Despite Kremlin efforts, Russian indie media keep news flowing
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Fred Weir Special correspondent
| Moscow
Under the pressure of war, crackdown, and emigration, Russia鈥檚 media landscape looks increasingly as it did in the bygone Soviet era.
In the Cold War, that meant a consolidated national press offering the official narrative with little political diversity, and a range of alternative voices based outside the country trying various means to penetrate official obstacles to reach Russian audiences.
It鈥檚 not quite that bad yet today.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onThe Kremlin has been trying to silence dissenting voices in Russia鈥檚 media landscape. But despite its efforts, independent outlets are finding ways to speak to the Russian public.
The funding for state media even as laws to curtail critical journalism have proliferated. And most independent media 鈥� and the journalists who worked with them聽鈥� have left Russia in recent months after being declared 鈥渇oreign agents,鈥� forbidden from reporting on the war and, in many cases, physically shut down by authorities.
But thanks to the advances and ubiquity of the internet, independent media today are able to make their voices heard in a way that was impossible during the days of the USSR. Some of them have established full-scale operations from a safe perch outside the country, aiming to bring alternative news and views to Russians online. Quite a few journalists have remained in Russia but retreated to obscure precincts of social media to express themselves, or to provide information anonymously for existing outlets.
鈥淭here are so many ways to reach people nowadays that were unimaginable in the past,鈥� says Masha Lipman, co-editor of , an online journal of expert debate in English and Russian that still seems to be accessible in Russia without using a VPN. 鈥淎s long as the internet exists, and the restrictions are not impenetrable 鈥� the Russian government is trying 鈥� then it鈥檚 as if the 茅migr茅聽press now has a real foothold and can compete in the Russian information sphere.鈥�
Russians setting the agenda
Not every independent journalist has decamped abroad. Some continue working within the still-permitted spectrum, trying to produce valuable work within increasingly restrictive legal conditions. And a few say they鈥檙e just not leaving, no matter what.
鈥淚 was born in Russia and have lived here all my life. Why should I leave?鈥� says journalist Vasily Polonsky. He鈥檚 worked for several alternative outlets, including TV Dozhd and the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and has been declared a 鈥渇oreign agent鈥� under Russian law. 鈥淲ho will stay here to express a position different from the official line?鈥� he asks. 鈥淎s long as it鈥檚 possible, I鈥檒l stay here and work, even if I can only seem to use about 15% of my professional capacities.鈥�
But most of Russia鈥檚 critical media voices now operate outside the country 鈥� a situation that is starting to resemble the old Cold War.
Then, the Russian 茅migr茅聽press was largely confined to exiled readerships, with few opportunities to reach audiences inside the USSR. Only big state-supported radio stations such as Radio Liberty, the BBC, and Voice of America had the capabilities to counter Soviet jamming efforts and bring a different narrative to Soviet citizens in their own languages.
鈥淚n those days, millions would be listening, and they considered those signals from outside the country to be the voice of truth,鈥� says Ms. Lipman.
But there are some important differences from the past, she says. 鈥淭hose Cold War-era radio stations were run by foreign governments who were fighting their ideological battles with the USSR. Russians may have worked for them, but they were not in charge. Today Russians are running these [exiled] media ventures; they are the bosses and they set the agenda.鈥�
The , probably the most popular opposition-minded voice, decamped years ago to Latvia where, despite mounting difficulties with news-gathering inside Russia, it continues to make its coverage available to any Russian able to use a VPN. The was finally hounded out of its Moscow studios in March, after years of tightening regulations, and recently started broadcasting from a borrowed studio in Riga, using YouTube, a platform that has not yet been blocked in Russia.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 make any sense to stay. We鈥檇 have been no use to anyone, including our families,鈥� says Ekaterina Kotrikadze, news director at Dozhd. 鈥淭his is really different. How do you reach people? How do you understand the country when you are outside of it?鈥�
Staff members at Dozhd have been debating how to continue gathering news and contributions from inside Russia, bearing in mind that such work may be criminalized by Russian authorities, putting journalists at serious risk. They are especially concerned for people like Mr. Polonsky, Ms. Kotrikadze says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just impossible to do your job as a journalist from inside the country now,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are several journalists who remain and continue to work. Polonsky is one of ours who refuses to leave. What to do about him?鈥�
鈥淧eople were waiting for us鈥�
Despite government efforts to silence them, independent media have been able to maintain a connection with their audience. Ms. Kotrikadze says from Latvia 鈥� she鈥檚 also an anchor 鈥� got a million and a half views, and a lot of positive feedback.
鈥淧eople were waiting for us, and knew where to look,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e kept in touch on Telegram channels, of course, and our relaunch is still partial. But we are back on the air.鈥�
The now-closed Ekho Moskvy radio station has also fallen back on YouTube. Several of its top contributors now broadcast their familiar critical commentary on , though not full time.
YouTube remains a viable platform for alternative Russian media because its made-in-Russia replacement, RuTube, is still not ready after suffering from early in the war. Many official Russian news channels, and pro-Kremlin voices such as Sputnik and Russia Today, still rely on YouTube, and hence it remains one of the few pluralistic platforms that Russians can access without a VPN.
The biggest worry, Ms. Lipman says, is that independent media have lost their former business models. 鈥淣ews outlets like Meduza and Dozhd used to get advertising income in the Russian market, and were relatively successful. Now they are completely cutoff from that, and it鈥檚 going to become a problem.鈥�
鈥淭he situation is changing very fast鈥�
Some independent outlets try to carry on within Russia, despite being labeled 鈥渇oreign agents鈥� and subjected to constant legal harassment. The newspaper Novaya Gazeta attempted to continue publishing without breaking any of the new laws concerning war reporting, but nevertheless was forced to stop in March. In early July, it successfully registered the first issue of a weekly magazine, , but its site was subsequently blocked.
Nadezhda Prusenkova, Novaya Gazeta鈥檚 press secretary, says the staff has no idea what will happen next.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going through a very difficult period,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not clear whether we鈥檒l open a new site, or issue another edition. Right now, all I can say is that the situation is changing very fast.鈥�
One publication that continues with some tiny semblance of normality is the 20-year-old , which produces critical news coverage about southern Russia and the wider Caucasus region. It鈥檚 been declared a 鈥渇oreign agent鈥� and its website has been blocked in Russia. But despite pending court cases, the site has been able to keep working so far.
Its editor, Grigory Shvedov, attributes that to the fact that its area of focus is not Ukraine. It employs a network of regional journalists and bloggers, most of whom are not anonymous, to concentrate largely on human rights issues in the Caucasus. They have attempted to calculate casualty rates for Russian soldiers from the region who鈥檝e been sent to Ukraine, but only using open and official sources.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not getting any easier,鈥� he says. 鈥淪ome can鈥檛 work at all. Some topics cannot be covered. But we want to keep working. And we intend to do that until it becomes impossible.鈥�
