Not toeing the Kremlin’s line
After the collapse of communism, Russian audiences enjoyed a decade of no-holds-barred reporting from their news media that delivered quality investigative journalism alongside sex, scandal and sensationalism. Today, however, the Kremlin’s control over national media is a stranglehold. Vladimir Putin, president from 2000, has put paid to Russia’s nascent press freedom. In the current climate, as state-sponsored Russian trolls turn their propaganda against voters abroad, a new generation of journalists in the country’s regions are not giving up and are leading a renaissance in public-interest reporting at home.
Regional issues are increasingly significant in Russia – from contested elections in the Far East to the effects of climate change in Siberia. Local independent news organizations and bloggers are providing critical coverage for audiences beyond Moscow’s urban elite. Many are online and supported by their readers, helping them to survive despite government restrictions and frequent attacks against journalists.
Take Tayga.info, an independent news site based in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third-largest city.
This year it has covered important local environmental stories including
