The eXile
Encyclopedia
The eXile was a Moscow
-based English-language
biweekly free tabloid newspaper
, aimed at the city's expatriate
community, which combined outrageous, sometimes satirical, content with investigative reporting. In October 2006, co-editor Jake Rudnitsky summarized the eXile's editorial policy to The Independent
: "We shit on everybody equally." The newspaper is now published in an online-only format.
Rolling Stone
magazine said in 1998 that then-coeditors "Mark Ames
and Matt Taibbi
take the raw material of this decadent new Moscow and convert it into 25,000 instantly snapped-up issues of The eXile, consisting of misogynist rants, dumb pranks, insulting club listings and photos of blood-soaked corpses, all redeemed by political reporting that's read seriously not only in Moscow but also in Washington." A CNN documentary in 1999 focusing on the eXile agreed, saying, "Brazen, irreverent, immodest, and rude, the eXile struggles with the harsh truth of the new century in Russia...Since 1997, Ames and Taibbi have lampooned and investigated greed, corruption, cowardice and complacency." The Moscow Times
writes that "The eXile, which publishes Gonzo-style journalism on topics such as drugs, prostitution and Moscow nightlife side-by-side with political analysis, has often pushed the limits of decency -- not to mention libel law." Newsweek
correspondent Owen Matthews called The eXile "brilliant and outrageous."
Its history saw several practical jokes, including reportedly getting Mikhail Gorbachev
to enter negotiations to secure a position as "perestroika
coordinator" for the New York Jets
. Jonathan Shainin of Salon.com
also wrote in 2005 that the eXile "ran serious press criticism salted with vicious personal attacks on reporters."
On June 19, 2008, The Daily Telegraph
reported that following a government audit, the paper would cease to be printed and appear only on the internet. On 10 June 2008, columnist Gary Brecher
("The War Nerd") published a letter on the website asking for donations from readers, saying "it takes money and we have none, zero, aren't even getting paid any more". A month after shutting down, the newspaper launched a web site called eXiled Online. According to Mark Ames, the new site is to "focus more on the United States," though the Saint Peterburg Times reported that co-editor Yasha Levine will remain in Russia "as long as [he] can hold out."
Some of the contributors, including Ames, Taibbi, Alexander Zaitchik
, and John Dolan
, previously worked for the New York Press
.
-related topics, as well as issues of more general interest. Investigative reporting, reviews of Moscow nightlife, concerts, and restaurants, commentary on politics and culture in Russia and America, film and book reviews, and mocking replies to its readers' letters appeared in most issues. The eXile was known for its descriptions of Moscow life. Andrew Meier, who served as Time magazine's Russia correspondent from 1996 until 2001, was quoted by Rolling Stone as saying: "No one describes expat
life in Moscow better than the eXile. They hit it right on its ugly head."
"The 90's in Moscow were a great time," Ames told The New York Observer, "like what they say about the 20's in Paris or the early 30's in Berlin. It was completely hedonistic and nihilistic and full of crime....A lot of [Taibbi's] prose was written on smack and a lot of mine was written on speed....We wrote a whole bunch of editorials about the size of Putin's penis.".
, the eXile publishes articles from perspectives not often heard or read elsewhere. He has referred to eXile columnists as "subaltern
," claiming they have been discounted from mainstream
discourse
s as "sinful," irrelevant, disgusting, misogynistic, or otherwise too objectionable to be heard. As an example, Dolan referenced Gary Brecher
:
Dolan has cited the eXile' s audience as a reason for leaving academia and what he called its "starchy sensibility," and proclaimed a central role for his concept of sin in the eXiles ideology:
Additionally, the eXile aims to publish articles about Russia from outside the perspective of mainstream western journalism. According to editor Jake Rudnitsky western reporting on Russia is often biased: "Western newspapers have an agenda, to show that everything in Russia is related to oil prices, and that Putin's this competent but quasi-fascist leader. They don't have the freedom to go out and actually find out what's going on." Rudnitsky has also stated that the eXile aims to give a more detailed view of Russia than is available in the western press: "We can write about things that Western journalists are too lazy or apathetic to write about...what makes this country fascinating is the details, and that's something we're allowed to focus on."
, the power elite has been too busy stealing and killing to give a fuck about us, allowing us to fly around the capital beneath their radar, like a cruise missile. A real democracy would never let us get off the ground.”
broke up with a well-known celebrity after discovering she had two vaginas. Bure successfully sued the eXile for 500,000 rubles
(about $16,000 U.S.).
. Limonov is the founder and leader of Russia’s banned National Bolshevik Party. In 2002 Limonov was imprisoned on felony charges of purchasing automatic weapons and explosives, but was released halfway through his four-year sentence at the request of several members of the Russian Duma
who protested that the case was politically motivated. In his "eXile" column, Limonov has described several violent episodes from his personal history.
An Indian television channel aired a news story based on eXile's conspiracy theory which resulted in violent protests across the state.
The Reliance Industries plans to file a legal complaint against these media sources for instigating violence.
of stealing IMF funds. After claiming to have forged the letter, Ames was condemned by U.S. Representative Henry Bonilla
(R
-TX
), who demanded that Ames be "prosecuted" and "punished" for forgery
. Some US media outlets also believed that the eXile had sent the letter. After the letter was printed verbatim by Novaya Gazeta
, both it and the eXiles claim of responsibility were covered by Russian news media.
Kiriyenko won a libel suit against Novaya Gazetta on the grounds that the paper had not fact-checked properly. The episode also earned the eXile a "website of the week award," from the Philadelphia weekly City Paper, while the Moscow newspaper Kommersant Vlasti, which believed Ames' claim of responsibility, called him a "hero of Russia."
In the next issue, Ames claimed that the contentious article was a joke, saying it had been inserted as filler on production day. In columns for the eXile and Metroactive, he wrote that he had been followed and harassed as a result of the claim, and that he feared arrest or violent reprisal.
bureau chief Michael Wines
, had a cream pie allegedly made from horse semen flung into his face by Matt Taibbi
. Jonathan Shainin of Salon.com
confirmed the incident, after seeing photographs of the attack. According to Media Life Magazine, the New York Times confirmed via telephone that the incident had occurred but could not confirm the contents of the pie. Media Life also alleged that the attack was retribution for Wines' "fawning coverage of president Vladimir Putin", while according to LA Weekly
Wines' "Putin apologism and ignorance of Russian culture" were the cause. In explaining why it had chosen Wines, the eXile also cited previous criticism of him by the journalism watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
.
reported that the eXile claimed it was under investigation by the Russian Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications and the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Ames said "I get the general sense that they have decided it's time to shut us down, that they're not going to tolerate us anymore." Ames claimed that The eXile's investors were scared off, leaving the paper with no funding. The initial visit by the auditors took place without incident, but shortly thereafter the staff made the decision to leave Russia for the United States.
People close to the eXile, including some investors, claim Ames was using government pressure as a scapegoat because he was tired of publishing. The eXile’s lead investor, Alex Shifrin, whom Ames accused of abandoning him, was quoted as saying, "There are a lot of half-truths as to what happened." Another investor claimed that the officials were simply looking for a bribe. However Ames denies this.
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
-based English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
biweekly free tabloid newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, aimed at the city's expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
community, which combined outrageous, sometimes satirical, content with investigative reporting. In October 2006, co-editor Jake Rudnitsky summarized the eXile's editorial policy to The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
: "We shit on everybody equally." The newspaper is now published in an online-only format.
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine said in 1998 that then-coeditors "Mark Ames
Mark Ames
Mark Ames is a writer known for his work as a Moscow-based expatriate American journalist and editor. He is the founding editor of the satirical biweekly the eXile in Moscow, to which he regularly contributed before he returned to America...
and Matt Taibbi
Matt Taibbi
Matthew C. "Matt" Taibbi is an American author and journalist reporting on politics, media, finance, and sports for Rolling Stone and Men's Journal, often in a polemical style. He has also edited and written for The eXile, the New York Press, and The Beast.- Early years :Taibbi grew up in the...
take the raw material of this decadent new Moscow and convert it into 25,000 instantly snapped-up issues of The eXile, consisting of misogynist rants, dumb pranks, insulting club listings and photos of blood-soaked corpses, all redeemed by political reporting that's read seriously not only in Moscow but also in Washington." A CNN documentary in 1999 focusing on the eXile agreed, saying, "Brazen, irreverent, immodest, and rude, the eXile struggles with the harsh truth of the new century in Russia...Since 1997, Ames and Taibbi have lampooned and investigated greed, corruption, cowardice and complacency." The Moscow Times
The Moscow Times
The Moscow Times is an English-language daily newspaper published in Moscow, Russia since 1992. The circulation in 2008 stood at 35,000 copies and the newspaper is typically given out for free at places English-language "expats" attend, including hotels, cafés and restaurants, as well as by...
writes that "The eXile, which publishes Gonzo-style journalism on topics such as drugs, prostitution and Moscow nightlife side-by-side with political analysis, has often pushed the limits of decency -- not to mention libel law." Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
correspondent Owen Matthews called The eXile "brilliant and outrageous."
Its history saw several practical jokes, including reportedly getting Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
to enter negotiations to secure a position as "perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
coordinator" for the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Jonathan Shainin of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
also wrote in 2005 that the eXile "ran serious press criticism salted with vicious personal attacks on reporters."
On June 19, 2008, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
reported that following a government audit, the paper would cease to be printed and appear only on the internet. On 10 June 2008, columnist Gary Brecher
Gary Brecher
Gary Brecher is the author of The War Nerd, a twice-monthly column discussing current wars and other military conflicts, published in the eXile. A collection of his columns was published by Soft Skull Press in June 2008 ....
("The War Nerd") published a letter on the website asking for donations from readers, saying "it takes money and we have none, zero, aren't even getting paid any more". A month after shutting down, the newspaper launched a web site called eXiled Online. According to Mark Ames, the new site is to "focus more on the United States," though the Saint Peterburg Times reported that co-editor Yasha Levine will remain in Russia "as long as [he] can hold out."
Origins
In 1997, Ames was editor of the English-language Moscow newspaper Living Here. The concept of Living Here was first proposed by Manfred Witteman, who convinced his partner Marina Pshevecherskaya to provide $10,000 of start-up capital. Citing Manfred and Marina's "incessant petty squabbles over money and title" Ames quit Living Here and begin planning his own publication. Ames convinced most of the intermittently paid staff of Living Here to defect to the newly conceived newspaper, the eXile, including sales manager Kara Deyerin, and his replacement editor Kevin McElwee. Manfred and Marina hired Matt Taibbi to counter this rebellion, but he became disillusioned after producing one issue of Living Here. Taibbi also defected and became co-editor of the eXile.Some of the contributors, including Ames, Taibbi, Alexander Zaitchik
Alexander Zaitchik
Alexander Zaitchik is an American freelance journalist who has written for: The Nation, Salon, The New Republic, The New York Observer, AlterNet, Mother Jones, Reason, The International Herald Tribune, Wired, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Believer, and Rolling Stone...
, and John Dolan
John Dolan (writer)
John Carrol Dolan is an American poet, author and essayist. He currently writes for and co-edits the eXile, an English-language paper founded and formerly based in Moscow, Russia, and now based online in California. He was recently laid off from the University of Victoria, British...
, previously worked for the New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
.
Content
Articles published in the eXile have focused both on Moscow- and RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
-related topics, as well as issues of more general interest. Investigative reporting, reviews of Moscow nightlife, concerts, and restaurants, commentary on politics and culture in Russia and America, film and book reviews, and mocking replies to its readers' letters appeared in most issues. The eXile was known for its descriptions of Moscow life. Andrew Meier, who served as Time magazine's Russia correspondent from 1996 until 2001, was quoted by Rolling Stone as saying: "No one describes expat
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
life in Moscow better than the eXile. They hit it right on its ugly head."
"The 90's in Moscow were a great time," Ames told The New York Observer, "like what they say about the 20's in Paris or the early 30's in Berlin. It was completely hedonistic and nihilistic and full of crime....A lot of [Taibbi's] prose was written on smack and a lot of mine was written on speed....We wrote a whole bunch of editorials about the size of Putin's penis.".
Features
- "Whore-R Stories," in which Mark Ames describes an encounter with a prostitute, solicited specifically for the purpose of providing material for the column. Ames includes descriptions of her sexual performance, and body type (and sometimes includes a picture), and focuses on the background, opinions, and personality of the prostitute, as well as the economic and social aspects of prostitution in Moscow.
- "Death Porn," which describes and categorizes gruesome and unusual violent crimes occurring in Russia. This section adopts the graphic and cynical style of Moskovskij Komsomoletss "Срочно в Номер" section.
- "MandelaNelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
Porn," in which Natasha Marchetti covers violent crime and law enforcement in South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, with an emphasis on particularly vicious and dim-witted criminals. In December 2006, nearly two years after her relocation to SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, she renamed the column "Viking Porn" and has since been writing about crime in Sweden. - "Gandhi Porn" in which Alexander Zaitchik covers and reflects on news from IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. - "
[ SIC!] ," contains letters to the editor and the eXile's response. - "The War Nerd," in which self-proclaimed warWarWar is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
nerdNerdNerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
Gary BrecherGary BrecherGary Brecher is the author of The War Nerd, a twice-monthly column discussing current wars and other military conflicts, published in the eXile. A collection of his columns was published by Soft Skull Press in June 2008 ....
provides commentary and analysis of past and present military conflicts. - "The eXile's Field guide to Moscow," a description of the stereotypicallyStereotypeA stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
colorful characters that can be encountered in Moscow, parodying the descriptive style of wildlife or bird-watching guides. - "Feis Kontrol," consisting of impromptu photographs of Moscow nightlife.
- "In Brief," a collection of headlines and short news blurbs in the style of such satirical newspapers as The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
, typically with the aim of lampooning other news sources. - The "Club Guide", a review of Moscow clubs, bars, strip clubs, and other night venues. Each location is given rated as a place to drink, as a place to find casual sex, and on its level of "face controlFace Control-Additional personnel:* Jouko Lehtola - Artwork* Harris Newman - Mastering, Remastering* Dusty Summers - Art Direction* Arlen Thompson - Audio Engineer, Engineer, Mixing-Charts:-Videos:* - Radio K in-studio performance.* - Radio K in-studio performance....
". - "Press Review," consisting of criticism of the coverage of Russian affairs in Western media.
- "SchopenhauerArthur SchopenhauerArthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
Awards," covering the most unpleasant creatures of the animalAnimalAnimals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
kingdom. - "Chess," wherein eXile writers and editors play and analyze chessChessChess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
games against Russian masters and Russian prostitutes. - "Dyev's Diary," in which Lyolya Androsova reflects on the experiences of her Moscow youth.
- "Kino Korner / Kino Kwikeez," which is a review of films currently running in Russian and English language cinemas, as well as a rundown of popular pieces selling at pirate kiosks.
- "Vlad's Daily Gloat," a blogBlogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
-style column in which eXile columnist Vladimir Kalashnikov delivers sarcastic and mocking analysis of American news, including many unfavorable comparisons to Russia.
Ideology
According to John DolanJohn Dolan (writer)
John Carrol Dolan is an American poet, author and essayist. He currently writes for and co-edits the eXile, an English-language paper founded and formerly based in Moscow, Russia, and now based online in California. He was recently laid off from the University of Victoria, British...
, the eXile publishes articles from perspectives not often heard or read elsewhere. He has referred to eXile columnists as "subaltern
Subaltern (post-colonialism)
In postcolonialism and related fields, subaltern refers to persons socially, politically, and geographically outside of the hegemonic power structure.- History :...
," claiming they have been discounted from mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
discourse
Discourse
Discourse generally refers to "written or spoken communication". The following are three more specific definitions:...
s as "sinful," irrelevant, disgusting, misogynistic, or otherwise too objectionable to be heard. As an example, Dolan referenced Gary Brecher
Gary Brecher
Gary Brecher is the author of The War Nerd, a twice-monthly column discussing current wars and other military conflicts, published in the eXile. A collection of his columns was published by Soft Skull Press in June 2008 ....
:
- "Brecher's sensibility...has found hundreds of thousands of fans online. Every day devoted followers write to the War Nerd, giving homage to the only online voice they trust. Yet Brecher's sensibility could never be admitted either to mainstream journalism or to academic writing."
Dolan has cited the eXile
- "By contrast, the eXile was conceived in sin - "and proud of it," as Bart SimpsonBart SimpsonBartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
would say - by refugees from the moral world of the American academic. Its editor, Mark Ames, fled Berkeley to set up his own paper in Moscow, then the sin capital of the world. In 1997, when the eXile began publishing, Moscow was without law - especially libel law."
Additionally, the eXile aims to publish articles about Russia from outside the perspective of mainstream western journalism. According to editor Jake Rudnitsky western reporting on Russia is often biased: "Western newspapers have an agenda, to show that everything in Russia is related to oil prices, and that Putin's this competent but quasi-fascist leader. They don't have the freedom to go out and actually find out what's going on." Rudnitsky has also stated that the eXile aims to give a more detailed view of Russia than is available in the western press: "We can write about things that Western journalists are too lazy or apathetic to write about...what makes this country fascinating is the details, and that's something we're allowed to focus on."
Libel
Former editor Matt Taibbi has said that operating a periodical in Russia was much easier without the burden of American libel laws. Similarly, Ames asserted in his article “Democracy Sucks” that “we'd be sued out of existence within a few weeks of appearing in any Western democracy, but here in Russia, in the so-called kleptocracyKleptocracy
Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often without pretense of honest...
, the power elite has been too busy stealing and killing to give a fuck about us, allowing us to fly around the capital beneath their radar, like a cruise missile. A real democracy would never let us get off the ground.”
Pavel Bure libel lawsuit
In 2001, the eXile published an article falsely claiming hockey star Pavel BurePavel Bure
Pavel Vladimirovich Bure is a retired Russian professional ice hockey right winger. Nicknamed "The Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bure played for 12 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers...
broke up with a well-known celebrity after discovering she had two vaginas. Bure successfully sued the eXile for 500,000 rubles
Russian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...
(about $16,000 U.S.).
Eduard Limonov
"The eXile" regularly publishes columns by the politician, Russian dissident, and avant garde writer Eduard LimonovEduard Limonov
Eduard Limonov is Russian writer and political dissident, and is the founder and leader of radical National Bolshevik Party. An opponent of Vladimir Putin, Limonov is one of leaders of Other Russia political bloc.-Early life:...
. Limonov is the founder and leader of Russia’s banned National Bolshevik Party. In 2002 Limonov was imprisoned on felony charges of purchasing automatic weapons and explosives, but was released halfway through his four-year sentence at the request of several members of the Russian Duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
who protested that the case was politically motivated. In his "eXile" column, Limonov has described several violent episodes from his personal history.
YSR Assassination Conspiracy
The eXile's website apparently published an article claiming that Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani is behind the death of former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr.Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.An Indian television channel aired a news story based on eXile's conspiracy theory which resulted in violent protests across the state.
The Reliance Industries plans to file a legal complaint against these media sources for instigating violence.
Buns McGillicuddy
To mock "face-control" policies at elite clubs in Moscow, the eXile fashioned their intern into a fictitious international nightclubbing celebrity, Buns McGillicuddy. Creating a fake entourage and an absurd music single "Touch my Buns," eXile intern Jeremy Lanou was allowed into the VIP rooms of Moscow's most elite and restrictive clubs.Kiriyenko letter
In a July 2004, an eXile article entitled "We Dunnit! the eXile Prank Hits Halls Of Domer" claimed authorship of the "Kiriyenko letter", a forged document purportedly from five U.S. Republican Congressmen which expressed concern over Russia's "democratic transition," and accused former Russian Prime Minister Sergei KiriyenkoSergei Kiriyenko
Sergey Vladilenovich Kiriyenko is a Russian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Russia from 23 March to 23 August 1998 under President Boris Yeltsin...
of stealing IMF funds. After claiming to have forged the letter, Ames was condemned by U.S. Representative Henry Bonilla
Henry Bonilla
Henry Bonilla is a former congressman who represented Texas's 23rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He was defeated in his bid for re-election by Ciro Davis Rodriguez, a former Democratic member of Congress, in a special election runoff held on December 12, 2006...
(R
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-TX
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
), who demanded that Ames be "prosecuted" and "punished" for forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
. Some US media outlets also believed that the eXile had sent the letter. After the letter was printed verbatim by Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
, both it and the eXiles claim of responsibility were covered by Russian news media.
Kiriyenko won a libel suit against Novaya Gazetta on the grounds that the paper had not fact-checked properly. The episode also earned the eXile a "website of the week award," from the Philadelphia weekly City Paper, while the Moscow newspaper Kommersant Vlasti, which believed Ames' claim of responsibility, called him a "hero of Russia."
In the next issue, Ames claimed that the contentious article was a joke, saying it had been inserted as filler on production day. In columns for the eXile and Metroactive, he wrote that he had been followed and harassed as a result of the claim, and that he feared arrest or violent reprisal.
Pie attack
In March 2001, The eXile set up a single-elimination contest to determine who, in their eyes, was the "most foul hack journalist" in Russia. In each issue, they paired up the previous week's survivors, who were then compared and analysed. The winner, New York Times MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
bureau chief Michael Wines
Michael Wines
Stephen Michael Wines is an American journalist currently based in Beijing. He is the China bureau chief for The New York Times. Previously, he had been The New York Times 's bureau chief in Johannesburg and Moscow.-Education and early career:Wines graduated from Pleasure Ridge Park High School in...
, had a cream pie allegedly made from horse semen flung into his face by Matt Taibbi
Matt Taibbi
Matthew C. "Matt" Taibbi is an American author and journalist reporting on politics, media, finance, and sports for Rolling Stone and Men's Journal, often in a polemical style. He has also edited and written for The eXile, the New York Press, and The Beast.- Early years :Taibbi grew up in the...
. Jonathan Shainin of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
confirmed the incident, after seeing photographs of the attack. According to Media Life Magazine, the New York Times confirmed via telephone that the incident had occurred but could not confirm the contents of the pie. Media Life also alleged that the attack was retribution for Wines' "fawning coverage of president Vladimir Putin", while according to LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
Wines' "Putin apologism and ignorance of Russian culture" were the cause. In explaining why it had chosen Wines, the eXile also cited previous criticism of him by the journalism watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting is a progressive media criticism organization based in New York City, founded in 1986.FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity...
.
Investigation and relocation
On June 5, 2008,the Moscow TimesThe Moscow Times
The Moscow Times is an English-language daily newspaper published in Moscow, Russia since 1992. The circulation in 2008 stood at 35,000 copies and the newspaper is typically given out for free at places English-language "expats" attend, including hotels, cafés and restaurants, as well as by...
reported that the eXile claimed it was under investigation by the Russian Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications and the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Ames said "I get the general sense that they have decided it's time to shut us down, that they're not going to tolerate us anymore." Ames claimed that The eXile's investors were scared off, leaving the paper with no funding. The initial visit by the auditors took place without incident, but shortly thereafter the staff made the decision to leave Russia for the United States.
People close to the eXile, including some investors, claim Ames was using government pressure as a scapegoat because he was tired of publishing. The eXile’s lead investor, Alex Shifrin, whom Ames accused of abandoning him, was quoted as saying, "There are a lot of half-truths as to what happened." Another investor claimed that the officials were simply looking for a bribe. However Ames denies this.
Contributors
- Mark AmesMark AmesMark Ames is a writer known for his work as a Moscow-based expatriate American journalist and editor. He is the founding editor of the satirical biweekly the eXile in Moscow, to which he regularly contributed before he returned to America...
- John DolanJohn Dolan (writer)John Carrol Dolan is an American poet, author and essayist. He currently writes for and co-edits the eXile, an English-language paper founded and formerly based in Moscow, Russia, and now based online in California. He was recently laid off from the University of Victoria, British...
- Edward Limonov
- Matt TaibbiMatt TaibbiMatthew C. "Matt" Taibbi is an American author and journalist reporting on politics, media, finance, and sports for Rolling Stone and Men's Journal, often in a polemical style. He has also edited and written for The eXile, the New York Press, and The Beast.- Early years :Taibbi grew up in the...
- Denis SalnikovDenis SalnikovDenis Salnikov is a former byline appearing on the Club Review of the eXile, an English-language Moscow newspaper. According to a LiveJournal post, Salnikov is a "fictional personage"....
- Gary BrecherGary BrecherGary Brecher is the author of The War Nerd, a twice-monthly column discussing current wars and other military conflicts, published in the eXile. A collection of his columns was published by Soft Skull Press in June 2008 ....
- Thierry MarignacThierry MarignacThierry Marignac is a French writer and journalist.-Biography:Marignac was married to Natalya Medvedeva in 1985. In a column composed shortly after her death, Marignac wrote that the marriage had been enacted in order to allow Medvedeva to remain in Paris.In another column, Marignac recounts his...
- Yasha Levine
- Alexander ZaitchikAlexander ZaitchikAlexander Zaitchik is an American freelance journalist who has written for: The Nation, Salon, The New Republic, The New York Observer, AlterNet, Mother Jones, Reason, The International Herald Tribune, Wired, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Believer, and Rolling Stone...
- Kirill Pankratov
- Full author list.
See also
- The Hungry DuckThe Hungry DuckThe Hungry Duck was a legendary Moscow bar of the 1990s. At the peak of its popularity, "the Duck", as it was known, was an icon of Moscow hedonism, an unbridled, sexual, and sometimes violent venue. The Duck's "Ladies Night" was exceptionally popular, bringing in as many as 920 women in a single...
- Gonzo journalismGonzo journalismGonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to be first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style...
- The Beast (newspaper)The Beast (newspaper)The Beast was originally a Buffalo, New York alternative biweekly newspaper which now publishes exclusively online.The Beast was founded by Matt Taibbi, Kevin McElwee and Paul Fallon in 2002. The format was originally a free biweekly newspaper, but changed in 2007 when it began to charge for...
- Moskovskaya KomsomolkaMoskovskaya KomsomolkaMoskovskaya Komsomolka was a satirical newspaper published weekly in Russia . The newspaper had a fixed 32 page layout.-Presentation:...
External links
- "Lost Exile: The unlikely life and sudden death of The Exile, Russia’s angriest newspaper", by James Verini, Vanity FairVanity Fair (magazine)Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
"Web Exclusive", February 23, 2010.