A Russian doll made of four plastic balls — one for the head, one for the body and one for each hand — swings nonchalantly on a shelf in the newsroom of theIndependent Barents Observer, located in Kirkenes, in northern Norway. No matter how hard you push it, the toy straightens up and returns to its original posture. “Try to take down free speech…and see what happens,” one piece of paper reads. Next door, half a dozen journalists are busy bringing to light the truth about the repercussions, here and elsewhere, of the war in Ukraine.
The premises housing the non-profit media outlet contain some rather unusual objects. In the lot, photos of the initiator of perestroika and glasnost, Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as beer cans bearing the image of the author of the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, sometimes cashing a punch of a Ukrainian colossus (Putin To Sleep, by Cervisiam), sometimes holding Dmitri Medvedev on his knees (Putin Huylo, by Pravda Brewery).
The six reporters of theIndependent Barents Observer do not, however, practice combat journalism, maintains the director of the English and Russian language publication, Thomas Nilsen, that The duty returned to his quarters after passing a statue of Saint Barbara and climbing a long staircase. “We strive to be as objective as possible,” he explains in his office located not far from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The practice of “fact-based journalism” is “increasingly difficult” in the shadow of Russia. Reporters from political, military and environmental news media can no longer travel to Russian territory, interview Russian officials or even refer to Russian media as they did not so long ago.
“Over the past three years, The Independent Barents Observer has not reported a single incident involving Russian nuclear-powered submarines in the Arctic. Is it because no incidents occurred there? No. It’s just that we were not informed and we did not find this information,” says the seasoned journalist, searching the Barents Sea, where Russia conducts military exercises from time to time.
“Journalism is about telling a story on the spot. For example, you come here and wonder what’s going on. We would like to do the same thing on the other side of the border, go to Murmansk or the Russian Arctic, meet people, interview them, see what is happening… But we are not allowed to do that,” says Thomas Nilsen, for whom the border separating Norway and Russia, only about fifteen minutes’ drive from his office, is impassable.
The Norwegian regularly spoke with the spokesperson for the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet about military operations in the Barents Sea, for example, and then quoted him in his articles. “Today, he is no longer allowed to speak to foreign media,” he says.
Fearing being accused of “discrediting the Russian army”, Russian media only relay information emanating from the Ministry of Defense or state press agencies, “which is not objective”, laments Thomas Nilsen, who unabashedly advocates the principles of freedom of expression and democracy.
A one-way ticket out of Russia
Tea Independent Barents Observer can, however, now count on four journalists from Russia — Denis Zagore, from Murmansk, Georgii Chentemirov, from Petrovsk, Elizaveta Vereykina, from Moscow, and Olesia Krivtsova, from Arkhangelsk — to skilfully circumvent the obstacles set up by Vladimir’s regime Putin and to draw his readers’ attention to the increase in acts of violence against women committed by soldiers or the arrival in Arkhangelsk of a Russian warship loaded with damaged weapons and ” Nazi literature” that authorities claim to have found in Ukraine in the hope of mobilizing the population.
“As ethnic Russians, they have a greater ease in contacting people and chatting with them on the telephone, on the Internet, etc. This helps us a lot,” says Thomas Nilsen.
The head of the NPO recruited them in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of new restrictions on journalistic work, and offered them a three-year contract with a salary comparable to the average salary offered to Norwegian journalists. For them, “it’s practically a one-way ticket” out of Russia, specifies Thomas Nilsen. “These four journalists left Russia so they could continue to practice free and objective journalism. And they are not alone. Hundreds of Russian journalists left the country after the outbreak of war, a total war,” the director underlines, before specifying: “We call a war for what it is: a war. It is therefore not a special military operation. »
Thomas Nilsen says he is proud of the reports produced by “Russian journalists in exile”, such as the one recounting “the story of criminals, murderers, rapists who came out of prison, who were sent to Ukraine to wage war, then who came back free to commit new crimes.”
The Independent Barents Observer takes advantage of its “good network of contacts” and its privileged position, in the very north of Norway, to cover the manifestations of new East-West tensions, but also the effects of climate change in the Arctic, the interest of China for the region, or the challenges of indigenous populations or fishermen. ” THE Barents Observer keeps an eye on what is happening in the North. Sorry to say it, but it is very rare to see correspondents from CNN, the BBC or AFP in Moscow going to the Far North of Russia,” he says bluntly.
The Barents Observer keeps an eye on what’s happening in the North
Thomas Nilsen sifted through open data to discover that Russian forces were conducting tests of the Burevestnik missile — an experimental nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed Russian cruise missile that is nicknamed Skyfall by NATO — during the summer.
More interest, more readers… even in Putin’s country
The number of readers of theIndependent Barents Observer has gone from single to double since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Thomas Nilsen attributes this jump to the war in Ukraine and the acceleration of climate change. Readers of the independent media are scattered across Norway (5%), Finland (5%), North America (30%) as well as other European countries and Russia (60%).
The director says he is unable to accurately measure the number of readers based in Russia since the websiteIndependent Barents Observer is blocked by Kremlin censors, forcing Russian Internet users to use a private virtual network (virtual private network, or VPN). “We use many methods to avoid censorship. One of them is the use of mirror domains. For example, if we post something on Russian social media, if we chat on Telegram or something else, we don’t give the link to our site, but to the mirror site,” he mentions.
Fuel for audacity, the journalists of theIndependent Barents Observer remain straight. Like the Russian doll.
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat-International Journalism Fund.The duty.