Mediazona

File:Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.jpg

File:Peter Verzilov (7180850001) (cropped).jpg

File:Sergey Smirnov, October 2017.jpg

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova founded the outlet after being released from prison in 2013 following sentences of nearly two years after they were convicted of "hooliganism" motivated by "religious hatred."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/17/pussy-riot-found-guilty-hooliganism|title=Pussy Riot found guilty of hooliganism|agency=Associated Press|date=17 August 2012|publisher=|accessdate=22 November 2016|newspaper=The Guardian}}

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were arrested after a Pussy Riot performance that the band called a "punk prayer" inside Moscow's famous Christ the Savior Cathedral on February 21, 2012.{{cite web |url =https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-pussyriot/russian-police-detain-pussy-riot-sympathizers-in-cathedral-idUSBRE91K0LE20130221|title =Russian police detain Pussy Riot sympathizers in cathedral|publisher =Reuters|date=February 21, 2013|accessdate=7 May 2018}} In the performance, band members asked for the Virgin Mary to protect Russia against Vladimir Putin, who was re-elected as Russia's president a few days later.

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova said that during their prison sentences, they were subjected to numerous abuses. Tolokonnikova described "slave-like conditions", including working 16-hour days sewing police uniforms, and prisoners who suffered such severe frostbite that they had to have fingers and feet amputated.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/sep/19/nadya-tolokonnikova-pussy-riot-interview-nothing-to-lose|title=Nadya Tolokonnikova: 'I suppose we have nothing more to lose'|first=Amelia|last=Gentleman|date=19 September 2014|publisher=|accessdate=22 November 2016|newspaper=The Guardian}}

In an open letter she said, {{blockquote|The convicts are always on the verge of breaking down, screaming at each other, fighting over the smallest things. Just recently, a young woman got stabbed in the head with a pair of scissors because she didn't turn in a pair of pants on time. Another tried to cut her own stomach open with a hacksaw.}}

In addition to its purpose of shedding light on injustices in Russia's courts, law enforcement and prison systems, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova said Mediazona was created to fill the void left by the Kremlin's crackdown on Russian independent media.{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2014/09/pussy-riot-mediazona-independent-russian-news-service/|title=Pussy Riot Members Launch Independent Russian News Service – SPIN|date=5 September 2014|publisher=|accessdate=22 November 2016}}

Starting in 2014, several Russian media outlets had their editorial staff replaced by leadership more friendly to the Kremlin, leaving only a few independent channels and publications in existence.{{Cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/putins-legal-crackdown-on-civil-society/|title=Putin's Legal Crackdown on Civil Society|work=FRONTLINE|access-date=2017-09-14|language=en-US}}

Tolokonnikova said when Mediazona was founded: {{blockquote|Since our release from prison six months ago we've felt that Russian media are no longer able to cover what is going on. Because of the heavy censorship by authorities there is no space for anything in the media that criticizes Putin's policies and tracks human rights abuses by Russian courts and law enforcement. Courts, prisons, arrests, convictions, riots in facilities, political criminal cases, crimes by law enforcement officials — our new media outlet will try to cover it all.}}

Alyokhina added {{blockquote|There is hardly any political issues left in Russia outside of courtrooms — and there is a great need for transparency and media coverage of things that are happening down there, so we hope that Mediazona will help close that gap and change the face of independent Russian media}}

Tolokonnikova said in 2016 that the site has about 2.2 million visitors a month, making it smaller than some other Russian independent media outlets, but Tolokonnikova is looking for ways to expand the site. She has said that due to political pressures, options like crowdfunding are unavailable to Mediazona because of fears the state would take retribution against contributors. The site is currently funded mainly by donations and by speaking fees generated from appearances by Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-pussyriot-media-idUSKCN0Y01M4|title=Pussy Riot founder sets sites on Russian media|date=9 May 2017|publisher=|accessdate=22 November 2016|newspaper=Reuters}}

Examples include a March 2015 story for The Guardian about the unexplained deaths of several people in police custody in a remote region of Siberia,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/09/russia-siberian-cell-death-pussy-riot|title=Under suspicion: death in a Siberian cell|first=Nikita|last=Sologub|date=9 March 2015|publisher=|accessdate=22 November 2016|newspaper=The Guardian}} and a July 2015 story in Vice, in which Mediazona spoke to a former prisoner from a prison camp located near the town of Gorlovka, Ukraine. The interview detailed an incident in September 2014, when troops from the pro-Russian separatist Donetsk People's Republic took over the prison camp.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-life-is-like-in-a-prison-camp-in-the-dnr/|title=What Life Is Like in a Prison Camp in the Donetsk People's Republic – VICE – United States|date=20 July 2015|publisher=|access-date=22 November 2016}}

In March 2016, Mediazona journalist Yegor Skovoroda was attacked while traveling with a group of reporters and activists near Ordzhonikidzevskaya in Ingushetia, just west of the border with Chechnya. The group, which included reporters for Swedish state radio, Norway's Ny Tid newspaper, Russian newspaper Kommersant, and Russia's The New Times, were trying to enter Chechnya on a press trip, where the group planned to meet with people who had been tortured or whose relatives had been kidnapped. Two of the Western journalists and two of the activists were hospitalized, and the attackers set the vehicle on fire.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/10/journalists-beaten-and-bus-torched-on-chechnya-tour-say-activists |title=Journalists and activists beaten and bus torched on Chechnya tour |first=Shaun|last=Walker |date=10 March 2016 |publisher= |access-date=22 November 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian}}

Mediazona has a Russian media license, but Tolokonnikova said in 2016 that there were fears the license could be revoked at any time.

In a 2016 interview with Reuters, Tolokonnikova said "The real punk is to build institutions."

On 30 January 2021, the editor-in-chief of Mediazona Sergey Smirnov was detained by police near his home for allegedly breaking the law on protests.{{cite web |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/30/01/2021/60153c159a79471c2a680cb5 |title=В Москве задержали главреда "Медиазоны" |trans-title=Editor-in-chief of Mediazona detained in Moscow |website=rbc.ru |date=30 January 2021 |access-date=2025-02-23}}

On 29 September 2021, Russia's Ministry of Justice added news outlet to the so-called list of "foreign agent".{{Cite web |language=en |url=https://pen.org/press-release/russia-labels-mediazona-as-foreign-agent-in-ongoing-crackdown/ |title=Russia Labels Mediazona as 'Foreign Agent' in Ongoing Crackdown |website=Pen America |date=October 2021 |access-date=2023-08-16}}

On 6 March 2022, as a result of Mediazona's coverage of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the federal agency Roskomnadzor blocked Mediazona in Russia, and demanded that the website shut itself down. A defiant editorial statement provided tips for Russian readers to evade the censorship of independent media, and promised to continue:

{{blockquote|We were prepared for this. Over the past few days, Russia has implemented martial censorship, with almost no independent media left in the country. We understand all our risks, but we continue to work — this is our duty to our readers and to ourselves.{{cite web | title="Медиазону" заблокировали за освещение войны. Заявление редакции — и наши планы | trans-title=Mediazona was blocked for covering the war. Editorial statement - and our plans | language=RU | date=6 March 2022 | url=https://zona.media/article/2022/03/06/mz-blocked |website=zona.media | access-date=6 March 2022 }}}}

Following U.S. President Trump in January 2025 ordered a freeze on foreign aid, including from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mediazona entered a period of financial difficulty. The Mediazona Central Asia project suspended operations in February, with its editor-in-chief stating that "darkness is what will come to the region if there will be no solution to this funding situation."{{cite news |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/eastern-europes-independent-media-in-free-fall-amid-usaid-cuts/ |title=Eastern Europe's independent media in free fall amid USAID cuts |last1=Geslin |first1=Laurent |last2=Lund Nielsen |first2=Magnus |website=EURACTIV |date=28 February 2025 |access-date=26 May 2025}}{{cite news |url=https://24.kg/english/320331_Mediazona_Central_Asia_temporarily_halts_operations/ |title=Mediazona. Central Asia temporarily halts operations |website=24.kg |location=Bishkek |date=18 February 2025 |access-date=26 May 2025}} On 31 March, Mediazona made an announcement that it "is running out of money", its editor-in-chief Sergey Smirnov and editor Dmitry Treshchanin were working unpaid, and it made a request to readers "To stay afloat, we need 5,000 monthly subscribers".{{cite web |url=https://en.zona.media/article/2025/03/31/help-mediazona |title=Mediazona on the brink. We need 5,000 monthly subscribers to survive |website=Mediazona |date=31 March 2025 |access-date=26 May 2025}}

Free Media Awards 2020.{{Cite web |last=Staschen|first=Jessica |title=Free Media Awards |url=https://www.zeit-stiftung.de/en/projects/politicsandsociety/journalismandmedia/freemediaawards |access-date=2021-04-09 |website=ZEIT-Stiftung}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite web | title=Pussy Riot Launches Mediazona, An Independent News Service in Russia | website=Pitchfork | date=September 4, 2014 | url=http://pitchfork.com/news/56568-pussy-riot-launches-mediazona-an-independent-news-service-in-russia/ | ref={{sfnref | Pitchfork | 2014}} | accessdate=November 22, 2016}}

• {{official website|https://zona.media}}

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Category:Russian news websites

Category:Law enforcement websites

Category:Internet properties established in 2014

Category:Free Media Awards winners

Category:Journalism as a Profession Awards winners

Category:Media listed in Russia as foreign agents