Republic (previously known asSlon orSlon.ru) is a Russian analytical onlinemagazine that mainly covers politics, business and economics. It is published by theMoscow Digital Media private limited company.[1][2]
The Slon.ru website was launched on 18 May 2009. The website's name Slon (Russian:Слон,lit. 'Elephant') is a reference to theblind men and an elephant parable, in which blind people disagreed about what the elephant looked like.[3][4] Slon authors stated that its mission is to show "the whole elephant" to its readers.[4] The website mainly publishes materials about politics, economics and business.[5]
In 2010, the website changed its format; the main goal was to move towards the creation of an expert platform. The move was inspired by the concept of theSlate online magazine.[4] On 18 February 2011, Bershidsky announced that he had left Slon.[5][8] Since the summer of 2014, the website has been working on a paid subscription basis.[9][10]
On 6 November 2016, it was announced that the website had changed its name to Republic. The change also included a new design and three additional sections; the sphere of interest of the magazine has expanded to the topics of science and technology.[5][11] In August 2016,Irina Malkova [ru], a Russian journalist and former deputy editor-in-chief ofRBC, became the editor-in-chief of the magazine.[5][9] In 2018, Republic was transformed into a platform for a group of online magazines.[10]
In June 2021, Russian journalistDmitry Kolezev became the chief editor.[12] On 15 October 2021, Moscow Digital Media was labelled as a 'foreign agent' in Russia.[1][13] In response, Kolezev said that he did not know why the Russian authorities decided to do it.[14] He also said that Republic does not have foreign financing: "... it only exists thanks to subscribers' money".[15]
In 2010, the website won first place in the Information Site of the Year category in theROTOP [ru] (Russian Online TOP) competition.[16][17][18]
In 2010, theButyrka-blog [ru;uk] diary published on the Slon.ru website won the online voting in the Best Blog nomination inThe Best of Blogs (BOBs) competition.[19][20]
In January 2017, Republic journalist Siranush Sharoyan received theRedkollegia media award for her article "Black Cash. How a Trillion Dollars Was Withdrawn from the Country in 25 Years. The History of the Russian Banking System - Based on Criminal Cases".[21][22]
