The Russian regime seems to be winning the fight against press freedom: the Novaya Gazeta is the last independent newspaper in Russia to go out of business.
MOSCOW – A day after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta expressed its shock in a three-word headline against a sombre black background: “Russia. bombs. Ukraine.”
A little over a month later this last newspaper issued of Russia*, the independent news about the Ukraine war* published – founded by Nobel Prize winner Dmitri Muratow – on Monday (March 28, 2022) that it would cease operations until the end of the war in order to forestall an imminent publication ban. They had already received the second warning from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s technology and communications company.
Novaya Gazeta Must Stop: “Huge Loss to Huge Internet Audience”
“It’s the disappearance of the last independent publication that hasn’t been blocked,” Andrei Kolesnikov, a political analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center and former editor of the Novaya Gazeta, told The Washington Post. He called it “a tremendous loss for the huge internet audience and a disaster for the newspaper’s fans.”
Novaya Gazeta | |
Descriptiont | national newspaper |
Publishert | ANO RID “Novaya Gazeta” |
first editiont | April 1, 1993 |
Frequency of publicationt | three times a week |
Editor-in-Chieft | Sergei Koscheurov |
Publishert | Sergei Sokolov |
founder | Dmitry Muratov |
The Invasion edition – published in Russian and Ukrainian – sold out in hours on February 25. Two weeks later, the cover featured the “Dance of the Swans” from “Swan Lake” silhouetted against a fiery mushroom cloud with the caption “A Problem of ‘Novaya’ Created in Accordance with All the Rules of the Amended Russian Criminal Code.”
Russia: Difficult reporting in the Ukraine war
The headline conveyed the difficulties of reporting the war under Russia’s tough new censorship laws. Even the words “war,” “invasion,” and “attack” are banned, and the release of information discrediting the military is criminalized. Analysts warn there is no guarantee the restrictions – imposed as harsh war measures amid what the Kremlin is calling an “unprecedented information war” against Russia – will ever be lifted.
Kolesnikov said the only reason the newspaper managed to publish for so long in Russia was because of Muratov’s authority. “It’s hard to say how long the suspension will last because even if the ‘special operation’ ends, the authoritarian regime that crushed all independent media in Russia will not go away,” Kolesnikov told the Washington Post.
Russia: Many journalists flee
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian authorities have blocked dozens of independent Russian media outlets, including Dozhd Television, whose journalists have left Russia, and Echo of Moscow Radio, which was dissolved by its board controlled by the state gas company Gazprom.
Hundreds of journalists are out as a result of the Ukraine conflict* fled the country, although independent media outlets still broadcast messages on YouTube and Telegram.
Novaya Gazeta: Coverage of Ukraine bypassed the legal red line
Novaya Gazeta’s coverage of the war to date, including reports from the Ukraine* about civilian casualties and Russian losses in the war, carefully skirted the legal red line. But the coverage apparently still proved too much for the Russian authorities.
After all, state television propaganda is about uniting the nation behind the war and convincing the Russian people that the war is a limited, just and necessary operation to destroy “Nazis” and protect Russia.
Russia can revoke licenses for newspapers
Novaya Gazeta, with a loyal audience of urban intellectuals, liberals and opposition supporters, has often run afoul of Russian authorities. Six of its journalists were murdered between 2000 and 2009, including Anna Politkovskaya, who reported on Russia’s abuses in Chechnya and was shot dead in her apartment building in 2006.
The newspaper’s announcement that it was ceasing publication was included in a brief two-paragraph statement in Monday’s edition, which came shortly after Roskomnadzor’s warning. Under Russian law, a newspaper can have its license revoked if it receives two warnings within a year. (so) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
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