Staff of Forbes in Russia in revolt against publisher

Staff at Russia’s edition of Forbes magazine are in open revolt against their publisher over claims of censorship and have appealed to their U.S.-based parent to block the appointment of a new editor-in-chief, reports Max Seddon of the Financial Times.

Seddon reports, “Twenty-eight of the magazine’s staff — almost all its editorial workforce — released a letter on Tuesday to Forbes Media claiming that Russian publisher Alexander Fedotov had violated Russian law by removing an article as the magazine was about to go to press.

“The scandal is the latest to hit Russia as the Kremlin cracks down on dissent. Two years ago dozens of journalists quit RBC, one of Russia’s most popular websites, after the sacking of RBC’s three top editors under what employees say was pressure from the Kremlin — a charge the Kremlin denied.

“Forbes Media, which the Forbes family sold to Hong Kong company Integrated Whale Media in 2014, licenses the magazine’s foreign editions to local publishers such as Mr Fedotov’s ACMG Group that often operate in jurisdictions where the magazine’s reporting comes into conflict with powerful interests.”

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