MediaVladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin Writes His NYT Op-Ed For Free, Gets Mega-Traffic

Putin Wrote That NYT Op-Ed For Free
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Senior Media Editor, The Huffington Post

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MOSCOW, RUSSIA - SEPTEMBER 11: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with ministers on budget planning on September 11, 2013 in Moscow, Russia. Talks are ongoing between Russia and the United States as Moscow attempts to broker a deal between The White House and the Syrian government over the stockpiling of chemical weapons. (Photo by Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)

Russian president Vladimir Putin's op-ed in the New York Times on Thursday quickly became the biggest story in political and journalistic circles. President Obama was even hounded about it by the White House press corps:

Luckily for curious onlookers, multiple reports shed light on how the article came to be in the paper.

The public relations firm Ketchum served as the middleman between Putin and the Times, spokesperson Eileen Murphy told BuzzFeed.

The paper's public editor, Margaret Sullivan, also spoke to editorial page editor Andy Rosenthal, who said Putin's article was "well-written, well-argued" and needed virtually no editing.

Also, Sullivan assured readers that Putin didn't get the standard freelance rate that a regular person would if they wrote for the Times.

The paper also got a nice traffic boost from the piece:

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Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(01 of20)
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Vladimir Putin locks a collar with a satellite tracker on the tranquilized five-year-old Ussuri tiger in a Russian Academy of Sciences reserve in Russia's Far East as he took a part in the national program for preserving the population of the Ussuri tiger conducted by researchers of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Animal-loving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been accused of staging his famous encounter with a tigress three years ago. St. Petersburg-based environmentalists Dmitry Molodtsov says that photos of the animal that Putin tagged with a GPS collar in 2008 and subsequent images of what preservationists claimed was the same tigress in fact showed two different animals, indicating that Putin's tigress never was let out into the wild. Molodtsov claimed Friday that Putin's tigress was borrowed from a local zoo for the occasion. A coordinator at the government-funded Amur tiger conservation project dismissed his claim as untrue.(AP Photo / RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(02 of20)
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FILES - Picture taken 13 August 2007 shows Russian President Vladimir Putin fishing in the headwaters of the Yenisei River of the Russian Tuva republic on the border of Mongolia. Time magazine named President Vladimir Putin its 'person of the year' 19 December 2007 in recognition of the Russian leader's role in making Moscow 'a critical linchpin of the 21st century. The award, which is not considered an honor so much as a recognition of the most powerful forces shaping the world, was awarded for Putin's role in reshaping a country that Time's Managing Editor Richard Stengel said had 'fallen off our mental map.' AFP PHOTO / RIA NOVOSTI / KREMLIN POOL / DMITRY ASTAKHOV (Photo credit should read DMITRY ASTAKHOV/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(03 of20)
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Then President Vladimir Putin, wearing a blue helmet and an oxygen mask, sits in Su-27 fighter jet after his flight into the war zone in Chechnya, in Grozny, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service, file) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(04 of20)
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Dec. 18, 2009 file photo, then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, top, is seen during judo training at a sports school in St. Petersburg, Russia. Vladimir Putin turns 60-years old on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012, and has recently sought to demonstrate his youthful vigor by many personal endeavors, but while he has shown creativity in his action-man stunts, the Russian president seems surprisingly vulnerable to the vagaries of oil prices. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Government Press Service, file) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(05 of20)
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin seen riding a horse while traveling in the mountains of the Siberian Tyva region (also referred to as Tuva), Russia, during his short vacation. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL, File) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(06 of20)
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In this Sept. 5, 2012 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin waits in a motorized hang glider next to a Siberian white crane, on the Yamal Peninsula, in Russia. Putin took part in a flight as part of a program devised by environmentalists to lead the endangered cranes, which were raised in captivity, on their migration to Asia. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service, File) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(07 of20)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin touches an octopus as he visits an oceanarium on the Russky Island in Vladivostok at the APEC summit, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(08 of20)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a friendly ice hockey match with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, not seen, in Igora resort near in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(09 of20)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, congratulates heavyweight martial arts fighter Fedor Emelianenko on his victory over Brazilian Pedro Rizzo at the M-1 Global mixed martial arts tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia. Fedor Emelianenko announced his retirement after knocking out Brazilian Pedro Rizzo. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(10 of20)
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, left, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, ski in the mountain resort of Krasnaya Polyana near the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia, Thursday, March 8, 2012. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(11 of20)
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, shows a hold to a young judo wrestler in a regional judo center at the Arena sports complex in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, about 3000 kilometers (1,850 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, during his visit to the region. Putin is known for his passion for judo, in which he has a black belt. (AP Photo/Pool) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(12 of20)
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then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin carries a hunting rifle during his trip in Ubsunur Hollow in the Siberian Tyva region (also referred to as Tuva), on the border with Mongolia, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL, file) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(13 of20)
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin carries two pieces of archaeological trophies he discovered during diving near an archeological excavation of an ancient Greek port on the Taman Peninsula, about 1150 kilometers (720 miles) south of Moscow, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, pool, file) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(14 of20)
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then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse in the foothills of Karatash, near Abakan, the capital of the Khakassia region in Siberia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Government Press Service, file) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(15 of20)
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then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, fixes a radio beacon on a neck of a polar bear, which was anaesthetized, during a visit to a research institute at the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Government Press Service, file) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(16 of20)
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then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center left, and leader of Nochniye Volki (the Night Wolves) biker group, Alexander Zaldostanov, also known as Khirurg (the Surgeon), right, ride bikes at a motor bikers' festival in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL, file) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(17 of20)
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then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse during his trip in Ubsunur Hollow in the Siberian Tyva region (also referred to as Tuva), on the border with Mongolia, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(18 of20)
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then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds a tranquilizer gun in a Russian Academy of Sciences reserve in Russia's Far East. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL, file) (credit:AP)
Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(19 of20)
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FILE - In this March 20, 2000 file photo, President Vladimir Putin, wearing a blue helmet and an oxygen mask, sits in Su-27 fighter jet after his flight into the war zone in Chechnya, in Grozny, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service, file) (credit:AP)
Vladimir Putin(20 of20)
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File - In this file photo taken on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin locks a collar with a satellite tracker on the tranquilized five-year-old Ussuri tiger in a Russian Academy of Sciences reserve in Russia's Far East as he took a part in the national program for preserving the population of the Ussuri tiger conducted by researchers of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Animal-loving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been accused of staging his famous encounter with a tigress three years ago. St. Petersburg-based environmentalists Dmitry Molodtsov says that photos of the animal that Putin tagged with a GPS collar in 2008 and subsequent images of what preservationists claimed was the same tigress in fact showed two different animals, indicating that Putin's tigress never was let out into the wild. Molodtsov claimed Friday that Putin's tigress was borrowed from a local zoo for the occasion. A coordinator at the government-funded Amur tiger conservation project dismissed his claim as untrue.(AP Photo / RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool) (credit:AP)
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