Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Polytechnic University continues its "You Have the Floor!" project, where students and staff meet renowned professionals and ask them questions. The twelfth invited expert is Alexander Gorshkov, editor-in-chief of the online publication Fontanka.ru.
Our guest graduated from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute with a degree in hydraulic engineering. Interestingly, Alexander gained his first journalistic experience during his studies, at the newspaper "Politechnic." After graduation, he worked for several years as a design engineer, after which he joined the newspaper "Smena" as a correspondent, where he gained his first experience in investigative journalism.
In 1996, he became one of the founders of the Agency for Journalistic Investigations, and in 2000, of the information and socio-political electronic newspaper Fontanka.ru.
Laureate of the Golden Pen competition in 1996 and 2007 (Grand Prix).
You studied at the Polytechnic University and were aiming for an engineering major. What ultimately prompted you to stay in journalism?
To understand the answer to this question, you have to go back 35 years. Back then, our country, our city, was in full swing. It was a time when some people were starting to make billions, others were becoming criminals. But I had the chance to become a journalist. I sometimes regret not becoming an engineer, but I don't regret becoming a journalist. After all, I managed to accomplish something along the way—help people, create events. And, of course, our achievement is the Fontanka River itself, which has become part of St. Petersburg's history.
— Who are your readers, and has Fontanka's target audience changed since the 2000s?
"Every piece of news has its own target audience, that's always been the case. But for us, all of them are equally important."
Looking at the metrics now, we see a roughly equal ratio of men and women. There's also a breakdown by age, industry, and income. Our average reader is male or female, 30-40 years old, with a higher education and above-average income.
— When you created the online publication, did you, as a journalist, understand what you were getting into?
"No, because there were very few online information resources back then. At the time, we had a weekly newspaper that we published, but we came from a daily newspaper background. And it seemed like we'd finally get it all done and be able to write news every day. We did, but someone had to write it. First, they put one person in jail, then another, and gradually built up their muscle."
— Have there ever been situations where a journalistic investigation began as a simple news story and then developed into a full-fledged investigation?
"It's all too common. Investigations often arise from simple human observations. This is one of the sources of information for journalistic topics."
The 1997 film "Wag the Dog" or "The Tail Wagging the Dog" contains a very good example of a government contract, where a politician's reputation needed to be protected, and a news story was created that later shaped reality. Did Fontanka ever receive such government contracts, given that there are almost no independent media outlets left today?
— Regarding independent media, we need to determine who is independent of whom, because there are state-owned media outlets and there are non-state media outlets, but non-state media outlets still have an owner, with the exception of something very niche. Speaking of Fontanka, until 2013, its owners and co-founders were four individuals, including me. In this regard, we were dependent only on ourselves. In 2013, we sold a controlling stake to Bonnier Business Press, a renowned Swedish publishing house with a 200-year history. In 2016, the legislation changed, and the Swedes sold their stake to developers engaged in business. Three years later, they sold their stake to the well-known media manager Viktor Shkulev.
From whom exactly are we independent? From the government? Yes. Do we have a controlling shareholder? Yes. Do I, as editor-in-chief, listen to what the controlling shareholder says? Yes, but that doesn't mean they're constantly telling me anything. But we have an editorial policy that we've formulated, that we adhere to, and which, by the way, hasn't fundamentally changed over the past 10 years, except perhaps for legislative changes.
I'll give you another classification, which is perhaps more important. There are media outlets that operate in the market and those that don't. Those that operate in the market are those that earn their own money. Fontanka earns its own money and still does so reasonably well. This is a rare situation in our media market. If we were constantly fulfilling government contracts, it would quickly become obvious to our readers, and we would stop earning money. If you simply pay close attention to the top news items on Zen every day, you'll easily train your eye to distinguish news that comes from outside sources from those that originated within.
Fontanka, like virtually all publishing houses, works with a variety of materials. These can range from news to interviews. Where is the line drawn between public interest and information about a person's private life? Who defines this line?
"It's partly simple, and partly not. There are a huge number of legal restrictions that we must adhere to. We have a legal department. All controversial issues, all texts that could lead to liability, are reviewed by lawyers. This doesn't mean that if a lawyer has reviewed it, there's a guarantee of safety. There are no insurance policies at the moment."
In general, this is probably more of an ethical question. We have established ethical standards that must be adhered to.
— How did the idea for witty headlines come up on Fontanka? How do you come up with such headlines?
"If you look at Fontanka's history, there was nothing there that was born from the very beginning. Except that we want to make news and talk about what interests us and our readers. So, the headlines used to be simple and informative. Only in recent years have they become what they are today. They're getting attention from industry sources. Perhaps this is because one of our editorial criteria is the best headlines. And so our colleagues get creative."
These days, journalism, public relations, and PR are different things, but at the same time, they're very close. It's a complex business with algorithms and its own rules. And if I want a piece of news to take off and attract an audience, we come up with more than just a headline for the website, but also separate ones for Zen, Yandex, and SEO. That's how we drive traffic.
On the surface, it all seems very simple: there's a resource, there's an audience, there's an advertiser. But everything is governed by algorithms, and understanding and managing them is the most valuable tool for achieving success.
— What is your opinion on the use of artificial intelligence for writing articles or press releases?
"I use it myself when I need to write a press release, a news story, or something else. But any artificial intelligence, to get the desired result, needs a brain, a properly composed prompt, and the right keywords. Of course, you need to check the result. But if you set the right prompt and also say, 'I want this there, and refine this,' you get the desired result."
— Are you able to successfully distinguish texts written by AI from those written by your employees?
"I don't really care who wrote them, as long as they meet standards. We have our own standards and criteria for writing news. If the text meets them, I don't care who wrote it. Moreover, for simple news stories, it's certainly better to use a neural network and save time that could be spent on more creative stories."
— A lot of journalism is moving to Telegram channels. Is this losing the site's audience?
"These are different things. A Telegram channel is just another type of media, another medium. Today the Telegram channel exists, and tomorrow it won't. It could happen at any moment, whether we like it or not. We've invested a huge amount of effort into the Telegram channel. A separate editorial team within the editorial team is working on it."
How important is it to work for free at the beginning of your career? Or to position yourself as a highly qualified specialist right away?
What does it mean to position yourself as a highly qualified specialist? Show, prove that you can do it. I've seen people come from scratch and within two or three months are already "lifting heavy weights." Working for free? That's probably wrong. Any work should be paid. But we all start from scratch, from the ground up, and how we grow depends on what we want to achieve.
— What qualities and competencies does a modern journalist lack?
"This isn't just a question for journalists. If I'm a PR person, for example, and I want to interact with the media, I need to understand how that medium works and who to approach with a particular question. I also need to come up with a news story to sell it to that medium. Those are the basics. And you also need to be willing to work hard, because journalism isn't a 9-to-5 job; it can be 24/7."
— Which fellow journalists inspire you? What particularly resonates with you about them?
— First and foremost, I am inspired by my colleagues and their successes, and it doesn’t matter whether they are very experienced or just starting out.
Alexander Gorshkov also spoke about his journey in journalism and how he came to the field. He shared many stories from his own work, explaining how certain stories came to be. He also explained how a student can get a job at Fontanka.
Alexander invited the authors of the best questions to a tour of Fontanka.ru, participate in an editorial meeting, and see how it works firsthand.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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