There are two pieces of news.
One is good: our wonderful Anna Veduta, press secretary both for me and for the Anti-Corruption Foundation, has been admitted to Columbia University and will soon be leaving us to become a Master of International Affairs (which, despite how it sounds in Russian, definitely does not mean “a specialist in international-scale shady dealings”).
Before the cries of “Aha, the hand of the State Department!” start up, let me remind you that Foreign Minister Lavrov’s daughter also graduated from Columbia University, for example. Poor thing—she must have suffered terribly from not getting into MGIMO (the Moscow State Institute of International Relations).
We all congratulate Veduta and are very happy for her. Columbia University is an excellent school, and we are always in favor of a good education.
Anya will remain with us as a supporter and volunteer of the Foundation and will help ACF’s investigations department on the ground, sneaking into Russian officials’ Manhattan apartments and photographing their property documents.
The second piece of news is just news, and it follows from the first. We need a new press secretary. Both for me and for ACF.
This is a very important position for us, especially given the current hellish communications setup. It is a rather unusual job: being the press secretary for someone under house arrest whom, under the terms of that arrest, you are forbidden to speak to.
The requirements for applicants are laid out here, in the post through which Veduta was once found.
Let me add two more things from practical experience:
what we really need is general resourcefulness and the ability to do what would count as “investigative journalism.” For example, remember the “Seychelles plane”: Anya called the Seychelles, dug through local newspapers, and wrote requests to the Defense Ministry asking for clarification. And all of this has to be done a) quickly and b) with enthusiasm, not just out of bureaucratic obligation.
- understand how the internet and social media work, and be able to find anything in them quickly.
That’s that.
As last time, it won’t be me reviewing the candidates (and right now I wouldn’t be able to anyway), but ACF’s friendly “HR monster.” Meritocracy is everything to us.
Applicants should (after carefully reading the requirements) send the following to hr@fbk.info: a résumé; a free-form essay on the topic: “Why I want to work with Navalny and ACF, and how I would improve work with the media and the broader public”; links to all of their social media accounts.
If you’re the very best, come work with us.