Jobs: Ilya Krasilshchik, publisher of online media Meduza

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We asked Ilya Krasilshchik, the publisher of the online newspaper Meduza, about how he managed to climb a rather extraordinary career ladder, as well as how he works and relaxes.

The career of Ilya the Krasilshchik has developed quite interestingly. At the age of 21, he became the chief editor of the Afisha magazine, then moved to Riga, where he publishes the Internet media "". We met with Ilya in Kharkov, in the creative space, which he visited with a presentation on how Meduza was created.

What does a publisher do in online media?

- The publisher in the online media deals with everything except the editorial office. The editorial board deals with the content, and the publisher deals with the channels through which this content reaches the reader. This includes marketing, platform development, design. Plus it should all make money.

That is, you combine the duties of a technical director, a marketing director and others?

- No. We have a technical director, an art director, a commercial director. Nevertheless, there is a product that is assembled from all this.

I have a very exciting question. How did you manage to become the editor-in-chief of "" at the age of 22?

- At 21. How did you manage - the question is not for me, but for Ilya Tsentsiper (founder of the Afisha magazine. - Ed.), Who appointed me editor-in-chief and, it seems, was horrified by what he did. He was going to fire me, and I myself was going to leave, but did not have time, because Cenziper was fired. Then I tried to fade a few more times, but to no avail. I just didn't understand at all what kind of work it was and how to do it. The first two years were excruciating. Until you feel what you are doing, you will not feel the first success, you will not begin to understand the people with whom you are doing it, you will hang out like shit in an ice hole.

Did you come there as an editor?

- I came as an editor with a salary of 10,000 rubles to launch a new Afisha website, this was supposed to happen in two weeks, but it happened in nine months. During this time, I several times - again - wanted to quit because nothing happened. But then he met Tentsiper - and the madness began.

I changed either three or four positions in Afisha in less than a year. And it was all a lot of fun (at least to me) until I actually became the editor-in-chief of the magazine. Because you think that you are terribly cool, that at the age of 21 you turned out to be the editor-in-chief. But everyone around them thinks exactly the opposite: "What kind of shit was appointed chief editor at the age of 21?" Well, to prove to everyone that you are not shit when you have no idea how to do it is a rather difficult operation.

So the first two years you were shit?

- Complete. (Laughs.)

Can you tell us about the devices you use in your work?

- I only use MacBook and iPhone.

What about applications and services?

-,, Dropbox, Telegram, Meduza, Skype, which I hate, Facebook and of course. This is the main thing, everything else is secondary.

Do you only work in the office?

- I work only in the office, well, plus at home, in the toilet, in bed. In short, you get the idea. But at least once a month I go to Moscow - there is a commercial department, there are designers, there are a lot of things to do. Plus, I run somewhere all the time. I always dreamed of traveling a lot, but I just can't imagine that I will be traveling to Moscow all the time. As soon as I start working outside the office, I get terribly nervous. A bunch of messengers are ringing, messages in Facebook, Slack and in the mail come - all this happens at the same time and is incredibly annoying.

What do you do on the roads, flights, traffic jams?

- Unfortunately, I am on Facebook, Slack and Telegram, in the mail. Admittedly, mostly on Facebook.

By the way, about the mail. When I was looking for ways to contact you, I could not find the mail. Do you only use it for corporate matters?

- No, I don’t hide my mail at all, it can be found on the Internet.

I didn’t succeed and had to write to “Other” on Facebook and wait for an answer. I thought I couldn't wait at all: after all, there are 200 thousand subscribers

- This figure should not be taken seriously. Most of them are Arab bots that came from nowhere after the rallies at Bolotnaya. And so practically all (or all) Russian Facebook users, who have more than one hundred thousand subscribers.

This is an insider! Tell me about your day

- I wake up in the morning and collect the children in kindergarten, if my wife does not.

And at what time in the morning?

- If you need to lead the children, I wake up at 7:40. I take the kids to the garden, buy a coffee sandwich, and go to work. Then I work until the evening. Listen, this is a boring story. Moreover, I now live in Riga, and there are not many ways to distract myself from work.

Can you tell us about education? Did it come in handy for you somehow?

- I don't have it as such. The first year I studied at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian State University for the Humanities at the Department of Artificial Intelligence. There was a lot of programming there. I realized that I don't want to be either a programmer or a mathematician, although I liked programming, and the only thing that interests me is history. I transferred after the first year with an academic difference in the form of all subjects, except physical education, studied for a year, and then went to work at Afisha.

Then everything was rather strange and "jerky". As a result, I was expelled from the fifth year. Did any of this come in handy? Maybe yes. This is an important social moment in life, and there were some subjects that taught how to structure thoughts. But my education was extremely fragmented. And, in general, my real education was "Afisha". And now Meduza. So I cannot say that my education is over. Absolutely not.

Why were you expelled from the fifth year?

- I just didn't come to take the exam.

From the point of view of knowledge, the university did not give anything?

- In terms of knowledge - I studied to be a historian with a specialization in Russian history and was going to write a diploma in Germans in Russia. I did not do any of this, so it is rather difficult to talk about knowledge. And all the knowledge that is associated with my profession, I received in practice. Not sure if you can get them in another way.

Since we are talking about education, tell us what books you read

- You know, when I break the Kindle, I completely stop reading - and now I'm just in this situation. In a week, a new one will arrive from America, will have a story to tell.

Do you often read in Russian or English?

- In Russian. Only articles in English.

What about your favorite sites, publications, magazines?

- I read almost everything through my Facebook feed, plus "" has a lot of Slack channels and people who follow them. They monitor sources and all professional information appears there. But above all, this is the Facebook feed.

I stopped reading magazines completely. Is that on the plane. This genre is dead for me.

That is, there are no favorite publications?

- Of course have. At the moment these are "" and "". "Arzamas" was made by my friends, but I love it not only for that. I really think it's cool. Not to say that I watch everything there, but I can go there specifically to relax my soul. And Panzerzin is just space. Roma Volobuev tells stories about the Nazis. What could be better? As for other publications, I am more interested in how they are made grocery, and I may like them, but that does not mean that I read them every day.

Then, probably, Esquire?

- Well, it's better to start with the American ones. I like it, and. I like them because they are cool. The Russian one is more difficult.

Let's get back to work. You say that there is not enough time for many things. Do you use time management?

- No. I try to keep everything in my head. I forget everything, but I can't do it differently.

Enough time for sports?

- This is not a question of time, but of willpower, which is completely absent.

Sports "no"?

- I honestly tried, but it didn't work.

What about a hobby?

- Poker. By the way, it can be called a sport.

By the way, yes. Are there any achievements?

- Well, I once won a tournament in chief editors, not knowing how to play at all - I got there three or two aces there. Won and went to Monaco to play. Without any further success, of course. But after that we began to play regularly with a small company - and have been playing for five years. Although, I repeat, now I live in Riga, so I often can't play. But in Riga there is a wonderful casino where you can go and play poker. In general, poker, TV shows and a little football on the Xbox.

What are your favorite TV shows?

- From those that go: "Game of Thrones", "The Right Wife", "True Detective." I abandoned the rest.

"House of cards"?

- I abandoned it this season, the Russian line went so monstrously there that I knocked out the series in a frenzy and did not turn it on again.

I have a few short questions left. What are your three favorite books?

- I hate such questions. The Amendments by Jonathan Franzen, What a Swindle by Jonathan Coe, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré. But in general, this is a question that cannot be answered normally.

What about your favorite performers?

- Morrissey (Stephen Morrissey, founder of The Smiths. - Ed.), Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Belle and Sebastian. Or Sparks, I don't know. Something I recently switched to Spotify playlists.

And a couple of activities to help you relax and distract yourself

- Go to Sandunovskie baths, have a drink, or even better - get in the car and go somewhere 2,000 kilometers away.

We would like to express our gratitude to the creative space for the help in conducting the interview.