Zakazukha (заказуха) is a Russian word for the paying of money (or the offering of other goods) to ensure usually favourable media coverage for a person or thing. In English this is frequently called "cash for coverage" though the Russian may be translated as "paid-for news".
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History
The use of zakazukha became popular in Russia in the 1990s, when articles praising or smearing a person or organisation would be ordered by an interested party. This became a significant source of revenue for newspapers at the time and even allowed some papers to avoid bankruptcy.
Prices
In 1997 a journalist for Obshchaya gazeta, a Moscow weekly, published prices for zakazukha:
"Izvestiya: $2,500 for three typed pages; Moskovskii komsomolets: $2,500 for two pages; Komsomolskaya pravda: $2,000 for two pages; Kommersant-daily: $1,000-$1,200 per page; Moskovskaya pravda: $300-$450 per one page; Vechernaya Moskva: $300 per page. "In case inaccuracies are found, please correct us," the author coyly concluded."