Ad Exec, Gen X Novelist to Shake Up Cultural Paper
Armed with a vision document that almost echoes Charter 12's calls for an alternative institution, writer and advertising executive Kaur Kender will take over the reins of the cultural newspaper Sirp.
The decision was made Wednesday after an application round filed to produce a suitable candidate and outgoing editor in chief Kaarel Tarand withdrew his candidacy.
"In the general media, there is a predominant position that it is impossible to live in this country and that it is impossible to talk with politicians. The opposing view would thus be a new, alternative position. Other papers offer only sensation Sirp would offer an olive branch: civilized activism as an antidote to hysterical stamping of feet," read the Sirp vision document, with which Kender, 42, approached managing director Toomas Väljataga earlier in the week.
Kender promised to carry out sweeping reforms on the staff, with Delfi reporting that four well-known literary figures and ideologues had been let go - Doris Kareva, Marek Strandberg, Tarmo Teder and Veronika Valk.
Kender's appointment, which starts on Monday, is officially billed as temporary until a permanent editor-in-chief is found. Commentators have expressed surprise over the decision, as Kender and his works are more associated with the fast lane lifestyles of the early capitalism period. Sirp is known for a more discursive, analytic style.