Posted on 07/18/2004 10:18:00 AM PDT by churchillbuff
Jim Michaels, the longtime editor of Forbes and now the editorial vice president of our company, was classically on point when I asked him about Paul Klebnikov, our colleague who was shot to death in Moscow just as we were putting this issue to bed: "You can say of Paul, without exaggeration, that he gave his life for the truth. Paul believed in his soul in the greatness of Russia. His harsh criticism of the post-Soviet kleptocracy sprang from a passion to see that greatness realized."
Paul Klebnikov, 1963-2004 Killed In Russia, Forbes Editor Mourned A Statement From Steve Forbes, Editor-In-Chief Forbes Russia Editor Murdered In Moscow Stories By Paul Klebnikov
After 15 years of doing tough international stories for Forbes, some of which appeared on the cover of this magazine, Paul this year became the first editor of Forbes Russia. He went right to work profiling the rich and powerful of that tumultuous country, to which he traced his own bloodline. His journalism, reflecting his own driven style, stirred passions. In the immediate wake of his killing, we can only assume it drove someone to murder.
Russia today is a place requiring an abundance of caution, maybe more than the careful but headstrong Paul had. The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists now points to 15 in our craft who've been slain in Russia since December 1999, and it is pushing Vladimir Putin, who took power then, to act to secure press freedom.
With a couple of books in addition to his magazine journalism, the man known to Russians as Pavel was a pioneer in trying to bring about the kind of openness the country will need if it is actually to emerge as a modern economy. Recalls Heidi Brown, a fellow Russian-speaker on our staff who backed up Paul's reporting on some of his stories: "He spent hours poring over fine print [in Russian] and interviewing the main actors, whether it was the giants of Russia's new capitalism or obstructive bureaucrats who believed that information is on a need-to-know basis. Paul believed he needed to know everything."
He did so in order to convey, as Jim Michaels notes, the truth. No one journalist is going to provide the whole truth of ever-enigmatic Russia, but in the face of ever more present danger, the best in our business are going to keep at the quest. Let this be the tribute to Paul Klebnikov.
Tim Ferguson is editor of Forbes Global.
The truth is that Yeltsin brought about this so called kleptoctracy.
The truth is that bipartisan negligence in the US, particularly upon the part of the Clinton administration, willfully abetted that transformation.
Of course, blame America!
How profound, as if I didn't think that the Russians were primarily responsible. Idiot.
You do remember GHWB Sr. warning the Congress, that we had best pay more attention to post-communist Russia else pay the consequences? Well, we didn't do it. The US had just adsorbed the S&L crisis and was short of cash in a recession. The Congress, including members of both parties but primarily Democrats, didn't put up the money. It's a fact. Deal with it.
Stop digging.
Stop posturing.
A fine tribute.
"Kleptoctracy," eh? Reminds me of the Illinois GOP.
And they get away with it because the critics are often unpopular. It's kind of like how Hitler managed to successfully exterminate 6 million jews. He couldn't have done it without a lot of German people helping or at least secretly being happy about it.
Post-Soviet kleptocracy? Reform minded oligarchs do not like to be called by their true name.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.