Russian newspaper editor forced to quit over siege coverage

RUSSIAN media yesterday savaged President Vladimir Putin as the respected editor of Russia’s Izvestia daily was forced to quit in what he and media analysts linked to the paper’s critical coverage of the authorities’ handling of the school siege.

Raf Shakirov said his resignation was connected with the paper's Saturday issue, which ran huge, shocking pictures of wounded and dead children and other victims of the school hostage crisis.

"The leadership of Prof-Media (Izvestia's publisher) and I disagreed on the format of this issue. It is considered too emotional and poster-like and in general papers aren't made like that," Mr Shakirov said.