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Masyanya Cartoon Website Political Propaganda Claim Almost Leads To Its
Closure
Rossiyskaya Gazeta
22 March 2002
Report by Pavel Dulman: "Masyanya Takes Offense at Politicians"
The current darling of the Russian Internet -- the happy layabout, reveler, and general cutie Masyanya -- will very possibly soon cease to exist. This may happen because of unscrupulous journalists from a St. Petersburg newspaper. The scandal occurred as a result of a column about St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Northwestern Federal District Viktor Cherkesov, and his wife published in yesterday's [21 March] issue of a newspaper that is fairly well known in St. Petersburg. Masyanya got into trouble by association. The column presented Viktor Cherkesov's wife as a major St. Petersburg media magnate and organizer of a media war against the governor. And Masyanya as one of the means of pressure on the city administration. For example, the assumption was made in an uncompromising tone that the latest cartoon -- "St. Petersburg Excursion," that was pretty unflattering to the St. Petersburg leaders -- was made on the direct orders of Cherkesov and was intended to discredit the authorities.
Viktor Cherkesov's press service described the information in the column as "arrant nonsense."
"There are people working at this publication who simply do not know what they are talking about," head of Viktor Cherkesov's press service Aleksey Butsaylo stated to Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
There was a similar reaction to the unfortunate column at the Smolnyy [St. Petersburg City Hall].
"We prefer not to comment on rubbish," Aleksandr Afanasyev, head of St. Petersburg administration press service, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. "And the assumption that this is a politically divisive act is definitely nonsense."
The party with the greatest interest -- Oleg Kuvayev -- was curt and emotional: "Well I never thought we'd see the day.... Judging by the fact that this slander was even repeated on Independent Television, this is simply an attempt to close us down.... Heck, everyone can insult an artist...." He left this message for Masyanya fans on the homepage of his website. In a letter to Rossiyskaya Gazeta he remarked that "he would close the project were it not for his obligations to advertisers."
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