"Exodus of Journalists From Newspaper Segodnya Begins"
Moskovskiy Komsomolets 11 January 1997 page 1

Yet another split took place the other day in the Moscow newspaper Segodnia (the Most group, as many people know, suddenly replaced the newspaper's chief editor two months ago). This time around, a big group of leading journalists (about 15 people in all) who helped to create the newspaper quit it. According to information from well-informed sources, the scandal was caused by the dissatisfaction of many Segodn1a staffers with the policy of their new boss.

The journalists were disconcerted by more than the newspaper's sharply changed makeup and layout. The chief editor "dropped" in a short period of time several news desks (Fashion, In the Meantime, and a number of others). Furthermore, labor discipline was tightened at Segodnia and new rules of calculation of payment were put into effect beginning this year. Whereas in the past the journalists were paid fixed salaries, now they will be paid for as pieceworkers. The staffers thought that these changes would hit them painfully in their pocketbook.

Some observers believe that the appointment of the new editor to Segodnia finally undermined the positions of the founding journalists (most of them together with their former boss Dmitriy Ostalskiy came to Segodnya from Nezavisimaya Gazeta. However, during the renewal of registration of the newspaper, they lost their shares in it and, by the same token, influence. According to Moskovskii Komsomolets information, the journalists who quit Segodnia have found jobs with one of the weeklies.