The 2006-11-17 (#251) front page of the eXile, featuring a redesigned masthead |
|
| Type | Alternative weekly |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Independent |
| Publisher | Konstantin Boukarev |
| Editor-in-chief | Mark Ames Yasha Levine |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Moscow, Russia |
| Official website | exiledonline.com |
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."[1] The newspaper is now published in an online-only format.[2]
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."[3] 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."[4] 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."[5] Newsweek correspondent Owen Matthews called The eXile "brilliant and outrageous." [6]
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.[7] 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.[8] 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".[9] A month after shutting down, the newspaper launched a web site[10] 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."[10]
Contents |
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.[11] 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.[11]
Some of the contributors, including Ames, Taibbi, Alexander Zaitchik, and John Dolan, previously worked for the New York Press.
Articles published in the eXile have focused both on Moscow- and Russia-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." [3]
"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.".[12]
According to John Dolan, the eXile publishes articles from perspectives not often heard or read elsewhere.[13] He has referred to eXile columnists as "subaltern," claiming they have been discounted from mainstream discourses 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 eXile's 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."[1] 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."[1]
Former editor Matt Taibbi has said that operating a periodical in Russia was much easier without the burden of American libel laws.[14] 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 kleptocracy, 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.”[15]
In 2001, the eXile published an article falsely claiming hockey star Pavel Bure 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.).[16]
"The eXile" regularly publishes columns by the politician, Russian dissident, and avant garde writer Eduard Limonov. Limonov is the founder and leader of Russia’s banned National Bolshevik Party.[17] 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.[18][19] In his "eXile" column, Limonov has described several violent episodes from his personal history.
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.[20] An Indian television channel aired a news story based on eXile's conspiracy theory which resulted in violent protests across the state.[21] The Reliance Industries plans to file a legal complaint against these media sources for instigating violence.[22]
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.[23]
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 Kiriyenko 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.[24] Some US media outlets also believed that the eXile had sent the letter.[25] After the letter was printed verbatim by Novaya Gazeta, both it and the eXile's claim of responsibility were covered by Russian news media.[26] [27][28] Kiriyenko won a libel suit against Novaya Gazetta on the grounds that the paper had not fact-checked properly.[29] The episode also earned the eXile a "website of the week award," from the Philadelphia weekly City Paper,[30] while the Moscow newspaper Kommersant Vlasti, which believed Ames' claim of responsibility, called him a "hero of Russia."[31]
In the next issue, Ames claimed that the contentious article was a joke, saying it had been inserted as filler on production day.[32] 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.[24]
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.[33] In each issue, they paired up the previous week's survivors, who were then compared and analysed. The winner, New York Times Moscow bureau chief Michael Wines, had a cream pie allegedly made from horse semen[34] flung into his face by Matt Taibbi.[35] Jonathan Shainin of Salon.com confirmed the incident, after seeing photographs of the attack.[36] 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",[37] while according to LA Weekly Wines' "Putin apologism and ignorance of Russian culture" were the cause.[34] 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.[38]
On June 5, 2008,the Moscow Times reported that the eXile claimed it was under investigation by the Russian Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications and the Protection of Cultural Heritage.[5] 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.[2]
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.[39]