blin.sarov.ru is the site of the satirical magazine "Blin!" ("Pancake!"), which had been published in Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod Region, since 2000[1]. The site was created on 16 June 2001, when issue No. 1 for the year 2000 was posted on it[1]. The magazine's editor was listed as Andrei Sergeevich Alekseev, who had started out at the newspaper "Sarov" as a reporter, columnist and deputy editor, and was a member of the Russian Union of Journalists[1]. Later the same address was taken over by another Sarov project — a page for a city photo contest about tourism[2]. The last snapshot of the home page in the web archive is dated 5 February 2013[2].

The magazine "Blin!" and its site

A snapshot from 16 February 2002 preserved the site's home page in full[1]. The menu consisted of five sections: "Journal" — published material grouped by issue; "Sections" — the same material grouped by topic (this section was promised to open after issue No. 2 came out); "Information" — contact details and the publication's imprint data; "© Alekseev" — the editor's own works not included in the magazine; "Guestbook" — a guestbook[1]. Photographs on the site had an enlarged version that opened in a separate window[1].

The "Site news" feed shows what the project was doing in the autumn of 2001. On 7 October 2001 publication began of the second part of the saga "Ivan", on 26 October its continuation appeared, on 14 November its conclusion, and on 27 November the beginning of the third part was published[1]. On 17 October 2001 the "© Alekseev" section gained a column called "The Old Briefcase" with the piece "The Director on the Roof"; on 13 November three more items were added there[1]. The page's keywords listed were "Sarov, Internet, Sarov, Blin, magazine, electronic, edition, journalist"[1].

A separate block on the home page held the "Editor's Word" — a short manifesto against the requirement of impartiality in journalism, which, in the author's view, demeans the journalist as a person and is in any case unattainable in modern society. The editor's conclusion, as the home page put it, was: "Freedom of speech should be sought in the diversity of publications"[1].

A photo contest at the same address

By 2013 the address blin.sarov.ru no longer held the magazine's editorial office but a page titled "Sarov: Photo Contest 'Why Do People Go to Campfires?'" — the rules of the 11th tourism photo contest[2]. The organizers were named as the Sports and Tourism Union of the City of Sarov and the municipal institution "Children and Youth Center"; entries were accepted at 607190, Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod Region, 15 Yunosti Street, and 43/2 Muzrukova Avenue, telephone (83130) 5-43-08, fax (83130) 5-27-75[2]. The chairman of the jury was named as Alexander Veniaminovich Barinov[2].

The contest ran from 1 January to 30 December 2011, and a jury of 30–45 people was to begin work on 10 January 2012[2]. There were seventeen categories — from "Water Tourism" and "There Are No Mountains Better Than Mountains" to "The Mysterious Stranger", "Photo Herbarium" and "Ecological Poster"; no more than ten works per author were accepted in each category[2]. Prints had to be at least 20×30 or 30×40 cm in size, and 10×15 cm photographs were not admitted; entries were not returned, except those for which a 100-ruble registration fee had been paid, and printing a 20×30 cm photo from a digital file cost 20 rubles[2]. Electronic voting for submitted photographs was held on the site outwalk.ru and in an Odnoklassniki group[2]. The menu still held archives of the best photographs for 2010 and 2011, and at the bottom of the page stood the signature "Sandy Stepanov 2011"[2] — meaning that the 2013 snapshot found the page already unchanged for almost two years.

Place in the Nizhny Novgorod internet

The site entered the census of the Nizhny Novgorod Internet through the nn.ru directory, where it was classed under everyday life, society and urban issues, using Sarov as its example; it holds no position in the Counter.nn.ru ranking, and no votes were recorded for it at the Nizhny Novgorod Internet Day (data from the Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet from the counter.nn.ru rating). This was not a city portal or a commercial venture but the personal publication of a single journalist, brought online: the magazine had been coming out in Sarov since 2000, and the site created in June 2001 was announced as its electronic version[1].

How it closed

The web archive's index lists 25 captures of the blin.sarov.ru home page, the earliest on 16 February 2002[1], and the latest on 5 February 2013[2]. Between these two snapshots the content at the address changed completely: the magazine's home page with editorial news gave way to a photo contest's rules. A check made while compiling the census no longer found the domain live: the address does not respond, and where the materials of the magazine "Blin!" moved to cannot be established from the surviving snapshots.

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — Home page, 2002 (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — Home page, 2013 (archive)