Russian media needs support

One of the debates in the Nordic tent during Almedalen week considered freedom of the press in Russia.

“It’s not easy working as a serious, independent journalist in Russia, but clearly, just as before, there are still some professional journalists left in Russia,” says the editor in chief of the website Meduza, Galina Timchenko. She is herself an example of the consequences of the media situation in the country. Only a year ago Timchenko was running lenta.ru, a Russian news website whose content was very different from what could be read in other Russian media, and one which quickly grew to become one of the biggest and most read websites in the country. The journalists at lentu.ru strove to maintain honest reporting that was as objective as possible.

The Russian propaganda machine is extremely well organised and has huge resources. Even Russian speakers in the Baltic countries read what it produces, in various forms, and in all types of programmes and media. No one can compete with it on these terms – you have to find alternative channels.

“We can’t say that we were subject to direct intervention by the authorities,” Timchenko says. But the indirect consequences, however, were far more common. “We could count on harassment on a daily basis. Bills might not arrive, the electricity might not work, internet connections might fail, or all manner of other things.”

“There are many ways to obstruct or directly prevent people from working,” Timchenko says, who finally left Russia around a year ago. She is now based in Riga, where she runs the website Meduza with a number of her colleagues from lenta.ru. Meduza’s target group is Russians, primarily those living in Russia, but also those living in the Baltic countries, all of which have a sizeable Russian minority.

Concrete support for Russian-language media

The panel also discussed how the Nordic Region could help to improve the ability for Russian speakers, both in Russia and the surrounding areas, to access independent media in their own language. Director of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ office in Riga Jan Widberg recently compiled a report for the ministers for Nordic co-operation outlining proposals for concrete support for Russian-language media in the Baltic countries.

“A key area is different types of courses and skill-enhancing activities relating to both digital tools and journalism,” Widberg says. We also want to try to focus on giving the public and professionals greater insight into what is known as ‘media literacy’, which in practice means a critical approach to media content and news sources in the digital media landscape. But we also suggest small-scale financial support to individual media outlets in the Baltic countries,” Widberg explains.

“The Russian propaganda machine is extremely well organised and has huge resources. Even Russian speakers in the Baltic countries read what it produces, in various forms, and in all types of programmes and media. No one can compete with it on these terms – you have to find alternative channels,” he adds.