Galina Timchenko

Co-founder, CEO & Publisher, Meduza (Independent Russian media outlet operating from Latvia)

Timchenko was a keynote speaker at the 25th ISOJ. Watch her presentation here.

Galina Timchenko is the co-founder, CEO, and publisher of Meduza — the largest remaining independent Russian news outlet published in both Russian and English. Meduza continues to reach millions of people inside Russia despite the project’s newsroom having to operate from exile for the last nine years. In April 2021, Russian authorities designated Meduza as a “foreign agent” in an attempt to knock out its advertising income. Since the very beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine Meduza strongly opposed the Kremlin’s monstrous actions and the Russian government began blocking Meduza’s website outright. Finally, in January 2023, the Kremlin banned Meduza completely, declaring the outlet an illegal “undesirable organization”. These actions were made to destroy the newsroom, but Meduza managed to retain the majority of its audience due to the diverse and technologically advanced infrastructure.
Galina also served as the editor-in-chief of Lenta.ru media from 2004 until 2014.

Galina is a 2022 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award for extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom. In 2022, Meduza was awarded Fritt Ord Foundation Prize for courageous, independent and fact-based journalism.