Regional Publishing International 51
RUSSIA
Practical support for press
freedom in Siberia
Media Development Loan Fund supported the daily Yekutsk With the new machinery in
Vecherny with a loan in order to finance a new printing press.
place, YV now outperforms the
With its regular exposures of official corruption, the inde-
pendent daily Yakutsk Vecherny (YV) in the Republic of state printing house and may
Sakha, near the Arctic Circle in the far east of Russia, has won
plenty of friends. But its unflinching support for the rights even put it out of business.
of ordinary citizens against the indifferent authorities has also
made many enemies, in particular among local officials. the press on a cargo plane, built an improvised printing house
When it first began publishing in 1994, the authorities used and within two weeks was printing his own newspaper.
the state monopoly printing house to try to force YV out of But an old printing press has only a limited lifespan, and with
business. They charged the newspaper inflated prices and YV wanting to launch new publications and winning orders to
missed deadlines so it was late for distribution. Then they re- print other papers, by 2005 Levin knew he had to replace the
fused to print issues of the paper that they found too critical press. Unable to borrow funds locally and with the threat of a
and, finally, in 2000 told YV that they would not print the return to the state printing house looming, Levin obtained a
newspaper at all. low-cost loan from Media Development Loan Fund, a non-
With the next printing house more than 1,000 km away, YV profit investment fund for independent media businesses in
founder Leonid Levin decided that there was only one solu- emerging democracies – and bought two presses, one roller
tion. He took the bold step of borrowing money from friends, and one sheet-fed.
flying to Moscow and buying an old printing press. He put With the new machinery in place, YV now outperforms the
state printing house and may even put it out of business. The
new rotary press has increased printing speed by four times
The Media Development Loan Fund and the company saves the salaries of 40 staff who used to fold
the newspapers. The modern equipment also provides the
Media Development Loan Fund is a non-profit investment fund providing extra income and stability YV needs to pursue its next goal,
low-cost financing to independent news media in emerging democracies. At which looks like being an even greater challenge: Building its
work in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the CIS, and Southeast Europe, MDLF seeks own distribution system, including a network of kiosks and
to secure a strong and independent press in countries with a history of media other points of sale, and a small fleet of trucks to deliver news-
oppression. papers to the most remote areas of the region.
Through low-cost capital, in-depth training and long-term advice and sup- Peter Whitehead
port, it helps news outlets committed to responsible journalism strengthen
their operations and become commercially sustainable. MDLF is a New York-
registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
REPUBLIC OF SAKHA
MOSCOW
AAU07_2722_Inhalt.indd 51U07_2722_Inhalt.indd 51 008.11.2007 13:51:38 Uhr8.11.2007 13:51:38 Uhr
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