Springer: Russian Newsweek magazine discontinued
After six years, Axel Springer Verlag has once again shut down the loss-making, Kremlin-critical news magazine Russki Newsweek. The company announced this on Monday.
Since its publication in mid-2004, this licensed edition of the US news magazine Newsweek has been regarded as the flagship of independent journalism in the Russian market, which is otherwise heavily dominated by state media. Most recently, the liberal newspaper Kommersant in Moscow reported that the Russian multi-billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was negotiating the takeover with Springer. According to reports, however, the Russian leadership ultimately rejected the deal.
The circulation of Russki Newsweek was recently just over 50,000, which media analysts had described as low. They saw this as an indication that there is little interest in elaborately and expensively researched journalism in Russia. "Unfortunately, we have not succeeded in putting the title on a solid economic footing in the long term and giving it a corresponding perspective," said the President of Axel Springer International, the Swiss Ralph Büchi, according to a press release. Citing experts, Kommersant had estimated the annual loss at the equivalent of around 480,000 francs per year. Axel Springer Russia also publishes the Russian-language magazines Computer Bild, Forbes and OK!
The circulation of Russki Newsweek was recently just over 50,000, which media analysts had described as low. They saw this as an indication that there is little interest in elaborately and expensively researched journalism in Russia. "Unfortunately, we have not succeeded in putting the title on a solid economic footing in the long term and giving it a corresponding perspective," said the President of Axel Springer International, the Swiss Ralph Büchi, according to a press release. Citing experts, Kommersant had estimated the annual loss at the equivalent of around 480,000 francs per year. Axel Springer Russia also publishes the Russian-language magazines Computer Bild, Forbes and OK!
