication across different

political camps. It is not very common for anyone exceptpolitical experts and spin-doctors to read the printed media

of ideological foes in a country with such strong political

antagonism as Russia, but it is quite common to have all

types of writers on your blogroll.

zt.livejournal.com


21/36


likely have been doomed to third-

rate extremist bulletins, had theynot been active bloggers.

Networking toolEditorial policies do not encourage

ongoing discussion between

journalists of different publications

so the afterparties for the most

controversial articles and events

move to the blogosphere. Even

though Paparazzi moderators tryto avoid discussions of journalist

ethics in their communities,

such discussions happen across

other personal journals and

communities. A recent and

prominent case concerning how

the Russian press discussed the

conict between Eugenia Albats

and Anna Arutunyan over the

article about Anna Politkovskaya

is described under cases, but anynumber of other less scandalous

discussions happen all the time.

The Correctura community is

dedicated to tracking and exposing

the manipulation of facts and lies

in the Russian press. Individual

blogs of authors of controversial

articles and experts from public

opinion research institutions also

often become grounds for heated

debate following their publication.

As we have stated before, a

columnist is the closest analogue

of a blogger in a conventional

newspaper or magazine. Editors

have a perfect opportunity to hunt

for good writers on blogs. It is true

that most of the bloggers wouldnt

be capable of being real full-

krylov.livejournal.com

holmogorow.nigilist.ru

correctura.livejournal.com

20|21


22/36

time journalists, since there are a

number of important differencesbetween blogging and mainstream

journalism, but it is also true that

many bloggers are the perfect t

for opinion columns. An editor of a

Russian glossy lifestyle magazine,

for instance, confessed to us

during the survey, that he often

looks for (and nds) writers for his

publication in blogs not through

blogs on jobs, not even through the

journalist community, but rather

by looking through blogs to nd

ordinary people with a good

sense of literary style and humour.

Trust issuesFor blog readers, the issue of

trusting what they read in blogs is

an increasingly serious problem.

Most journalists interviewed in

the course of our survey said that

they are very cautious about facts

they come across in blogs, and

tend to double-check them through

other sources before using them

in their work. Actually it seems

more shocking that they would not

automatically check a fact quoted

in a blog, but then perhaps we

are cynical. A posting in a blog

can give initial impact to a story,but reporters are not ready to rely

solely on bloggers.

Blogs are seen as the domain

of rumours and unveried

information that may be interesting

but denitely needs a lot of

checking. Business and technology

journalists are especially cautious:

the former risk libel charges frommentioned companies and the

latter have to be alert against the

multitudes of fake new products

that are being published online.

Most journalists say that they

screen blogs for news, but usually

look for conrmation from one

of the major newswires or ofcial

releases before giving it a go.

But theres another side to the

trust issue: while there is much

scepticism about the blogosphere

in general, there is a lot of trust

too. Blogs have authors, in many

cases these authors are known

to their readers personally or

simply have general appeal.

Readers of blogs normally have


23/36


their own circle of trusted

bloggers: personal friends andacquaintances, respected and

trusted observers. Blogs can earn

more trust among their readers

than conventional media can.

This is largely due to the issue

discussed in the section Why

do we read blogs? on page 11

smart Russian readers believe

Russian federal media to be a

means of state propaganda, suspect

independent media of being

tools in the hands of their owners,

etc. In the 90s, TV channels used

to be a stage for political intrigues

and corporate wars, information

was presented in a manner far

from impartial, but comparison of

several news broadcasts used to

give an interested viewer enough

material from which to drawconclusions. Today, all key TV

channels are controlled by the state

and seem to focus on promoting

the Presidents initiatives, his

United Russia party and condemn

their opponents inside and outside

of the country. The print media

enjoys somehow greater freedom

but also tends to be quite cautious

when dealing with controversial

topics.

Since the Russian blogosphere still

retains many of the initial features

it possessed at its conception,

there is far more trust towards

information circulating inside this

community, although this trust is

very partisan. For each political

camp there are personalities

whose postings are perceived to be

very reliable.With the current state of affairs in

the ofcial media, I would rather

trust information and evaluations

posted by a number of friends

on LiveJournal than TV, said one

of our respondents, a professional

journalist. A 360 critical

perception belongs to the perfect

world, while in reality readers look

for sources they can rely on. Evenjournalists, who look for different

sides of stories and aim at being

objective storytellers, have to rely

on their sources. Newswires are

trusted for institutional reasons;

blogs are trusted, when they are,

for personal reasons.

22|23


24/36

Our survey of key editors,

journalists and leading PR

professionals shows that there

are issues to be addressed by PR

consultants and managers. There

is a gap that PR professionals

are aware of, but still hesitant to

bridge.

MonitoringPR professionals generally agree

that it is important to monitor

blogs for references to their clients/

employers, customer impressions,

product reviews, etc. Several cases

have shown that sometimes even

a single negative story with some

luck can draw a lot of attention,

get republished numerous times

and eventually make it into the

big media. However, most of

PR PROFESSIONALSAND BLOGGING

them still do this rather out of

interest than as daily routine. It

is disappointing that unlike in

the US, the majority of Russian

PR professionals still regard the

Russian blogosphere as a thing tomonitor rather than a community

with which to proactively engage.

PR managers use tools, such as

Yandex blog search to search

through blogs for keywords (brand

names, events, etc.) and monitor

specic blogs for any matters of

interest.

Blogs are also an important source

of information for whats hot?(and whats not?) with proper

corrections for demographic

characteristics, the blogosphere

can serve as a giant focus group,

expressing the general mood and

perceptions of both the general

public and some key segments

of it. Existing tools for blog

search and rating make this a very

affordable option.

Sometimes the blogosphere also

offers a great opportunity to see

the real feedback on a companys

news announcements, nancial

reports and CSR activities, which

is true globally of course, and not

just in Russia. Conventional media

is bound by certain etiquette and


25/36


has a very tangible liability for

news published they wouldntnormally publish an article

explaining why the PR activities

of a given company are annoying

and inefcient, but blogs often

offer an insight into journalists

and general public perceptions

of corporate news, which can be

obtained though journalists blogs

or blogs dedicated to a specic

company. While we understand,

of course, that the blogosphere is

just as prone to be on the wrong

end of libel action as any other

form of media, reading some blogs

it seems as though some of their

authors are not. Of course in the

US, defamation actions for blog-

works are now no longer unusual.

This pattern of civil litigation has

yet to become rmly established

in Russia, though it is likely tocome. Russians enthusiastically

begin civil law suits almost as

often as Americans these days.

In the conventional media world,

journalists and PR professionals

are usually polite to each other, but

sneer behind each others backs.

In blogs, the vitriol can break

free and, ironically, this can be a

healthy thing for both sides.

CampaigningUsing blogs as a proactive

communication tool is an unusual

thing in Russia, at least for

the present. Despite the recent

growth it is still not easy to

enter the community for stealth

advertising. Blogs that exist for

the promotion of a brand are not

likely to gain popularity. Attempts

to enter relevant communities with

hidden advertisement usually face

erce resistance from community

members who are normally quite

sensitive towards this kind of

intrusion.Several positive cases of using

blogs for PR/promo campaigns are

known, with Pshenichnaya Sleza

vodka being the most prominent

one so far. Brand owners

approached around 200 popular

LiveJournal bloggers, inviting

them to special brand-sponsored

parties, pool tournaments and

other events, engaged them increative contests, etc, receiving

positive references to the brand

in return. The company managed

to boost positive coverage on the

internet for its brand, however, the

actual commercial output of the

campaign remains unknown. This

sort of enticement of blogosphere

Misguided courtesyWe like the example we recently found on foreign blog, BeirutSpring www.beirutspring.com for December 9, 2006. Keen

to embrace the support of Muslim opinion formers in the

blogosphere and also keen to spoil the blanket launch success

of Al Jazeera English, the new 24-hour news channel, France

24 began targeting Muslim bloggers around the world. Its viral

marketing ploy backred however, when it sent free bottles of

Mot et Chandon champagne to its blogger elite, forgetting

that its Muslim bloggers would hardly be impressed by this

example of linformation respecteuse des diversits, attentive

aux differences, that the Channel claims for itself.

24|25


26/36

based opinion-formers is likely

to become more common, asmarketers are all desperate to

capture the essence of viral

marketing (the rapid spread of

an idea or campaign): a concept

which they are all aware of but

almost never achieve. Targeting

bloggers is a logical step; but it is

amazing how a lack of common

sense and awareness can make it

go horribly wrong.

NetworkingPR professionals also participate

in networking through the

blogosphere. The Moscow

PR Club unites in-house PR

professionals with the BusinessPR.

ru blog serving the key hub of

the community (even though it is

not a collective blog) there are

communities of PR consultants

and managers in LiveJournal too.

However their interaction is less

intensive compared to journalists.

One of the proactive ways to

network through the blogosphere

is setting up communities thatshould attract the media that you

target. At least one case of this

kind is Vimpelcoms community

of telecom journalists and PR

professionals in LiveJournal.com

It was set up by Vimpelcoms

press service in July 2006 and

currently has 70 members. The

community is a good example of

smart behaviour in the blogosphere

- while having the opportunity

to communicate the messages of

the brand and the company to the

journalists, it is not overexploited

posts about company events are

quite informal and most postings

of the maintainer are not Beeline-

centric at all, but rather draw

attention of the members to various

interesting news and discussionsonline that deal with telecoms,

media or PR. Other members of

the community provide their inputs

too, often publishing feedback

on Vimpelcoms events and

announcements.

BusinessPR.ru

telecom-press.

livejournal.com


27/36


Arutunyan case

As we mentioned earlier, blogs

are an important extension of

the media (the place where the

after-party of a story takes place,)

where a lot of afterthought and

discussion is concentrated. One of

the recent cases that has drawn a

lot of attention is a scandal causedby Eugenia Albats attack on

Anna Arutunyan, observer of The

Moscow News that was broadcast

live on Echo Moskvy radio station.

The situation behind the scandal

can be described briey as follows

(it is not the essence of their

argument that we are interested

in at the moment). Arutunyan

published an article in the Englishversion of The Moscow News

that focused on the style of work

of the late Anna Politkovskaya,

a famous investigative and war

correspondent killed in Moscow

on October 7, 2006. In her

article Arutunyan emphasized

that Politkovskaya, while being

a sincere and honest person,

lacked, she claimed, Western-

style professionalism and tended

to be quite inaccurate with facts

while trying to prove her point of

view, adding that this is a general

problem of Russian journalism,

rather than a unique feature of

Politkovskaya. It should also be

noted that the article itself lacked

CASESstrong proof-points and we believeits author was standing in a far

weaker position compared to the

objects of her critique.

Eugenia Albats, a renowned

Russian economic journalist,

invited Anna to her show on Echo

Moskvy radio where Arutunyan

was put through a harsh publicthrashing for her article. This could

have been the end of the tale, but

for the turn the discussion took

when it moved into blogs. Long

and heated debates unfurled in

the Russian media blogosphere,

involving all key participants of

the case and their most active

supporters/opponents.

The actual focus of the debate (ifstripped from all ideological and

personal offences) was on the issue

of Russian journalists professional

standards. Both parties behaviour

ymalbats.livejournal.com

arutunyan.livejournal.com

26|27


28/36

was questioned during the

discussion - while Arutunyan madeseveral broad assumptions about

Politkovskaya without proving

them, Albats in turn had used a

ctitious name for the subject of

the broadcast to lure Arutunyan

(according to her words) on false

pretences to face her attack.

Apart from that, many of the

discussion participants expressed

doubts about the permissiveness

of such public thrashing ingeneral. Virtually all blogging

political journalists made postings

on the case and/or took part in

discussions. This was one of the

most notable in a series of similar

cases of peer discussions around

controversial articles or public acts

of journalists

This case is particularly interestingas it shows how conicts that

are not likely to unfurl in the

conventional media due to editorial

policies, and a certain etiquette

amongst fellow journalists,

manage to become really big issues

in the blogosphere. Even if none

of this discussion surfaces in the

traditional media and it remains

strictly inside the blogosphere, it

is still likely to have a huge impact

inside the media community

itself. Cases like this also show

the potential that blogs have in

terms of providing a channel for

discussion of journalistic ethics

in controversial situations, that

can be helpful for newsmakers or

companies alike that have fallen

victim to any spinning that can

often not be retaliated to in court.

Ivannikova caseThis is probably the most famous

case of the blogospheres impact

on the ofine world. It is even

more interesting since it provides

several important insights into the

mechanics of using the Russian

blogosphere to raise key public

interest issues.Alexandra Ivannikova is a

Muscovite woman who stabbed

a driver, who was giving her a

lift, with a knife after he had

allegedly tried to force her into

having sex with him. The driver

died of blood loss. At the moment

Other examples:Oleg Kashins article on the Private Sychevcase,

the bullied conscript in Chelyabinsk who lost his legs

and genitals after being tortured by his comrades, thatraised many questions regarding the accuracy of his

investigation, as well as the accuracy of his opponents

work on the subject;

Andrey Minkins article on World War II that expressed

doubts whether it was reasonable to stand against Hitlers

army so desperately. It was followed by a heated debate

which (and this is where it becomes important) focused

largely on the denition of a borderline between a

politician and a journalist;

Alexandr Timofeevskiys critical article about the

Department of Journalism (the famous JourFac) ofMoscow State University that stirred up a huge debate

on the quality of professional training in the ranks of the

Russian media and segregation within the community for

JourFac alumni and the rest.


29/36


this story reached the blogs, the

situation looked pretty pessimisticfor Ivannikova she was charged

with murder in the heat of passion

(not as self-defense) and the

prosecutor demanded a three year

sentence. Ivannikovas lawyer

posted the story (as seen through

the Defenses eyes) on his blog on

LiveJournal.com.

This story about a victim charged

with murder instantly spread

across the Russian blogs. The

key network that the lawyer

used, to boost the buzz around

his clients case, was the right-

wing/nationalist community in

the blogosphere. Although he

never explicitly stated this,just

using the drivers unmistakably

Armenian surname Bagdasryan

was enough to turn this case into

a story about a Russian womanprotecting herself against an alien

from the Caucasus. Although

perhaps highly distasteful, and

even professionally scandalous to

a western-trained lawyer, this was

a brilliant if ruthless tactic.

The Movement Against Illegal

Immigration (DPNI) launched

a huge campaign to support

Ivannikova. The lawyer himselfstayed out of nationalist rhetoric,

and even managed to gain the

support of some of the liberal

activists (eager to pin down the

Moscow Court as corrupted and

cruel) and feminist and women

rights groups (on the pretext of

defence against rape). Use of

the lawyers blog for regular

updates on the court sessions,networking in order to organize

rallies and appeals to the press,

brought results: the decision of

the court was far milder than the

one demanded by the prosecutor

(which is itself a rarity in Russia),

but this was not the end. By

that time, the story had made it

into the big media with key

experts on talk shows coming

from LiveJournal.com discussions.

When it rst gained the attention of

the tabloid papers and tabloid style

talk-shows on TV, the Moscow

City Prosecutors ofce requested

that the case be revised in favour

of Ivannikova (effectively lifting

the earlier charges) also showing

that this story didnt go unnoticed

at a higher level too.

Despite a number of details andcircumstances that pose questions

about the actual events of the night

when she stabbed Bagdasaryan

in the thigh, the predominant

mood in the blogosphere was

supportive of her. The blogosphere

initiated support in the press,

and on the street, and eventually

caused a political decision

to set Ivannikova free. She hasbecome an icon for the DPNI and

a press-celebrity ever since. The

effect of the blogs in this case did

not go unnoticed at the higher

levels of Russian Government.

Strictly speaking, none of the

techniques used are specic to the

blogosphere - Ivannikovas lawyer

28|29


30/36

used simple tools:

viral dissemination of information;broader issues as a framework;

public pressure.

But it was the blogosphere that

made these tools accessible

and efcient online blogger

communities, tagged by their

interests and eager to absorb and

discuss information are a perfect

soil for viral PR, based upon word

of mouth and personal contacts

as a means of spreading messages

instead of broadcasting techniques.

Blogs of political activists offer an

easy way to launch an issue into a

specic community (it becomes a

matter of copywriting). Each blog

of this kind has an audience that

is ready to absorb information of

a certain type and receive relevant

messages. This audience is likely

to catch and spread a message thatthey sympathise with, multiplying

sources of this message in a very

short time. Popular bloggers who

merely syndicate news they read

and links they receive are often

prone to controversial stories

that ignite discussion. Blogs

and communities offer great

infrastructure for organizing public

activities like rallies.

CharityPopular blogs often have a sticky

post on top of the homepage,

inviting readers to donate money

for a very concrete cause (usually

surgery, treatment or medicine

for a particular child), popular

bloggers maintain ofcial orinformal charity funds and report

on successful donations.

While charities are still quite a

complicated affair in Russia (the

public distrusts them, believing

with some justication that donor

funds leak into administrators

hands; and the Government is

apparently less than sympathetic

to NGOs as a whole), blogs

have proven to provide a great

infrastructure for charitable

activities. There are several factors

to which we attribute this.

First of all, as it has been said

before, the blogosphere helps

to circulate information almost

instantly. This concerns not only

jokes, links and rumours, but also

information about money/help

needed. A posting by a popularblogger initiates a landslide of

cross-posts that help to reach a vast

audience.

Secondly, unlike conventional

media (that reaches an even

broader audience indeed), relations

between blogger and reader are

more personal - the hyperlinks

that spread through trust-based

networks give a validation to therequest; there is also a feeling

of this happening here and now

(as opposed to the media which

reports something that is in the

news). There may be no direct

connection between original

poster and a given cross-poster

or donator, but between them is

nastenka-fund.livejournal.com


31/36


a chain of connections that can

be quite personal or supported bypersonal connections (A may not

know B personally, but can always

check Bs friends list to justify

the decision on whether to trust B

or not).

And third, there is always

feedback, a tracking of previous

posts and deeds that helps people

to make a decision. This also helps

to maintain these activities that are

often based on trust.

Among organizations that actively

use blogs are the Nastenka

Foundation, Chinese Pilot Society

Pomogi.org and others. Blogs

serve as announcement channels,

a way of raising volunteer support

and are used for reporting the

spending of funds.

There are a few lessons to be

learned for a communicationsexpert here. It is obvious that

the blogosphere can be used to

raise support for a cause (apart

from charity, blogs have beenused to organize ash mobs,

rallies and collect support for

open letters), but there are several

important restrictions that should

be observed. The public gures

(famous journalists, businessmen,

etc.) that have started charity

activities are people with high

social capital (regardless of blogs,)

and people who have a public

reputation at stake. It is hard to

judge if an ordinary blogger can

be equally successful in starting a

money-raising campaign, at least

in Russia at this time. We would

also like to point out the fact that a

fund-raising campaign for medical

treatment or even free pampers

collection from volunteers, is

a rewarding activity, even for

anonymous participants. Thisshould be considered if you decide

to raise support for your cause

through blogs.

chinese-pilot.livejournal.com

30|31


32/36

The advice below is based on

several simple assumptions that we

believe to be true. You may easily

derive your own interpretations

from these assumptions:

Blogs are about peer to peer

networking, not hierarchy. This

inherently limits the effectiveness

of propaganda. Blogs are about discussion and

DOs AND DONTsinteraction. A blog that merelybroadcasts information is sooner

or later a dead blog.

Blogs are about personalities. A

reader should feel there is someone

real, not a group of copywriters

behind a pseudonym.

Dos Start your own blog bloggers

like peers and dislike intrusion

by those who do not speak their

language.

Keep in touch with journalists

who write on your business

invite them to your blog and read

theirs.

Integrate your news ow into the

blogosphere make an RSS feed

of your news. Monitor blogs and communities

All Sony wants for XmasAnother recent case worth your attention is the story about

alliwantforxmasisapsp.com this blog was started by Zipatony PR rm

for Sony, but instead of just making a promotional web log, they chose

to make a fake fan-site, imitating the blog of two teenagers, Charlie

and Jeremy, raving about a PSP. However, there were several clues that

made the readers of the blog wonder if it was a real thing, such as being

too focused on one subject, overuse of teenage/gamer lingo no links toanywhere outside, but the ofcial Sony website. A little investigation

(actually a simple whois service check) showed that the blog is run by

a PR rm. It wouldnt be so amazing if not for the calendar: it took less

than a week for bloggers to reveal the fake blog, spread the word (mind

you: it was word-of-mouth that Sony wanted to engage in its campaign

so badly) and effectively force Sony to shut down the blog site. A very

impressive example of how your marketing attempts can fail if you do not

follow the rules of the game.


33/36


for angles and views on issues of

interest to you. Study blogs on your industry

learn to tell the information black

holes from reputable reviews and

keep this distinction in mind.

Donts Do not start a blog if you have

nothing to tell or have no time for

it (consider hiring a blogger if you

really want to). Do not ignore comments left

on your blog or replies to your

comments on other blogs. (This

does NOT equal hunt down

every comment mentioning your

business on the web and reply to

it.) Do not demand refutation or

removal of information that is

unfavourable/incorrect about your

company. The risks of giving

impetus to a broader campaign

against you are high.

Do not pretend to be a passer

by when you are not. If you want

to discuss anything come as you

are.

Do not merely rename your

corporate news into corporate

blog - you will need some special

content for the blog, not merely

press-releases.

32|33


34/36

OUR BLOGROLL

Politics

Media

Economy and Business

IT&Telecom

Charity

PR, Advertising, Marketing Communications

Tags

www.mmdblog.com

advertka.ru advertising industry community blog.

alex-lebedev.livejournal.com Idealist Capitalist. A blog by Alexander

Lebedev the State Duma member, businessman and one of the candidates

for Moscows Mayor ofce in the last elections.

ammosov.livejournal.com a blog by Yuriy Ammosov a reputed Russian

expert on innovations, journalist and Head of Public-Private Partnership

Section of Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

bearshitsky.livejournal.com a blog by Leonid Bershidskiy, the former

editor-in-chief of Smart Money magazine.

belyh.livejournal.com a blog by Nikita Belykh, one of the liberal SPS

party leaders.

bg.ru website of Moscows popular city life magazine, Bolshoi Gorod

(The Big City), probably the rst publication to launch a blog on their

website and hire a professional blogger.

businesspr.ru a popular blog by Inna Alekseeva, former DeltaCredit PR

Manager and currently head of her own PR agency.

chinese-pilot.livejournal.com Chinese Pilot Society charity blog.

company.yandex.ru/blog Yandex corporate blog.

correctura.livejournal.com Proof-Read community. Bloggers

deconstruct politicians speeches and writings of popular columnists,

revealing logical incoherencies, data manipulation and hidden agenda.


35/36


doctor-livsy.livejournal.com a blog by a popular fantasy writer Sergey

Lukianenko, a good example of a celebrity blog.

doctorsoul.livejournal.com a blog by PC Week editor Maxim Bukin.

Notes on Russian the telecom market, corporate PR in the sector and major

events in the industry.

dolboeb.livejournal.com a blog by Anton Nossik, one of the founding

fathers of the Russian Internet and a reputed online media manager.

Currently Chief Blogging Ofcer of SUP Fabrik company.

felixm.blogspot.ru Felix Muchnik, head of SoftKey discusses software

and Web 2.0 development issues.

galerist.livejournal.com a blog by Marat Guelman, a modern art gallery

owner, political expert and spin doctor.

holmogorow.nigilist.ru a blog by Egor Holmogorov. One of the key

political bloggers in the right-wing nationalist camp.

idiot.ru the blog of Maxim Mr. Parker Kononenko. A pop-music critic,

author of the famous vladimir.vladimirovich.ru blog and a co-host of

NTVs Real Politics TV show.

internetno.net Internet Thingies a blog on valuable internet services and

tools.

itblogs.ru/blogs/elashkin/ - Mikhail Elashkin of Elashkin Research

consulting company publishes observations on the Russian IT market.

krylov.livejournal.com blog of Konstantin Krylov, nationalist-minded

columnist, one of most vivid examples of right-wing revival in the Russian

blogosphere.

maxim-sokolov.livejournal.com Famous columnist with both Izvestia

newspaper and Expert magazine.

nastenka-fund.livejournal.com Nastenka Foundation charity blog.

paparazzi.livejournal.com Paparazzi community. The biggest journalist

community in the Russian blogosphere.

ru-pr.livejournal.com Russian PR. Community of PR professionals.

ru-smi.livejournal.com a blog containing news of the Russian media.

34|35


36/36

russtech.blogspot.com Ruminations On Russia. Expat bankers

observations on Russian life, business and politics.

sellme.ru a popular blog on sales and marketing.

sk-ru.livejournal.com the blog of a community called The Free

Cabinet. A group of analysts, journalists and experts convenes to

discuss current affairs and draft their resolutions in the style of a

libertarian Shadow Cabinet..

stardogs.ru/corporate the corporate blog of StarDogs chain of

fast-food outlets. An amazing example of how a creative approach

can help to make a blog by a hot dog company a really interesting

read.

sundaybytes.com a blog by Anton Antich, manager of Microsoft

Moscow ofce.

telecom-press.livejournal.com Telecom Press Club. A blog for

telecom journalists, launched and maintained by the PR team of

Vimpelcom one of the Big 3 cell operators in Russia (under

the BeeLine brand).

valchess.livejournal.com Russian Anglophile Notes. A Russian

researcher, living in the UK, posts detailed observations on the

British and Russian media, lifestyle and news, highlighting

important differences and peculiarities.

ymalbats.livejournal.com a blog by Eugenia Albats, presenter

with Echo Moskvy radio.

zt.livejournal.com Dmitiy Butrin, editor at Kommersant. Most

postings mirror his Monday column in Gazeta.ru, often generating

interesting and insightful discussions with his colleagues and

other experts.

Documents

Report ENG Body