Society News

Novaya Gazeta closes after three decades: 'killed', 'strangled', or squeezed out?

Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia's best-known independent media outlets, announced on Friday, October 30, that it will permanently close next month. The Guardian said the paper, whose former editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov won the Nobel peace prize in 2021, cited intolerable pressure, including being stripped of its newsroom, its donation platforms and its legal right to publish.

“This is not just our own story; it is the story of a country and a society that are being systematically crushed.” — editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov, via The Guardian

Hindustan Times, which ran the story first in this set, said the paper was closing after being placed on a state enemies list. France 24 said it was ceasing publication after more than three decades of investigative journalism. The Hindu and South China Morning Post, both drawing on wire copy, described it as one of the last outlets to openly criticise Russia's offensive in Ukraine; the SCMP led with the paper's own claim that it had been “killed” by state pressure. BBC News interviewed the paper's founder, who told it: “They strangled us.”

How each outlet framed it

• The Guardian — the practical squeeze: newsroom, donations, licence.
• Hindustan Times — the enemies list as the final blow.
• France 24 — the end of a long investigative tradition.
• The Hindu — “a new low” in the campaign against dissent since 2022.
• South China Morning Post — the paper's own word: “killed”.
• BBC News — the founder's personal account.

What we don't know yet: whether any of its journalists will keep publishing from abroad, and what happens to its archive.