Mikhail Zygar
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Mikhail Viktorovich Zygar (russian: Михаил Викторович Зыгарь; born 31 January 1981) is a Russian born journalist, writer and filmmaker, and the founding editor-in-chief of Russian news TV-channel
Dozhd TV Rain ( rus, Дождь, Dozhd, p=ˈdoʂtʲ, a=Ru-дождь (doʂtʲ).ogg; stylized ДОДЬ) is an independent Russian television channel. It was launched in 2010 in Russia, and since 2022 was based in Latvia. It focuses on news, discussio ...
(2010–2015), which halted operations on 3 March 2022. Under Zygar's leadership, Dozhd provided an alternative to Kremlin-controlled federal TV channels by focusing on news content and giving a platform to opposition voices. The channel's coverage of politically sensitive issues, like the Moscow street protests in 2011 and 2012 as well as the conflict in Ukraine, has been dramatically different from the official coverage by Russia's national television stations. Zygar is also the author of the book ''All the Kremlin's Men'' (2017), the history of Putin's Russia, based on interviews with Russian politicians from Putin's inner circle.


Biography

Zygar was born in Moscow, 31 January 1981. He became known as a war correspondent of
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 ...
, covering wars in
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, genocide in Darfur, and revolution in
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...
. In May 2005, Zygar was the only international journalist to report from
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
's
Andijan Andijan (sometimes spelled Andijon or Andizhan in English) ( uz, Andijon / Андижон / ئەندىجان; fa, اندیجان, ''Andijân/Andīǰān''; russian: Андижан, ''Andižan'') is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, ...
(
Andijan massacre On 13 May 2005, protests erupted in Andijan, Uzbekistan. At one point, troops from the Uzbek National Security Service (SNB) fired into a crowd of protesters. Estimates of those killed on 13 May range from 187, the official count of the governme ...
). After that, he investigated Russian arms supplies to Uzbekistan. In August 2005, he was beaten by unknown men in Moscow, allegedly Uzbek security agents. Between 2009 and 2010, he worked as political editor and deputy editor-in-chief of '' Russky Newsweek''. In 2010, Zygar became the founding editor in chief of Dozhd, the first independent TV-channel in Russia in 10 years. Dozhd rose to prominence in 2011 with its coverage of the mass protests against
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
. Zygar organised live coverage of all the protest rallies, which were largely ignored by state-owned television.
Vice News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...
called Zygar and his team "the last journalists in Russia". In 2012–2014, Zygar was among the group of 'leading Russian journalists' who had annual interviews with President of Russia (then Prime Minister) Dmitry Medvedev. According to an AP reporter, "Mikhail Zygar's questions were sharper than those of the others". In 2014, Dozhd became a target of politically motivated attacks. Its troubles began when the channel was aggressively covering the daily anti-government protests in Ukraine, which state-owned television dismissed as a neo-Nazi coup. In that year, nearly all cable networks dropped
Dozhd TV Rain ( rus, Дождь, Dozhd, p=ˈdoʂtʲ, a=Ru-дождь (doʂtʲ).ogg; stylized ДОДЬ) is an independent Russian television channel. It was launched in 2010 in Russia, and since 2022 was based in Latvia. It focuses on news, discussio ...
and since then the channel has been largely ignored. The channel cut its expenses in half, shed about 30 percent of its staff and reduced its monthly budget before being hit with an eviction notice. Simultaneously,
Dozhd TV Rain ( rus, Дождь, Dozhd, p=ˈdoʂtʲ, a=Ru-дождь (doʂtʲ).ogg; stylized ДОДЬ) is an independent Russian television channel. It was launched in 2010 in Russia, and since 2022 was based in Latvia. It focuses on news, discussio ...
raised about $1 million in a crowd-funding campaign in March, proving that the demand for independent media in Russia is still there. The TV-channel started broadcasting from an ordinary flat in Moscow. In December 2015, Zygar announced he would be leaving the post of chief editor. He told ''Kommersant'' that he intends to engage in his own multimedia project "1917. Free History". "I’m five and a half years running the channel, every Executive needs to expire once a period, that’s right, I gotta do something," added Zygar. But according to other independent media, Zygar's resignation could be caused by political pressure. Chief editor of
Echo of Moscow Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local r ...
radio
Alexei Venediktov Alexei Alexeyevich Venediktov (russian: Алексе́й Алексе́евич Венеди́ктов; born 18 December 1955) is a Russian journalist, former editor-in-chief, host and co-ownerAlexey Venediktovat Echo of Moscow, January 1, 2016 ...
claimed that some high-ranking statesmen, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, were infuriated by the book and they demanded Dozhd's owner
Natalya Sindeyeva Natalya Vladimirovna Sindeyeva (, ; born June 11, 1971) is a Russian journalist, founder, main owner and chief executive officer of the Dozhd media holding, which includes the Dozhd TV channel, the Republic.ru online magazine and the magazine. ...
to get rid of Zygar. In 2018, Zygar has joined the Information and Democracy Commission, which has been created at the initiative of Reporters Without Borders with the intention to "mobilize all those who are committed to defending a free and pluralistic public space, which is essential for democracy". On February 24, 2022, the day Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, Zygar launched an online petition on Facebook condemning the war. On the third day of the war, he left Russia and lives in Berlin. Zygar writes a weekly column on Russia and the war for '' Der Spiegel'', and a column for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. Since April 2022, Zygar has been making a series of interviews on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
with "the brightest minds of humanity", including
Francis Fukuyama Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama (; born October 27, 1952) is an American political scientist, political economist, international relations scholar and writer. Fukuyama is known for his book ''The End of History and the Last Man'' (1992), which argue ...
,
Robert Sapolsky Robert Morris Sapolsky (born April 6, 1957) is an American neuroendocrinology researcher and author. He is a professor of biology, and professor of neurology and neurological sciences and, by courtesy, neurosurgery, at Stanford University. In ad ...
,
Yuval Noah Harari Yuval Noah Harari ( he, יובל נח הררי ; born 1976) is an Israeli historian and professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of the popular science bestsellers '' Sapiens: A Brief History ...
,
Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. ...
, Ann Applebaum,
Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...
,
John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
,
Timothy Snyder Timothy David Snyder (born August 18, 1969) is an American historian specializing in the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe. He is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute ...
,
Karl Schlögel Karl Schlögel (born 7 March 1948 in Hawangen Hawangen is a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany, with about 1,254 inhabitants. Hawangen is situated east of Memmingen. The town has a municipal association with ...
,
Massimo Pigliucci Massimo Pigliucci (; born January 16, 1964) is Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York, former co-host of the '' Rationally Speaking Podcast'', and former editor in chief for the online magazine ''Scientia Salon''. He is a critic o ...
,
William Taubman William Chase Taubman (born November 13, 1941 in New York City) is an American political scientist. His biography of Nikita Khrushchev won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2004 and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography in ...
,
Fareed Zakaria Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (; born 20 January 1964) is an Indian-American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's '' Fareed Zakaria GPS'' and writes a weekly paid column for ''The Washington Post.'' He has been a columni ...
,
Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule, he was active in the Socialist Union of Pol ...
and Mikhail Gorbachev. He organized the only interview of Russian independent media with Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
after the start of the war.


Personal life

On October 25, 2022, Zygar
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
and announced his marriage to russian actor Jean-Michel Scherbak in Portugal.


Awards

In 2014, CPJ announced that Zygar was to receive the International Press Freedom Award. He was the seventh Russian to be honored (after Tatyana Mitkova in 1991,
Yevgeny Kiselyov Yevgeny Alexeyevich Kiselyov (russian: Евгений Алексеевич Киселёв, uk, Євген Олексійович Кисельов; born 15 June 1956) is a Russian television journalist. As the host of the NTV weekly news show ''I ...
in 1995,
Yelena Masyuk Yelena Vasilyevna Masyuk (russian: Елена Васильевна Масюк) (born 24 January 1966) is a Russian television journalist known for her coverage of the First and Second Chechen Wars. Journalism Masyuk graduated from Moscow State U ...
in 1997, Musa Muradov in 2003,
Dmitry Muratov Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov (russian: Дмитрий Андреевич Муратов; born 29 October 1961) is a Russian journalist, television presenter and the editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper ''Novaya Gazeta''. He was awarded the 202 ...
in 2007 and Nadira Isayeva in 2010).


Books

''War in Myth'' (2007). A collection of Zygar's essays about his work in hotspots like Iraq, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc. ''Gazprom. New Russian Weapon'' (2008), together with Valery Panyushkin. An investigation of the most mighty Russian state-owned corporations. ''All the Kremlin's Men'' (2015). The book became the most important Russian non-fiction about the metamorphoses of Putin and his inner circle. The book was the #
bestseller
in Russia for 4 months. In it, Zygar traces Vladimir Putin's ascent to become the most powerful Russian president in decades, and illustrates the grip that extreme paranoia has on Moscow's power elite. It took Zygar seven years to write, interviewing current and former associates of the Russian president. In his book, Zygar battles against the idealization of Putin as a savvy and ingenious puppet-master; both the demonic version put forth by the West, and the idolizing version propagated by Russia's official state media. Zygar is far from adopting the insulted tone of the Russian establishment in his assessment. He is more interested in tracing Russian leadership's slide into the aggressive worldview that has eventually led to the war in Eastern Ukraine and military intervention in Syria. The book became a huge event in Ukraine. It revealed that annexation of Crimea was planned by the Kremlin in December 2013. Nobel prize winner
Svetlana Alexievich Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich (born 31 May 1948) is a Belarusian investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suf ...
praised the book saying that "This is the first consistent description of everything that has happened over the last 20 years that I have read. It is a very serious study and an opportunity to learn from first hand reports". John Kampfner of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' called the book "one of the most compelling" accounts written about Vladimir Putin. ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' reviewed the book as a "fascinating, in-depth and authoritative study of Russian politics". The book was also published in Sweden, Germany, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary. ''All the Kremlin's Men'' was published in English in 2016. Zygar's next book, ', was released both in Russian and in English on the centenary of the Russian revolution. It’s a captivating story about the Russian society a hundred years ago, in the years leading up to the revolution, and the intertwined fates of
Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
,
Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...
,
Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus ga ...
, Stolypin and other protagonists of the era. The way the story is told allows readers to recognize today's realities in almost every character or event: the century-old country looks like a reflection of modern Russia. Emily Tamkin of ''Foreign Policy'' described the book as "an immensely compelling work that transports the reader to the streets of St. Petersburg to see the early 20th century unfold for herself". ''The Empire Must Die'' is listed among the Best Non-Fiction works of 2017 by Kirkus Reviews, characterised as a "a vivid, character-driven reconstruction of the period leading up to the overthrow of the
Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to ...
s".


Future History

In 2016, Zygar founded the creative studio Future History specialising in educational digital ventures. In November 2016, the studio launched its first digital project "1917. Free history" that used diary entries, memoirs, letters, pictures etc. of the contemporaries of the Russian Revolution to let Internet users follow their daily events live. The project was supported by
Yandex Yandex LLC (russian: link=no, Яндекс, p=ˈjandəks) is a Russian multinational technology company providing Internet-related products and services, including an Internet search engine, information services, e-commerce, transportation, map ...
,
Sberbank PJSC Sberbank (russian: Сбербанк, initially a contraction of russian: сберегательный банк, translit=sberegatelnyy bank, lit=savings bank, link=no) is a Russian majority state-owned banking and financial services compa ...
and the Russian social network
VKontakte VK (short for its original name ''VKontakte''; russian: ВКонтакте, meaning ''InContact'') is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK is available in multiple languages but it is predomin ...
. The project ran until 18 January 2018, the day of the dissolution of the
Russian Constituent Assembly The All Russian Constituent Assembly (Всероссийское Учредительное собрание, Vserossiyskoye Uchreditelnoye sobraniye) was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It met fo ...
. An English-language version of the website was launched in February 2017. In 2018, Zygar's Future History studio launched its next digital venture: 1968.digital, a web documentary series with vertical episodes that "show the life of real historical personalities through the screens of their would-be smartphones". The series covers the events of 1968 all over the world and is distributed in English on '' BuzzFeed News'', in Russian and in French on the website of the Libération newspaper. It became a finalist for the 3rd annual Shorty Awards for Social Good in 2018. Zygar participated in the 2018
TED conference TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
in Vancouver talking about his historical digital ventures and the storytelling techniques he uses in his work. In November 2018, Future History pre-launched a series of an app of Moscow walking tours – the Mobile Art Theatre. The tours resemble a play taking place in the imagination of the audience, telling the stories of historical figures who lived and worked in these city streets. The first tour is narrated by
Kirill Serebrennikov Kirill Semyonovich Serebrennikov (russian: Кирилл Семёнович Серебренников; born 7 September 1969) is a Russian stage and film director and theatre designer. Since 2012, he has been the artistic director of the Gogol ...
who "tells the history of his neighbourhood in Moscow, which was home to cultural icons such as Mikhail Bulgakov, Boris Pasternak, poet Sergei Yesenin, or philosopher and writer
Alexander Herzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен, translit=Alexándr Ivánovich Gértsen; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism" and one of the main fathers of agra ...
".


Films

* ''To Bury Stalin'' (2013) * ''Who's the Power'' (2013) * ''Past and
Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...
'' (2013). Dramatic mini-series about the history of the Russian Parliament.


References


External links


Mikhail Zygar, Russia. 2014 CPJ International Press Freedom Awardee
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zygar, Mikhail 1981 births Living people Russian activists against the Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian film directors Russian male journalists Russian male writers People listed in Russia as media foreign agents Russian LGBT journalists 21st-century Russian LGBT people People from Moscow