Meeting the Russian Mafia

When Angela Cross '91 went to St. Petersburg, Russia, to start up a tabloid newspaper, she anticipated a few difficulties. She had little publishing experience, her Russian wasn't very strong, the staff that was supposed to be awaiting her wasn't, and the paper's backers, a group of American investors, were looking for a cross between Redbook People, and the National Enquirer.

"I don't even read any of those," she says.

The real trouble, though, came when the Russian mafia took notice of her. A month into the venture, Croossland had managed to hire writers and photographers. She had introduced them to the concept of pop journalism, trained a staff member to replace her, and had three issues prepared and ready to run. "The Russians had trouble grasping pop stories at first," she says. "But they were great at setting up an informant network." Meanwhile, another network was keeping an eye on her. When she went to Moscow to work on advertising sales, she was tailed. Then she learned that thugs had entered the office in St. Petersburg and held an editor at gunpoint, demanding money.

When Crossland returned to the office, a secretary handed her a large stack of $ 100 bills hidden in a photo envelope (Crossland's pay for the whole summer) and told her to beat it or they'd all be in danger. The next morning she stuffed the bills into her shoes and clothing and made for the airport, where she squeaked through customs and embarked on an itchy flight to the States. Now back at home in Dallas, she is in school studying operatic singing.

The trip wasn't a failure, though, she says. The paper is up and running and selling like hotcakes. She reports that the mafia is still in the picture, but instead of the $20,000 per month they initially demanded, they are getting $50 a week.

"Post-Soviet Russia is like the Wild West," she muses. "It really is a frontier."

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