Press Freedom Challenges (the case of Russian opposition media)

Abstract

The subject of the article is the analysis of independent mass media in Russia right after Russia’s invasion in Ukraine in 2022. The author describes the situation in the segment of media opposing to Putin’s dictatorship. The relevance of the study is to analyse the methods of how to oppose and avoid restrictions by governmental censorship. The methodology of the study is the description of the process of media operations under severe governmental violations including internet technology, fiscal and taxation, law enforcement and several others; as well as interviews with editors and journalists from Russian independent media. As a result of the study, three major cases of Russian independent internet media were analysed referring to their struggle against censorship restrictions. The three online media «Novaia Gazeta», «Bumaga», «Novaya Vkladka» were examined. For example, in 2022 the local free media «Bumaga» published in the city of Saint Petersburg had 1.5-2 million original visits per month; it was the leading media in local market on 5 million population metropolitan area. It demonstrated the high level of journalism standards which enabled the news media to be both the popular service media and the effective marketplace for ideas on social and political issues in the region. With the beginning of Russia-Ukraine war editors and journalists rejected strictly to publish official Kremlin propaganda. Though numerous bans and restrictions, «Bumaga» became an effective media even in illegal conditions. Conclusions of the study shows a set of practices that enable the independent media to avoid censorship restrictions under conditions of modern dictatorship regimes. The number of free media in Russia lessens but it is not dramatic. Their futher development corresponds to the European and world media trends.

Keywords

• mass media
• censorship
• rating
• opposition
• internet media