The BBC announced the resumption of its English-language services from Russia on Tuesday evening after suspending them due to Moscow’s toughening up of independent media. the New York Timesa prestigious American daily, chose the opposite route and let it be known that it was evacuating its journalists from the country.
In its statement, the British Broadcasting Corporation said it had “examined the implications of new Russian legislation”, which provides for heavy prison sentences for the dissemination of “false information about the army”, while weighing the “urgent need to report from within Russia”. “After careful consideration”, the British public audiovisual group has “decided to resume English reporting from Russia this evening [mardi 8 mars]. »
“We will tell this crucial part of the story independently and impartially, adhering to the BBC’s strict editorial standards. The safety of our personnel in Russia remains our number one priority,” the outlet added.
The BBC announced on Friday that it was “temporarily” suspending the work of its journalists in Russia to ensure their “safety”, after the radical turn of the screw by the Russian authorities against the media since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Reverse decision
the New York Times announced on Tuesday that he had decided to get his journalists out of Russia to protect his teams from the backlash of a new Russian law, which “aims to criminalize independent and truthful reporting of the war in Ukraine” , indicates the newspaper in a message sent to AFP.
“For the safety and security of our editorial staff working in the region, we are transferring them out of the country for the time being,” it added.
the New York Times hopes to be able to send its journalists back to Russia “as quickly as possible”, but for the moment it is “monitoring the implementation of the new law”.
Many foreign media have decided to suspend their activities in Russia after the adoption by the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, of this law heavily punishing any “false information” after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army .
The Kremlin on Saturday defended the “firmness” of its law, which provides for up to fifteen years in prison in the event of the dissemination of information aimed at “discrediting” the armed forces, considering that Russia is the target of a “war some information “.