Ex-Soviet president starts new life as owner of a newspaper

Ex-Soviet president starts new life as owner of a newspaper

Gorbachev, who made the announcement before an international audience of media executives, said the newspaper would not be used to further political or corporate interests.

"We need to provide a pluralism of opinions and the reliability of its publications, and it must be reflective of public opinion in Russia," Gorbachev said. "We, as shareholders, will cooperate with the editorial collective and will not adapt it to our corporate needs."

Novaya Gazeta's Editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov said that the involvement of Gorbachev and Alexander Lebedev, a wealthy businessman, legislator and anti-corruption crusader, would allow the outspoken and often combative semiweekly newspaper to maintain editorial independence, the AP rports.