Tina Kandelaki is many things. She is a Russian journalist, a TV celebrity, a co-owner of Apostol Media Group, a widely read blogger, and — more recently — a visible presence in Russian politics. Her Twitter account (@tina_kandelaki) has nearly half a million followers, and her LiveJournal blog has received more than 128,000 comments, since its creation just four years ago. Be it on the cover of Russian Maxim magazine or in her endorsement of United Russia and Vladimir Putin, Kandelaki has aroused the interest and sometimes the ire of other prominent actors on the RuNet and elsewhere. In mid-May, 2012, Global Voices’ RuNet Echo spoke to Ms. Kandelaki over email. What follows is the text of that exchange: Tina Kandelaki. Photo by W Communications, used with permission. Ms. Tina Kandelaki, Global Voices warmly thanks you for agreeing to this interview, and we're very excited to discuss your career as a journalist and voice on the Russian Internet. Thank you, I'm glad to be here. In January this year, Echo of Moscow and several other media outlets published a list [ru] of Russia's 100 most influential women, where you were ranked 28th [ru]. Kirov Governor Nikita Belykh offered commentary on your rating, saying that your “capacity for work” and your “energy” are “uncharacteristic for women” and that you “think absolutely like a man.” Do you agree with this assessment? Has your femininity been an asset or an obstacle in your professional life? I am a close friend of Nikita Belykh, and I can honestly say that his character assessment is accurate. I have been working since a young age, and that’s why I possess some male characteristics — a certain independence and ability to stand up for myself. At the moment, I am responsible not only for my family, but for 280 people employed at my company, Apostol. I am not afraid to be responsible for a large number of people — responsibility means moving forward. In the past six months, your public support for United Russia and Vladimir Putin have often been contrasted with Ksenia Sobchak's recent emergence as an oppositionist. Do you consider your relationship to have become a political rivalry? Whether yes or no, why do you think social commentators have identified a feud between the two of you? Ksenia and I were colleagues and partners. At one point, I made the decision to stop working in entertainment-television and I started my own business. I was interested in educational issues, and have since become the host of “The Smartest” (Samyi umnyi), an intellectual TV-show for children. Meeting so many talented youths, I wanted the opportunity to help such children realize their potential. So, in 2009, I accepted an invitation from Dmitry Medvedev to become a member of educational commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. I have been attracted to both business and public activities, and for me they have been connected. Ksenia continues working in the sphere of entertainment-media, but there is no political rivalry between us, and we have never argued because of politics. The thing is: we have different points of view concerning the best path for Russia and its future. Regarding social commentators, I can say that nothing there surprises me — the Internet is a very sensitive sphere, and Internet users pay attention to everything that happens, though they don’t always interpret everything correctly. Your project “Nereal'naia politika” began as an Internet series and later migrated to network television. Ksenia Sobchak's show “GosDep” initially aired on Russian MTV, but it was quickly canceled and later revived as a web-based program on Snob.ru. Why do you think these shows developed in the opposite directions, yours Internet-to-TV and Sobchak's TV-to-Internet? To be honest, I don’t think we can compare these two projects. In the case of Sobchak's show, “GosDep,” she simply had no choice — she would have had to close her show completely, if she did not start broadcasting it on the Internet. “Nereal'naia politika” was the first online start-up in Russia to become hugely popular on the Internet. It appealed to a large audience, and for that reason was sold successfully to a television channel. In recent months, you have devoted attention [ru] in your blog and elsewhere to the potentially dangerous influence the Internet can have on young people, citing violent trends that promote bullying and even murder. Oppositionists often describe the Internet as a tool to circumvent state-controlled media channels, allowing the public access to unfiltered information that, they argue, increases the odds of opposition to the Kremlin.