Dmitry Muratov

"Where it’s propaganda, it’s war. Where there is freedom of expression, people do not let the authorities start a war, a war like the one we see in the middle of Europe now."

Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov (Russian: Дмитрий Андреевич Муратов; born 29 October 1961) is a Russian journalist, television presenter and the editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Maria Ressa for "their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace."

Quotes

• Aggressive marketing of war affects people and they start thinking that war is acceptable. Governments and their propaganda supporters are fully responsible for the militaristic rhetoric on state-owned television channels.
• We are journalists, and our mission is clear – to distinguish between facts and fiction.
• Journalism in Russia is going through a dark valley. Over a hundred journalists, media outlets, human rights defenders and NGOs have recently been branded as “foreign agents”. In Russia, this means “enemies of the people.” Many of our colleagues have lost their jobs. Some have to leave the country. Some are deprived of the opportunity to live a normal life for an unknown period of time. Maybe forever.
• This award is for all true journalism. This award is to my colleagues from Novaya Gazeta, who have lost their lives – Igor Domnikov, Yuri Shchekotschikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Anastasija Baburova, Stas Markelov and Natasha Estemirova. This award is also to the colleagues who are alive, to the professional community who perform their professional duty.
  • From his Nobel Prize Lecture "Antidote against tyranny" in Oslo, 10 December 2021

• Propaganda is the kitchen of war, Propaganda is war itself. First comes the militarisation of national holidays, then the news is replaced by propaganda shows.
  • "Nobel peace prize Dmitry Muratov: Propaganda is war itself", Vox Europ, 3 May 2022

• The destruction of the media in Russia is more and more like an act of war, like when a rocket launcher destroys everything from the face of the earth. The destruction of the Russian media is complete. The government has undoubtedly won the war against the independent media that presents an alternative point of view. Propaganda has won.
• It is a targeted annihilation of the independent media. Journalists are expelled and made enemies of the people, so-called foreign agents. And why all this? The government has decided to leave the Russian people completely alone with the state propaganda. And that propaganda is slowly but surely destroying society’s brains,
• Where it’s propaganda, it’s war. Where there is freedom of expression, people do not let the authorities start a war, a war like the one we see in the middle of Europe now.
  • "Propaganda has won – VG", Norway Posts English, from VG, 30 mai 2022

Quotes about Dmitry Muratov

• The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace. Ms. Ressa and Mr. Muratov are receiving the peace prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and in Russia. At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.
  • Berit Reiss-Andersen quoted here (2021)

• In Russia, independent journalism is a blood sport. Since Dmitry Muratov founded independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993, six of his reporters have been assassinated for exposing the crimes of Vladimir Putin’s regime and Russia’s oligarchy. In response to one piece in 2012, Muratov’s deputy was taken to a forest by the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, or Russia’s FBI. The official threatened to kill him and then pretend to investigate his death.
  But nothing has intimidated Muratov and the Novaya Gazeta team. Year in and year out, his newspaper has exposed billions of dollars of the Putin government’s corruption, extrajudicial killings, and rampant human-rights abuses. For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2021. Months later, following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, he pledged to donate the medal to benefit refugees fleeing the crisis.
  Some heroes show moments of bravery; Dmitry Muratov has shown a lifetime of bravery.
  • "The 100 most influential people of 2022 - Dmitry Muratov", Time, 23 May 2022