The first print edition of Novaya Gazeta Europe on display in Riga, Latvia, 6 May 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE / TOMS KALNINS
Novaya Gazeta Europe has been announced as one of the beneficiaries of the first Media in a Changing World Grant Program run by the Foundation for Democracy and Liberal Values (FDLV).
The FDLV is a US-based private nonprofit foundation set up by Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in Moscow in 2015, among others. The nonprofit is committed to supporting independent media outlets that continue to operate in the face of legal restrictions and ongoing threats.
Created with the aim of helping media outlets maintain their financial and editorial independence, the FDLV also promotes the development of democratic institutions in Eastern Europe and supports independent media in exile.
The grant programme is dedicated to promoting just and inclusive journalism and works in three primary areas: independent media outlets led by Russian exiles, new media technologies and innovations, and creative and impactful standalone projects aimed at audiences both inside and outside Russia, according to the FDLV website.
One major FDLV donor is a private investor of Russian origin whose business activities are focused in Western countries. As the foundation points out, this is an example of members of the Russian diaspora investing in a future Russia devoid of censorship and repression.
Novaya Gazeta Europe was founded in Latvia in April 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine six weeks earlier and the subsequent introduction of wartime censorship, which forced most of Novaya Gazeta’s editors and journalists to leave the country.
