Galina Viktorovna Timchenko ( rus, link=no, Гали́на Ви́кторовна Ти́мченко; born 8 May 1962) is a Russian journalist and the executive editor and owner of ''
Meduza
''Meduza'' ( rus, Медуза, t=jellyfish) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent ''Lenta.ru'' news website. Free mob ...
'
Early life and education
Timchenko was born in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
on 8 May 1962. She graduated from the 3rd Moscow Medical Institute. From 1997 to 1999, she worked as an editor at the ''
Kommersant
''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'' newspaper. In 1999, she moved to the newly created online edition ''
Lenta.ru
''Lenta.ru'' (russian: Лента.Ру; stylised as LƐNTA.RU) is a Russian-language online newspaper. Based in Moscow, it is owned by Rambler Media Group. In 2013, the Alexander Mamut-owned companies "SUP Media" and "Rambler-Afisha" merged to ...
'', having risen from the monitoring officer to chief editor. In 2004, she assumed the position of editor in chief.
Career
In 2010,
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
conducted a study of the Russian blogosphere, and recognized ''Lenta.ru'' as the most widely quoted in the Russian-language blogs news source. According to research firm comScore, conducted in April 2013, the site Lenta.ru took 5th place in attendance of European news sites. According to Alexa.com in March 2014 ''Lenta.ru'' ranked 16th most popular in Russia.
On 12 March 2014, the owner,
Alexander Mamut
Alexander Leonidovich Mamut also spelled Aleksandr, (russian: Алекса́ндр Леони́дович Маму́т; born 29 January 1960, Moscow) is a Russian billionaire lawyer, banker and investor.
Used to be (until 2020) a co-owner of Ram ...
, fired Galina Timchenko and replaced her with Alexey Goreslavsky. 39 employees out of the total 84, including Director-general Yuliya Minder, including 32 correspondents, all 5 photo-editors and 6 administrators resigned as a result.
The employees of Lenta.ru issued a statement that the purpose of the move was to install a new Editor-in-Chief directly controlled by the Kremlin and turn the website into a propaganda tool.
In October 2014, Timchenko together with several former journalists of ''Lenta.ru'' launched a new media based in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
, named ''
Meduza
''Meduza'' ( rus, Медуза, t=jellyfish) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent ''Lenta.ru'' news website. Free mob ...
''. Timchenko told ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' that the decision to base Meduza in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
was made because "it is possible to establish an independent publishing house in Latvia, while in Russia it is impossible.
"
Notes
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Timchenko, Galina
1962 births
20th-century Russian journalists
20th-century Russian women writers
21st-century Russian journalists
21st-century Russian women writers
Living people
Journalists from Moscow
Free Media Awards winners
Meduza
Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russian newspaper editors
Russian women journalists
Women newspaper editors