(Point & Counterpoint | By Gleb Cherkasov) On May 20, 2019, the entire political desk of the Kommersant publishing house, including myself (deputy chief editor) and special correspondent Anna Pushkarskaya, announced that we had submitted our resignations. This move was our protest against the firing of the deputy head of the political desk Maksim Ivanov and special correspondent Ivan Safronov, which we all regarded as unfair.
The management of the publishing house accused Ivanov and Safronov of violating the editorial standards in an article that claimed that Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko was about to take another job. From a moral standpoint, our decision to collectively quit appeared to be the most obvious thing to do. From the point of view of our career prospects, however, it seemed sheer madness.
In 2019, the Kommersant publishing house was still ranked among the leaders of the Russian media market. Being a Kommersant reporter was a prestigious job. […]
