From Proofreader to Editor-in-Chief: A Love Affair with the Profession

      Veteran of the press of the Zainsk district Razina Akhunova — about frogs in the newsroom, milkmaids at three in the morning, and why journalism is impossible without a soul

      In the year marking 90 years of the district press, we met with journalism veteran Razina Akhunova, who worked at the Zainsk newspaper for several decades.

      From the school blackboard to the newspaper page

      Razina Akhunova headed the paper in 1997–2000 and devoted decades of her life to journalism.

      “I joined the newsroom in March 1978,” Razina Khaziakhmetovna recalls warmly of her first days. “Back then the paper in the Tatar language was called ‘Duslyk Bayragy’ and was a duplication of the newspaper ‘Znamya druzhby’ (‘Banner of Friendship’). We were crammed into the military enlistment office building on the grounds of the sugar factory, and the paper was then led by Yuriy Khanzhin. He took me on as a proofreader in place of a colleague who had gone on maternity leave. I had to learn the job quickly — the skill of ‘working on mistakes’ I already had, honed from being a former teacher.”

      Her path into the profession did not begin in a newsroom. A native of the village of Imyanlebash, after school she earned a diploma from the Menzelinsk pedagogical college and then from the Yelabuga pedagogical institute. The young specialist was assigned to schools in the villages of Bura-Kirta and Chubykly. Thus, before finding her true calling, she was tempered in the education system, working as a rural teacher for ten years. That experience helped her confidently start in journalism. Beginning with the meticulous work of a proofreader, she quickly advanced to translator and then to correspondent, whose pieces readers awaited and recognized.

      The creative kitchen of the newsroom

      “We lived very amicably, like a family,” Razina Khaziakhmetovna remembers with a warm smile. “I remember when the newsroom was moved to another building — where Sberbank now stands, there were barracks then. Imagine, the floor was almost at ground level, and we worked to a real accompaniment — under the floor frogs cheerfully croaked. That natural chorus, you could say, added to our creative zest!”

      Recalling that time, the press veteran smiles as she tells not only of serious work but also of amusing incidents that brightened their workdays. A master of pranks was reporter Klara Gataullina. Once she quietly put empty half-liter jars into photographer Radik Aminov’s bag. Imagine Radik’s surprise when his bag suddenly clanged across the whole hall at the bus station! Another time Klara Khaevna stuffed the editor-in-chief’s glove fingers with wadded papers, and in fierce cold he couldn’t put them on when he was getting ready to go out to a field event. In their free minutes the men solved strategic matters over chessboards. But the team’s life was not only pranks and work. Razina Khaziakhmetovna, blessed with a beautiful voice, often enlivened colleagues’ leisure time, filling the newsroom with melodious Tatar songs.

      It was in that homely, lively atmosphere that her first pieces were born. Gradually the young journalist, with sincere, thoughtful articles on a variety of topics, won readers’ trust and affection. Her work did not go unnoticed by district leadership either — district head Rashit Khamadeev always read Razina Akhunova’s pieces with great pleasure.

      When in the early ’90s “Zay Horizons” began appearing as an independent Tatar newspaper, Razina Khaziakhmetovna came there already a seasoned, respected professional. She supervised major areas — heading the industry and agriculture sections, and managing the dialogue with readers through the letters page.

      Her approach to work was special. “I always wrote with soul, with great love for people,” she shares. “Once I decided to do a piece about the milkmaids of the ‘Alga’ farm. To make it in time for the morning milking, I got up at three a.m. and went to the Karmanovka farm. I arrived in the dark, the milking hadn’t started yet. I stood there studying the board of honor, and suddenly a car pulled up. Khamadeev himself stepped out and sternly asked, ‘Who is this?’ I introduced myself: ‘District newspaper correspondent Razina Akhunova.’ And he replied, ‘So that’s how you write! You weren’t afraid to lose sleep to gather material. That’s why I always read your articles with great pleasure.’ Those words gave me wings.”

      That respect for the press was a common trait of that era. For ordinary residents of Zainsk, being published in the paper was a great honor. That inspired the entire staff to seek interesting topics and to do quality work.

      From correspondent to editor

      Talent and hard work did not go unnoticed. In 1997 she became head of the newspaper “Zay Horizons.” Under her leadership the printed edition became brighter, deeper, closer to the reader.

      “We were constantly looking for new forms of work,” Razina Khaziakhmetovna recalls warmly. “We held editorial councils so that every headline would be accurate and catchy. I always insisted: the language must be alive, figurative, with lyrical notes. Even the most serious topics can be presented poetically! Together with the staff we invented new columns, trying to make them not only informative but soulful as well.”

      The main goal was to create for the reader a space for rest of the soul. “We wanted a person, opening the newspaper, to be immersed in a good, literary text and to receive real aesthetic pleasure,” the journalism veteran explains.

      The newsroom life was not all work. Team cohesion was fostered by joint trips — first to historical places of Tatarstan, and later to other regions. These excursions not only broadened horizons but also created that special creative atmosphere that produced truly striking material.

      Her energy and professionalism were in demand even after leaving the district newspaper. Before retiring, Razina Akhunova headed the press service of the Zakamsk zone of Tatenergo and tried her hand at local radio.

      Just a mother and grandmother

      Today Razina Khaziakhmetovna rightly enjoys a well-deserved rest in Naberezhnye Chelny, finding joy in her large and friendly family. Her children have become a real pride: her son Marat grew into a successful enterprise manager, her daughter Liliya, having inherited her mother’s love of teaching, found her calling as a primary school teacher at the Tatar gymnasium. Six grandchildren have in their grandmother not only a loving soul but also a wise mentor who generously shares her invaluable experience.

      But her connection with her native land and her home newspaper is unbroken. She is a welcome guest in the newsroom, where for young journalists her visits are an opportunity to touch living history.

      Photo by the author

      Roza Ilaltdinova

      More news about the event:

      From proofreader to editor-in-chief: a love story with the profession

      Veteran of the press of the Zainsk district Razina Akhunova — about frogs in the newsroom, milkmaids at three in the morning, and about this, 15:41 28.11.2025 News of Zainsk - Zainsk

      From proofreader to editor-in-chief: a love story with the profession

      Veteran of the press of the Zainsk district Razina Akhunova — about frogs in the newsroom, milkmaids at three in the morning, and about this, 15:11 28.11.2025 Zainsk-Inform - Zainsk