Parfenonsense - Kommersant Moscow

Late Tuesday evening, NTV general manager Nikolai Senkevich fired Leonid Parfenov, author and host of the program Namedni, for the following official reason: “On the grounds of violation by Leonid Parfenov of a labor contract obliging him to support the policy of the television company’s management.” In fact, the journalist was fired for telling Kommersant that an interview with Zelimkhan Yandarbiev’s widow Malika on the Sunday program Namedni was deleted by a decision of the channel’s management (see Kommersant of May 31). Kommersant reporter Arina Borodina went to Ostankino to see what was happening at NTV after the announcement of Leonid Parfenov’s dismissal.

On Sunday, by written order of NTV’s deputy general manager, Aleksandr Gerasimov, a piece by journalist Elena Samoilova, Married to Zelimkhan, was cut from the NTV program Namedni in the European part of the Russia after being shown during the day in the Far East, Siberia, and the Urals. The piece consisted mainly of an interview with Malika Yandarbieva, widow of Chechen separatist leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. Leonid Parfenov, the author and host of Namedni, told Kommersant that Mr. Gerasimov had banned the showing of the piece at the request of special service officials. Mr. Parfenov demanded a written order to cut the piece, which Kommersant published on Monday. Mr. Gerasimov subsequently declared that communication of an internal company document to the press was “an inadmissible breach of corporate ethics.” To all appearances Leonid Parfenov has worked at the channel since it was founded more than ten years ago, is leaving NTV once and for all. And Namedni, which was the most highly rated public affairs program, will no longer be shown.

The first thing you notice on the ninth floor of Ostankino is that the nameplates on the doors of the three rooms where Namedni is located are turned upside down, evidently as a sign of protest. There is hardly anyone in the rooms. Leonid Parfenov’s secretary Natasha is very upset. Her phone is ringing off the hook; everyone wants to get a comment on the reason for Leonid Parfenov’s firing, and she laments: “How could they? How could they fire such a journalist! Look, by this morning they ‘d already closed our site and closed the Namedni forum; there aren’t even any links to Namedni on the NTV site, and they’ve already removed information about Leonid’s dismissal from the site news. And they did all this instantly.”

The voice of Leonid Parfenov, apparently on the air, is suddenly heard in the deserted corridor. He is saying something about Qatar. In turns that the door in the cutting next to the waiting room for Namedni’s host was open. A member of his team is sitting there, and for some reason he is watching the same interview with Malika Yandarbieva for which Leonid Parfenov was fired.

The item is short. Malika is on camera, her head covered with a black nekab veil with only tiny eye slits that do not show her eyes. She speaks quietly and says very little—who helped her and her children after her husband’s death and how. As the interview is going on, two more correspondents enter the room; they discuss how they need to put NTV’s logo in a corner of the frame. I ask them: “Why are you watching it again – are you memorizing it?” “Where are you from? – they ask me distrustfully in response. I answer that I’m from Kommersant. The correspondents sigh and say that the topic was so-so, ordinary, and explain that now while there is still time they need to copy it onto another tape. Part of the job.

Meanwhile, a group of more than ten young people are sitting in the center of Ostankino’s only café on the first floor. They look sad. This is Namedni’s team. Not all the faces are recognizable; among the correspondents Yuliya Varentsova looks especially despondent for some reason. I catch snatches of sentences of one of the program’s editors, Nikolai Kartozy, who turns to Namedni correspondent Andrei Shilov with an ironic grin: “Oh, Andryukha, I don’t what you’re going to do; it’s not as if they’ll take you on Lichny vklad [Personal Contribution (Aleksandr Gerasimov’s weekly program aired on Saturdays – Kommersant)]…” From the corridor of Ostankino, a crowd of film crews with TV cameras, one of them from the BBC, is milling about on the street at entrance #17, through which NTV film crews usually pass. NTV correspondent Pavel Lobkov, who is one of the people usually associated with Namedni, is giving an interview in a circle of journalists. Then Leonid Parfenov comes down to them and after a while goes back up to his office.

Reporter Andrei Loshak, frowning and unshaven, shows up in the Namedni rooms; Aleksei Pivovarov came to see Leonid Parfenov a little later and said they had decided to postpone the meeting called by Aleksandr Gerasimov to discuss the fate of the program Strana i mir [The Country and the World (Leonid Parfenov was the head of this project)] for a week. About ten of Leonid Parfenov’s correspondents were standing in the corridor near his office. No one was discussing anything. Everyone was silent.

Meanwhile, it was empty and silent on the eighth floor where all of NTV’s news service and executive offices are located. A meeting had been going on since 12.00. In Nikolai Senkevich’s office were his deputy, Aleksandr Gerasimov, and Kirill Nabutov , NTV’s senior producer. They met for more than three hours. At one point, Mr. Nabutov appeared briefly in the waiting room and then disappeared again behind the door of the general manager’s office.

Mr. Senkevich’s secretary said flatly that her boss was very busy and had no time to talk to the press. There was virtually no chance of getting any comments. But suddenly, just as they were about to call an NTV camera crew to record an interview for the program Segodnya (Today), Mr. Senkevich came out to his waiting room for a minute. I took advantage of the situation, despite his secretary’s energetic protest and her indignant exclamation (“I’ve already warned you that Nikolai Yurevich is very busy”), and rushed over to Mr. Senkevich, asking him to comment on the situation around Namedni and Leonid Parfenov’s dismissal. Nikolai Senkevich looked very tired and worried. He was silent for a few minutes but then invited me into his office.

Photo: Sergey Mikheyev

Leonid Parfenov

“They Wanted Me to go Wrong”

Right after Leonid Parfenov received his notice of dismissal from NTV, he told Kommersant reporter Arina Borodina how and why he was fired.

– If you had known how the business with this piece would end, would you have passed Alexander Gerasimov's order to Kommersant and publicized the decision by NTV's management to ban the interview with Malika Yandarbieva?

– What other decisions could I have made? I don't see any.

– The official reason for your dismissal is that you violated corporate ethics by making an internal document public…

– That's all. In my opinion, the main violation of all conceivable ethics in the media is failure to fulfill journalistic duty. Furthermore, management never said it was an internal document but said pompously, “Lay it all on us”. I said I wouldn't assume the blame for this disgrace, because you should never do an exclusive that the entire team has worked on and which a lot of people know about, and then not show it. That's all.

– But didn't you simply provoke the situation with your actions, thinking you were immune and without considering that Nikolai Senkevich might fire you?

– I didn't provoke anything. Maybe they wanted me to go wrong, because they've always had a grudge against me, especially recently. They would have picked on something else, for example, how Namedni covered the president's inauguration or his address to the Federal Assembly. Or some other thing…

– Do you think it was Mr. Senkenvich himself who made the decision to fire you or the Kremlin?

– If it had been his personal decision, Senkevich would have made it long ago. Of course, he needed someone's authorization.

– How did he inform you that you had been fired from NTV?

– He called me at 21.00 on Tuesday. I went. He was sitting there in dark glasses. The substance of the conversation was one question. NTV's general manager asked: “What's this bulls…t?!”

– And what did you say?

– I said: you can ask after you open the door across the way – that is, to Gerasimov's office. The entire conversation lasted only a minute and at the end he said, “You're fired.” He also said something about these clauses in the agreement on unauthorized interviews, but up to now I've given about 185.

– Did your personal differences with Alexander Gerasimov, whom you actually worked with on the same level, have any part in your dismissal?

– Of course. Gerasimov was simultaneously a kind of boss and a rival. This is conflict of interests, to use the modern expression. What's more, his program shamelessly hacked subjects, style, presentation, and even headings to pieces. You know that Marlboro Lights came out before Marlboro. Well, they like Marlboro Lights, but red Marlboros annoy them.

– Are they accusing you of not supporting the company line?

– In the six months under the present management I have never taken part in a single conversation on the company line. How do they interpret it generally? How is NTV doing and how should it be doing? We lived here in these three rooms, more or less incubated and then produced a product that audiences wanted. You know, the management of a TV company shouldn't just hand out important instructions. What is the function of deputy general news manager? He sits by a warm radiator in Moscow, but the film crew is out somewhere swallowing dust to bring back exclusive interviews. And without providing anything or getting any information for us or anyone else, he just sits there and says, “No that won't do”. I worked for various media in Soviet times, but even then this kind of executive was rare. A media executive had to be a person who determined a certain broadcasting policy, someone who tried to win some opportunities or preferences for the TV company.

– We have examples of this kind of executive, like Oleg Dobrodeev at the All-Russian State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK) or Konstantin Ernst at First Channel (Pervy kanal). Would that have changed anything?

– You know, if Oleg took something off the air when he was working at NTV, he would offer a lot of suggestions and provide information. We did everything ourselves at Namedni, and then someone would come to us and say it was no good, because he was the boss and we were idiots.

– Are you going to contest an order with such strange wording?

– Who do you think I am, Anastasia Volochkova? My main question is whether the program will be canceled or stay on the air. Do you think I want endless legal battles in the Savelovsky Intercity Court?

– You said the interview with Mrs. Yandarbieva was being postponed. As far as I know, the president's press secretary, Aleksei Gromov, asked you about this, and it's being said that the whole business with publicizing the ban on showing the interview on NTV caused a disturbance in the Kremlin.

– I really don't know about that. But in principal, yes, our whole ideology, especially television, naturally depends on the Kremlin.

– Couldn't you just not show the program at all if they've banned your topic or just mention it on Namedni?

– That would be a kind of on-the-air hooliganism. A broadcast has to run as a broadcast. It's stupid to interrupt it with announcements about itself. That's the law of the genre.

– What will happen to the Namedni correspondents?

– It's hard for me to say anything right now. I don't have clear idea of my possibilities. I told them I wanted to take a breather for a while and then I'll let them know what my plans are. Maybe there will be some opportunities for them in whatever I do.

– This isn't the first time you've left NTV. Could you end up coming back in the fall?

– That's just a fantasy now.

– What are you planning to do next?

– I've worked in this building for 18 years, ten and a half of them for NTV. The end of one thing has to be the beginning of another. I have to think about it. None of this is very pretty and probably not a very even course. We were trying to realize our ideas and produce television “in the public eye”. Unfortunately, it ended painfully…

– Are the state channels a possibility for you?

– I don't think they would want me in public affairs broadcasting. Where would they put a thistle like me in their strawberry fields?

– Do you have anything else to discuss with Mr. Senkevich?

– I don't think I'll ever discuss anything with him.

Photo: Aleksey Kudenko

NTV General Director Nikolai Senkevich

Plenty Occasions to Discharge Parfenov

NTV General Director Nikolai Senkevich informed the reporter of Kommersant Arina Borodina that the decision to fire Leonid Parfenov was made without any direction from the Kremlin.

- Did you consult anybody while making the decision about firing Leonid Parfenov?

- No, only my colleagues.

- In other words, you didn't get any phone calls from the Kremlin, or maybe you did consult somebody there after all?

- No, nobody. It was my own decision.

- As far as I know, the appearance of the interview with Malika Yandarbieva in reality was banned by the press-secretary Aleksey Gromov…

- We are talking about two different things: the banned interview, and the discharge. Leonid Gennadievich was fired not because he didn't put out the interview, but because of what happened afterwards. I support the decision made by Gerasimov regarding the interview. I've mentioned before that while the complications progress in Qatar we base our reports on facts only. The situation there is very complicated, two of our guys are there, and we cannot predict reactions.

- Could it be just an excuse to get rid of an old problem connected to the program of Leonid Parfenov?

- There have been plenty of occasions to fire Parfenov, but I didn't do that. It's not like it was written in my organizer: 8 p.m. – dismiss Parfenov.

- When you were making the decision about closing Namedni did you realize that you were depriving the channel of one of the top rating TV projects, which provided a substantial income from advertisements?

- It was a hard decision to make. And all the problems you just mentioned are real. There simply was not another way out of this situation. If we are talking about the business factor, then the basis of any business is founded on the corporative ethics, discipline and team work.

- What was the last straw? Was it the publication of the copy of the decree in Kommersant?

- I think that internal documents of a company may not be made public. Any director in any company would make the same decision. I do realize that Parfenov is talented, one of the most talented. But no degree of talent gives a right to violate corporate ethics. Especially since it's not the first incident. You know how it is said to turn the other cheek; I simply have no more space left to turn.

- What program will take the place of Namedni?

- At first it will be movies, and then we leave for vacations. I expect we'll have an idea by September.

- Can Parfenov be replaced by Alexander Gerasimov's Lichny Vklad (Personal Contribution)?

- I don't see any expediency in that.

- The destiny of Strana i Mir (the Country and the World) has been long under suspense. Will it become easier to resolve this issue with Parfenov's discharge?

- Strana i Mir is new and rather contradicting. It is first of all oriented towards a large megapolis, such as Moscow. As far as the rest of Russia is concerned, it covers same problems as any other news program. These problems will be dealt with by market experts and sociologists. As of now, there are no plans to stifle the program by all means.

- Did your main share holder, head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller show any interest with the details of the incident?

- I simply picked up the phone and informed Aleksey Borisovich. He took my information into consideration.

- Is the return of Namedni to NTV possible?

- Having worked at the TV world for almost a year and a half, I do not exclude any possibilities. However, nobody has discussed anything about the subject. For now we have the order of dismissal, let's settle questions as they arrive.

How Parfenov Was Leaving NTV

First time Parfenov announced his resignation from NTV during the heat of the conflict when the channel was being transferred into the property of Gazprom-Media. The night of April 6, 2001 Mr. Parfenov announced that he was leaving the NTV in the live broadcast of Antropologia. April 7, he published in Kommersant an open letter to NTV General Director Evgeny Kiselev, criticizing Kiselev’s actions and confirming his decision to resign: “You may consider this as a resignation notice, you’ll receive the formal paper by fax. There is nowhere to go to on the television, I am leaving for nowhere.” April 14, after the change of leadership on NTV Leonid Parfenov continued his work for the channel.

Mikhail Seslavinsky Is Prepared to Support Leonid Parfenov Materially

Mikhail Seslavinsky, head of the Federal Press and Information Agency, is not ruling out the possibility that in future, his department may support TV host Leonid Parfenov’s projects with special grants. “Obviously, a talented journalist who has done a great deal to develop independent national television should not be lost,” Mr. Seslavinsky said after a meeting with Mr. Parfenov on Wednesday evening. The head of the federal agency also noted that, “a large part of Parfenov’s work consisted not only of direct television broadcasts, but also the development of other television programs and televised films.” “It’s still hard to be specific, but I think that if necessary the agency may support this line of Leonid’s work by allocating financial grants. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Parfenov is limited to this kind of activity on the television market,” Mikhail Seslavinsky emphasized. At the same time, Mr. Seslavinsky refused to comment on the firing of Namedni’s author, saying there was “no real sense in commenting on a decision that has already been made.” “What happened, happened,” he said in summing up.

Namedni to be Replaced by a Blockbuster

According to Kommersant a minute of commercials in Namedni costs $12-13 thousand. Such high cost (compare: a commercial minute in Lichny Vklad, broadcasted on Saturday evening costs approximately twice less) was the result of very high rating of the program: lately Namedni had been leading the Sunday broadcasts. Namedni’s duration was 1,5-2 hours, out of which the commercials took about 15 minutes. Therefore each broadcast brought at least $200 thousand. Some experts, asked by Kommersant, say that the commercial gatherings could have been as high as $300 thousand per one broadcast: Namedni had a circle of advertisers, who particularly preferred this broadcast and where willing to pay extra for the right to be advertised there. Therefore, the yearly income brought to NTV by Namedni made approximately $10-15 million, which was about 5-7% of all advertisement income of the channel: experts’ evaluate NTV last year’s commercial income about $200 million.

Five Most Popular NTV Programs for January–May 2004
	Date shown	Rating (%)*	Share (%)**
January
1. Art film Overboard	04.01	14	28.1
2. Series Taxi Driver	26.01	12	25.5
3. Art film A Fine Trick	31.01	11.7	25.3
4. Talk show Freedom of Speech	23.01	10.2	23.8
5. Namedni	18.01	10.1	20.5
February
1. Today (special edition at	06.02	16.3	33.1
20.57)
2. Talk show Freedom of Speech	06.02	14.5	32.6
3. Namedni	15.02	13.6	26.2
4. Art film In August ‘44	23.02	11.7	23.2
5. Series I'll Make My Own Decisions	02.02	11	23.4
March
1. Namedni	21.03	13.6	28.8
2. Talk show Freedom of Speech	14.03	11.4	33.5
(special edition)
3. Today ( special	14.03	11.3	45.5
edition at 00.46)
4. Art film Difficult Target	21.03	9.4	21.2
5. Today (19.00)	16.03	9.3	27.4
April
1. Art film Voroshilov	10.04	12.1	27.1
Gunner
2. Namedni	04.04	11.3	24.2
3. Talk show To the Barrier!	01.04	11.1	30.1
4. Series MUR Is MUR	15.04	9	20.8
5. Talk show Freedom of Speech	02.04	8.6	22.4
May
1. Series Balzac's	26.05	10.8	25.9
Years ...
2. Series Gentlemen Officers	18.05	10.8	31.1
3. Namedni	30.05	10.2	26.4
4. Today (19.00)	04.05	10	30.5
5. Talk show To the Barrier!	07.05	8.4	21.5
* Rating – percentage of people who watched the given program out of the total population. ** Share – percentage of people who watched the given program out of the total number of people who were watching television at the time Data provided by TNS Gallup Media. Audience: Moscow , 18+.

Who Else to be Fired from NTV?

Alfred Kokh, former director of Gazprom-media:
- How would I know? Lenya most likely was fired because Gerasimov got tired of occupying the spot in the middle of the Saturday schedule. The Sunday evening, formerly occupied by Lenya, was a better deal. So I think that soon we will be seeing Gerasimov instead of Lenya.

Valentin Rasputin, writer:
- If there are any more boors, and journalists, who present problems as arrogantly as Parfenov, then they should probably be fired too. Also I'd fire Mikhail Shvydkoi (former minister of culture – Kommersant) from all channels. He provokes the audience by questions about if obscene language needs to be used in literature, or sex in art. It's ok to have a discussion about it, but his program doesn't really care to ask the question, it simply asserts that they are needed. Such arrogant attitude towards the audience must be suppressed on every channel.

Sergei Mayorov, the host of Istorii v Detalyakh (History in details) on the STS channel, former employee of NTV:
- Nobody. There will be a mass leaving of the company without it. Parfenov has a charismatic personality, therefore many of his colleages will leave. The television of Ruslana Pisanka and Natella Boltyanskaya is doomed to fail. The NTV talented journalists have already been dissolved in other channels like aspirin.

Mikhail Gluz, General Director of the Mikhoels International Culture Center, national artist of Russia:
- Of all creative workers there is nobody else to fire, nobody measures up to Parfenov. I don't exclude that the change will influence the leadership of NTV: disappearance of the top rating program will definitely have its effect on the channel's budget. However, Namedni will be restored at some other private channel.

Oleg Kuvaev, General Director of Mult.ru:
- Mitkova – they'd been fired together once. Parfenov was fired in order to prove to all that if he can be fired than others are much more subject to it.

Alexander Nevzorov, State Duma deputy, TV journalist:
- There is nobody else left to fire. Parfenov didn't fit the picture, was too bright on the dull flower-bed of Russian TV, so he was weeded out. And it's normal. Television must be under control.

Lev Novozhenov, TV host:
- Don't ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for you. Today it has tolled for Parfenov, two years ago – for Kiselev. Discharging somebody is not the only way to shut one's mouth, you can exert influence by paychecks.

Sergei Kupriyanov, press-secretary of chairman of Gazprom board of directors:
- NTV Personnel policy is the prerogative of General Director of the company. Nickolai Senkevich is the one to direct the channel and decide whom to hire and whom to dismiss. We have not interfered and are not interfering in the editorial policy of the channel.