Russian Bi-Weekly The eXile Loses Investors, Will Likely Shut Down
By AAN Staff
june 13, 2008 12:32 pm
"It all started two weeks ago, with an innocuous-looking fax from the Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications and the Protection of Cultural Heritage," writes editor Yasha Levine. "The barely legible fax informed us that our paper was slated for an unscheduled inspection to see if it had violated any media laws. It didn't specify which ones. A week later, a four person team of polite chinovniks showed up to ask some questions and, on their way out back to their lair, grabbed a few
eXile issues for an 'expert analysis.' News of their visit had our investors fleeing instantly, and, in no time at all, was kicking up a media shit storm that's only now beginning to gather full strength." The English-language bi-weekly, which launched the careers of
New York Press alums Matt Taibbi and Alexander Zaitchik, is trying to save itself by
holding a fundraiser. For more, read
eXile founder (and past
New York Press contributor) Mark Ames's
two dispatches for Radar.