Katrina vanden Heuvel on Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov’s fight for press freedom in Russia

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Russian independent journalist Dmitry Muratov and Filipina journalist Maria Ressa for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression.” Muratov runs the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which has lost more journalists to murder than any other Russian news outlet. Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor-in-chief of The Nation and reporter on Russia for the last 30 years, recounts the trajectory of Muratov’s career, noting his newspaper’s humble beginnings and his unexpected rise to becoming an advocate for freedom of the press. “Investigative journalism in Russia today is very dangerous,” says vanden Heuvel. Despite the danger, van Heuvel says that Novaya readership is skyrocketing with younger journalists lining up to work at the newspaper.