Are Russian Billionaires Like Alexander Lebedev Print Media’s Only Hope?

Alexander Lebedev, the hippest oligarch in town, is closing in on the Evening Standard, and possibly the Independent as well, according to the Times, with Tatler editor Geordie Greig lined up to take over from current editor Veronica Wadley,and Lebedev’s underemployed hipster son Evgeny also expected to take some role.

This news comes after his spokesperson Artyom Artyomov  (could Sacha Baron Cohen have a hand in this story??) caused confusion yesterday by telling the Interfax news agency that Lebedev was NOT planning to buy the Standard, but was “still interested in acquiring “quality newspapers confronted by economic problems” and could not rule out buying “an influential foreign publication this year.”

Could he possibly mean the New York Times or even another flailing giant of the American newspaper world? Er… that is to say, all of them. 

Lebedev, who Forbes estimated was worth US $3.1 billion in May 2008 can definitely afford to take over a major player, although he told the Telegraph in December 2008 that he had lost two-thirds of his wealth as a result of the financial crisis – a potential exaggeration that should be taken with a great shovelful of salt.

However, Artymov’s comments were a likely ruse to smoke out Lord Rothermere, as the chairman of the Daily Mail Group (who own Associated Newspapers and thus the Standard) is believed to be wary of becoming the first major British newspaper proprietor to sell out to an ex-KGB spook. For their part, the British press have already nicknamed Lebedev “The Spy Who Came in for the Gold”.

Current speculation has it that Lebedev will purchase the Standard for a mere £1, on account of the paper’s ongoing losses, which are said to be approximately £10 million a year. 

The government will no doubt be concerned about an ex-KGB man controlling one of the UK’s most influential papers, but Lebedev has claimed he has no interest in exerting editorial control.

Could his interest in the Standard be purely benign?

In his Interfax statement Artymov said Lebedev “… deems it extremely important to provide financial protection to free and independent mass media in Russia and abroad” and there’s a good chance this might be true. Novaya Gazeta, the Russian newspaper he part owns, is well respected for its independence, and also for being the home of the hugely respected journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whose weekly reports were often critical of the Russian government and its role in the Chechen conflict.

(Politskovaya was assassinated in October 7, 2006 in the elevator of her apartment building with many suspecting the hand of the Russian state; in 2001 Politskovaya had been subjected to a mock execution in Chechnya by a lieutenant colonel of the FSB, Russia’s federal security force).

Recently the Standard’s reputation has taken a dive, particularly during the London Mayoral election in summer 2008, when the paper’s bias towards Boris Johnson and against his rival Ken Livingstone – although Livingstone admittedly had some previous with the paper – was laughable, and also a clear conflict of interest: Associated Newspaper’s exclusive distribution contract with Transport for London, which gives their profitable free newspaper Metro exclusive distribution at London Underground stations, was up for review in 2010 by the incoming Mayor. In addition, Evening Standard editor Veronica Wadley was formerly a colleague and friend of Johnson’s from their time at the Daily Telegraph.

Lebedev is unlikely to drive through such a brazen, one-eyed political agenda at the Standard, if only because the British commentariat will be watching him so closely. He might even raise standards – and who would argue if London’s most famous newspaper ended up employing more Anna Politskovayas and less Laura Tophams in the future? 

Posted by Jack Roberts in Creative Economy | January 16, 2009 5:19PM |