"There is a way to settle the dispute. Mr. Kiselev ought to resign from his post of editor-in-chief. He may become Director General, if the newspaper proprietors consent. The man can't stay chief editor," Mikhail Shevelev, his deputy, said to Novosti.
The employees stay true to every word in a recent public statement in which they demanded Kiselev's resignation. They, however, are ready to come to a compromise to preserve the public image of the weekly, its staff and proprietors.
"There are the higher values, and they justify a dialogue and settlement efforts. Mr. Kiselev and we share liberal values, and we have common opponents. We are all anxious to settle the dispute with no harm done the proprietor, the newspaper's public image, and the people who work for it," says Mr. Shevelev.
A major liberal paper, known as "perestroika flagship" while Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms were on, Moscow News came into the limelight last week as 25 out of a staff of 36 expressed no confidence in their editor-in-chief, and called him to step down.
Evgeni Kiselev became a household name in Russia as many years' author and anchor of Itogi (Summing-Up), sensational news update on the NTV television. He replaced Victor Loshak as editor-in-chief fifteen months ago. Now, top-notch Moscow News journalists describe Kiselev's work as "unprofessional" and his literary style inadmissible in the liberal milieu.
"This is not a clash of viewpoints but a conflict of people who have explicit opinions with a man who has proved unable to lead our periodical. He views even the slightest criticism as an attempt to undermine his role in history," says Mr. Shevelev.
Novosti could not contact Evgeni Kiselev, however hard we try. In a previous public statement, he explained the dispute by his desire to bring new blood to the managerial and editorial staff.
The Menatep group, control block holder, says the dispute is the staff's home affair. Meanwhile, an Observation Council majority has demanded Kiselev dismissed for Ludmilla Telen, his first deputy, to overtake the editor-in-chief's post. Otherwise, the council will resign, warn its members.
"Evgeni Kiselev has gone too far in his administrative zeal. He has driven into a crisis what now is one of the scanty surviving democratic periodicals. We call Mr. Kiselev either to return to understandings made a few months ago or to apply for resignation, and leave his post of Director General and editor-in-chief," the Observation Council says in a written statement.
The protesters met Mr. Kiselev at the negotiation table last night. The talks lasted into this morning, but the parties failed to come to terms, says Ms. Shevelev. "The talks were a failure. We made understandings on many points, but we never came to implement our most precious principle-public disputes on public issues demand public settlement," he stressed to Novosti.
