Vladislav Listyev
Encyclopedia
Vladislav Nikolayevich Listyev (May 10, 1956 – March 1, 1995) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and head of the ORT TV Channel (now government-owned Channel One
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One is the first television channel to broadcast in the Soviet Union. The channel was renamed Ostankino Channel 1 in 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian SFSR became the Russian Federation. According to a recent government publication, the Russian government controls 51%...

).

Career

Vlad Listyev was arguably the most popular journalist and TV anchor
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...

 in Russia (and remains well-remembered years after his death), and was a key force in bringing the voice of democracy to the Russian television. Listyev first appeared on television as one of the hosts of a highly progressive and successful TV show Vzglyad ("The View") in late 1980s (which literally translates as The View or The Look), a kind of satirical television show watched weekly by as many as 100 million people. The other anchors were Artyom Borovik
Artyom Borovik
Artyom Genrikhovich Borovik was a prominent Russian journalist and media magnate. He was the son of a Soviet journalist, Genrikh Borovik, who worked for many years as a foreign correspondent in the U.S.-Journalism:...

, Evgeny Dodolev
Evgeny Dodolev
Yevgeniy Yuriyevich Dodolyev , is a Soviet and Russian journalist and publisher.-TV Years:...

, Alexander Lyubimov, Alexander Politkovsky and Dmitry Zaharov.

He was also the first host of the Russian version of "Wheel of Fortune
Pole Chudes
Polé Chudes is a Russian adaptation of the U.S. game show Wheel of Fortune produced by VID, and hosted by Leonid Yakubovich and Rimma Agafoshina.-Format:...

" which became very popular. Following the success of Vzglyad, Listyev and his colleagues founded a TV company VID (Vzglyad i DrugiyeThe View and the Others) that would produce programming for the First Channel of Central Television, the main TV channel in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 (later called Ostankino and ORT). In VID, Listyev started a number of new TV projects—Pole Chudes
Pole Chudes
Polé Chudes is a Russian adaptation of the U.S. game show Wheel of Fortune produced by VID, and hosted by Leonid Yakubovich and Rimma Agafoshina.-Format:...

("A Field of Wonders", the Russian version of the Wheel of Fortune), Ugadai melodiu ("Guess a melody", the Russian version of Name That Tune
Name That Tune
Name That Tune is a television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. Premiering in the United States on NBC Radio in 1952, the show was created and produced by Harry Salter and his wife Roberta....

), Tema ("The Theme"), and Chas Pik ("The Rush Hour"). In 1995, Listyev moved from VID to ORT, where he was appointed the director of the channel. One of Listyev's very first moves as the director was to order a temporary stop to all advertising, in effect leaving all unauthorized middlemen out of the lucrative advertising business, and consolidating future ad sales in the hands of the channel.

Death

Shortly after his appointment, on the evening of March 1, 1995, when returning from the live broadcast of his evening show Chas Pik, Listyev was shot dead on the stairs of his apartment building. Valuables and a large sum in cash that Listyev had on him were left untouched, leading the investigators to conclude that the murder was either a political or business-related assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

. However, despite numerous claims made by investigators that the case was close to resolution, neither the gunmen, nor those who ordered the killing, were found.

The killing caused an enormous public outcry—in an unprecedented move, ORT and several other Russian TV Channels shut down for the whole day on March 2, displaying only the picture of Listyev and the words "Vlad Listyev Has Been Killed." Days later, the channel was reorganized and after a number of different incarnations, came back as the government-controlled Channel One
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One is the first television channel to broadcast in the Soviet Union. The channel was renamed Ostankino Channel 1 in 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian SFSR became the Russian Federation. According to a recent government publication, the Russian government controls 51%...

 that Russian viewers are now familiar with. Listyev's wake was visited by thousands of people, and even the ailing Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...

 was forced to make a statement.

There has been much speculation as to the reasons behind Listyev's murder, and two possible causes have been isolated as the most likely: financial and political. When Listyev put the middlemen advertising agencies out of business, he deprived many corrupt businessmen of a source for enormous profits. From the political standpoint, Listyev enjoyed an enormous popularity rating among Russian citizens and could potentially influence the political mood of the whole country.

A 1996 article in Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

"Godfather of the Kremlin" by Paul Klebnikov
Paul Klebnikov
Paul Klebnikov was a Russian-American journalist and historian of Russian history. He worked for Forbes Magazine for over 10 years and at the time of his death was Chief editor of the Russian edition. His murder in Moscow in 2004 was seen as a blow against investigative journalism in Russia...

 accused Boris Berezovsky of ordering the murder. A few months after the article in Forbes was published, Berezovsky sued the magazine for libel (in February 1997) in British court. In 2003 the court ruled that Forbes remove one statement from the article, as it didn't have enough evidence to support the claim that Berezovsky arranged murder of famous anchorman and TV producer Vlad Listyev. The court didn't order Forbes to remove the rest of the article from the website nor acknowledge that all data contained in it was false, nor forced Forbes to pay a compensation, that Berezovsky wanted when filing his claim. The article is still available online on the Forbes website (with exception of one above mentioned statement). Some media sources controlled by Berezovsky though, such as Kommersant magazine, reported, that Forbes "lost the case" and "completely retracted their claims against Berezovsky" which actually never happened. Berezovsky never contested in court the book "Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the looting of Russia" that Klebnikov published in 2000, which was a very extended version of the article.

According to Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky
Vladimir Pribylovsky
Vladimir Valerianovich Pribylovsky is a Russian historian, journalist and human rights advocate opposed to current Russian authorities.-Biography:...

, top KGB officers Alexander Korzhakov
Alexander Korzhakov
Alexander Vasilyevich Korzhakov , was a KGB general who served as Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard, confidant, and adviser for 11 years. Member of State Duma at 1997. He was the head of the Presidential Security Service in 1993-1996, State Duma deputy, and retired Lieutenant-general...

 and Alexander Komelkov may have plotted Listyev's murder at the hands of Solntsevskaya bratva
Solntsevskaya bratva
The Solntsevskaya Bratva is a powerful organized crime organization from Moscow, Russia. It is named after the Solntsevo neighborhood in the city. It is considered to be one the most dangerous criminal organizations in the entire world.-History:...

. The authors implied that the motive was to steal the TV advertisement revenue and sponsor Oleg Soskovets for Russia's presidency. The authors believed that Korzhakov also used the murder to blame Berezovsky and to prepare his arrest.

External links

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