Moscow has shuttered Novaya Gazeta – we told the truth and we paid the price | Elena Kostyuchenko

By Elena Kostyuchenko · The Guardian Opinion

Russia’s best-known independent newspaper was my home for 17 years. It’s being shut down, but the spirit of its journalism will live on Novaya Gazeta – Russia’s most prominent independent newspaper – is being shut down . On 29 October, two things became known: Novaya was being evicted from its newsroom, and banks would stop processing readers’ donations to Novaya (its only legal income). Insiders spoke of the risk of Novaya being declared an extremist organisation – then any employee could be jailed: a journalist, an editor, an accountant, a cleaner. Closing was safer. Novaya Gazeta is a second family to me and to many journalists now scattered around the Earth. For me it is my first family, too – my adopted sister also worked at Novaya, and it’s funny how alike we turned out. Continue reading...