samnn.ru — the internet companion to the "Do It Yourself" (Sdelay Sam) paper, the only free youth newspaper in Nizhny Novgorod in the late 1990s, which billed itself as "a youth project for the self-sufficient." The site was launched in October 1999 at a party held at the Pikasso nightclub; by spring 2000 the newspaper was printing 10,000 full-color copies per issue, and its website carried content on transit pass and jeans prices, a chapter from the novella "Fish in a Teapot," and a tongue-in-cheek "Great Student Encyclopedia" [1][2][3][4].

A newspaper for the self-sufficient

In October 1999, the Nizhny Novgorod Telegraph Agency described "Do It Yourself" as a newspaper that had existed "for just over a year" and was marking the publication of its twentieth issue; it was "still the only free youth publication in the city" [1]. On October 14, at the Pikasso nightclub, the editorial team launched the samnn.ru website, promising up-to-date news, society coverage, information on any youth organization in the city, and nightclub and disco schedules — with guests at the launch event treated to a performance by the Raketa jazz ballet and contests co-hosted with Radio 101 and the "Fifth Element" program [2].

On February 3, 2000, the newspaper changed its format from A4 to A3 and announced an open call for new correspondents. The existing sections — "discussion club," "do it yourself," and "lifestyle" — were retained, while new ones were added: "adrenaline thickets," covering extraordinary real-life stories, and the literary section "fish in a teapot" for aspiring writers; the editorial team also set up a reader hotline [5].

By spring 2000, according to the agency, the newspaper's volume and print run had doubled: 10,000 copies in full color. The publication celebrated its first birthday on April 13, 2000, at the same "Picasso" venue [3][6]. The editorial office was located at Kostina Street, 3, office 409, phone 30-25-71 [7]. Anna Kapranova, co-author of the newspaper serial, was a journalist and managing editor of "Sdelay Sam" [8][9], and the paper's own editor-in-chief was featured in a humorous encyclopedia under the letter "K": "Kalashnikov Maxim — editor-in-chief of the newspaper 'Sdelay Sam'" [10].

Issue on the main page

The website's main page featured a selection of around two and a half dozen articles from late May 2000, nearly all bearing the author's full byline. The lead story was about transit passes: the City Duma had decided that a student monthly pass for the tram and Trolleybus would cost 30 rubles starting in June, while a university student pass would cost 45, and the question of Metro passes was deferred. The Association of Students and Youth announced a protest action for June 5 with five thousand participants; the Nizhny Novgorod Youth League declined to support it [4][11].

Alongside these ran a piece about a dispute between the student council of the finance faculty at UNN and the university administration over a room bearing a "Board of Directors" plaque, employment tips, an interview with Nizhny Novgorod resident Maxim Tarasov — two-time world pankration champion — and event reports from around the city [4][12]. At the "Ex Bike 2000" motorcycle show on 20 May, 250 participants rode before an audience of five thousand, and a helicopter ride could be had for 150 rubles [13]. The fourth rock festival "Woodstoker," on 27 May, thundered for six hours on the sandbar of the Rowing Canal: 18 bands, a 14-meter trailer serving as a stage, and the launch of the first Nizhny Novgorod compilation of metal bands [14].

The anniversary tenth "Zolotoy Podium" on 19 May drew criticism from the paper: the "frills and philistine florals" of most collections reminded the reviewer of a "School Runway" rather than a fashion show [15]. A fashion roundup with prices from youth clothing stores was accompanied by a newspaper survey: 69% of students bought their clothes at city markets [16].

The "Hotline" section carried brief university news: the "River of Life-4" blood donation drive at the pedagogical institute, a homeless person found in the cafeteria of a university that had just introduced a pass system, and the story of applicants to the foreign-language institute who, according to the paper, were not credited with the results of their preparatory courses [17].

Prices from spring 2000, from the pages of "Sdelay Sam"
ItemPrice
Student transit pass for tram and trolleybus (from June 2000)30 rubles [11]
College student transit pass45 rubles [11]
Helicopter flight at "Ex Bike 2000", approx. 10 minutes150 rubles [13]
Short summer skirt at the Nizhny Novgorod Fashion Center50 rubles [18]
Brand-name jeans at the same store360 rubles [18]
A blouse at the "Tsentr 55" shop400 rubles [16]
Trousers at the "Sasch" boutiquefrom 1,500 rubles [16]
Prize for each of the ten winners of the "Sdelay Sam 2000" competition2,000 rubles [19]

A computer is every progressive student's friend, comrade, and brother — a supplier of essays, a source of pleasure, a work tool, a typewriter, the most beloved toy, a drain on parents' finances, and a young person's delight.

— "The Great Student Encyclopedia — K," samnn.ru, 2000 [10]

Sections and Contests

In the spring of 2000, the newspaper launched a student work competition called "Do It Yourself 2000" together with the Center for Marketing and Human Resources. According to the agency, the competition was based on "an almost forgotten technology for placing university graduates — 'the assignment system'": students in their third through fifth years submitted work on a topical subject, along with a résumé and references; ten winners received internships and 2,000 rubles each, and the résumés were to be entered into an online database [6][19]. Submissions were accepted on Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. at the editorial office; the project coordinator was Olga Vlasova [7]. Running alongside it was a separate competition, "Did It Myself" — for those who had built their own career and business [4].

From that same spring, the newspaper accepted personal ads for the "I'm Going Looking" dating section; to make it "easier and less scary" for readers, the journalists themselves were the first to submit ads. Replies were to be sent to a poste restante address keyed to a passport number, and the ads opened with lines such as "Wild lioness seeks her tamer." The editorial team reminded readers that the paper had 10,000 subscribers [20].

The serialized novella "Fish in a Teakettle" by Elvira Lano and Anna Kapranova was published in installments — a story about Lilya Roshchina, her friend, a DJ at radio station Volna, and the city's television and radio center. Readers were invited to guess how events would unfold and to call the editorial office on Friday, May 26, strictly between 4 and 5 p.m.; the first correct caller would receive a book as a gift [8]. On Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m., the editor himself was on duty at the hotline [17].

Don't bring us essays downloaded from the Internet. They are very easy to tell apart from original work. That trick might work with a teacher who is happy to give you any grade, just to be rid of you. We have absolutely no use for it.

— "Fair and Square, No Cheating", samnn.ru, spring 2000 [7]

Signs of the times

The page footer read: "Copyright 'Sdelai Sam' 1999" and "Cobbled and banged together by Graphit studio"; letters went to sam@kis.ru. Alongside it, the RB2 and TX3 banner networks rotated text banners reading "HIDDEN CAMERA. Home VIDEO. PHOTO JOKES" and invitations to a dating site, while the counter showed 4,005 visits in October 2000 [4]. By May 2001 it had reached 7,442, and the banner called out: "HOT VACANCIES. LOW PAY? CHANGE YOUR JOB!" [21]. Some sections of the site lived on separate ports — samnn.ru:8100, :8101, and :8102 [4]. In the nn.ru portal's directory, the site was listed under "Mass Media: Newspapers and Magazines" as "the online version of a popular Nizhny Novgorod youth newspaper" [22].

A frozen page

The late-May 2000 issue remained on the homepage indefinitely: in September 2001 the site still showed the same transit passes, "Woodstoker," and "Fish in a Teapot," with only the banners and counter figures changing [4][23]. In October 2007, a parking page with links to MP3s, loans, and flowers occupied the address [24]. In October 2008, the registrar announced: "The domain registration period has expired. The domain name registration service for samnn.ru is temporarily unavailable" [25].

samnn.ru by year
DateWhat was at the address
October 1999presentation of the newspaper's website at the "Picasso" club [2]
2000content from a late-May issue, "Do It Yourself 2000" and "Did It Myself" contests [4]
2001the same selection; banners and counter change [21][23]
October 2007parking page [24]
October 2008registrar notice of domain registration expiry [25]

Main page by year

Sources

  1. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — (NTA archive) — Tomorrow at the Picasso club the anniversary of the newspaper "Sdelay Sam" will be celebrated, October 13, 1999
  2. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — (NTA archive) — Youth newspaper "Sdelay Sam" explores the expanses of the Internet, October 14, 1999
  3. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — (NTA archive) — Next week marks one year since the founding of the only Nizhny Novgorod youth newspaper "Sdelay Sam", March 31, 2000
  4. web.archive.org — Web Archive — Homepage of samnn.ru, October 31, 2000 (archive)
  5. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — (NTA archive) — From February 3, 2000, the Nizhny Novgorod youth student newspaper "Sdelay Sam" began publishing in an updated format
  6. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — (NTA archive) — On April 13, the newspaper "Sdelay Sam" will celebrate its birthday at the Picasso nightclub, April 12, 2000
  7. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "Fair and square, no cheating" — about the contest "Sdelay Sam 2000" (archive)
  8. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: Elvira Lano and Anna Kapranova, "Fish in a Teapot", day three (archive)
  9. newwoman.ru — Anna Kapranova. "Wacky Thursday". A short story, with a note about the author (archive)
  10. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "The Great Student Encyclopedia" (archive)
  11. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "The star attraction: travel passes" (archive)
  12. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "No-holds-barred fighting: broken bones and dislocated jaws" — an interview with Maxim Tarasov (archive)
  13. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "There's no such thing as a normal biker" — about "Ex Bike 2000" (archive)
  14. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "All the tricks of the Woodstocker" (archive)
  15. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "An anniversary — like an empty dream" — about the tenth "Golden Podium" (archive)
  16. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "Choose your fashion yourself" — prices at youth clothing stores (archive)
  17. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "Hot Line" (archive)
  18. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "Fashion in plain terms" — the Nizhny Novgorod Fashion Center (archive)
  19. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — (NTA archive) — Student submissions for the "Sdelay Sam 2000" contest have begun arriving, May 6, 2000
  20. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru: "I'm going to look" — a dating column (archive)
  21. web.archive.org — Web Archive — Homepage of samnn.ru, May 16, 2001 (archive)
  22. web.archive.org — Web Archive — Portal nn.ru category index: "Mass Media: Newspapers and Magazines", May 25, 2000 (archive)
  23. web.archive.org — Web Archive — Homepage of samnn.ru, September 30, 2001 (archive)
  24. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru, October 27, 2007: a parked page (archive)
  25. web.archive.org — Web Archive — samnn.ru, October 14, 2008: "The domain registration has expired" (archive)