In March, 1995 Vladislav List’ev was murdered at the entrance of his Moscow home. The killing sent shockwaves through the Russian public and journalistic community. List’ev was arguably the most popular journalist and anchor on Russian television. He first came to public attention as the host of Vzgliad – a show that violated every possible Soviet taboo on television and became a symbol of Perestroika. After 1991, List’ev created and hosted Russia’s most popular TV shows, viewed by millions on a weekly basis.
This paper examines media coverage of List’ev murder as a cultural phenomenon. It argues that through reporting on this event, Russian journalists reflected on the ways that their profession changed from the 1970s, through perestroika, and to post-socialist transition. As Russian media grappled with a highly publicised murder of a colleague, violence against journalists became the focal point of a range of anxieties about the relationship between financial interests, media, and government in post-Soviet Russia.
About the author
Dina Fainberg is Senior Lecturer in Modern History at City St George’s, University of London. She is an historian of US-Russia relations, Soviet media and propaganda, and Cold War Culture. Fainberg is the author 'Cold War Correspondents: Soviet and American Reporters on the Ideological Frontlines' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021). Together with Artemy Kalinovsky she is the co-editor of 'Reconsidering Stagnation in the Brezhnev Era: Ideology and Exchange' (2016)
