Karelian media outlet’s editor-in-chief leaves office due to political pressure
Natalya Zakharchuk, the Stolitsa na Onego Media Outlet’s editor-in-chief, has announced leaving office after 12 years of work. She indicated in a video message recorded for the audience that she had done it because of political pressure that had begun after the start of the gubernatorial elections’ electoral campaign. Artur Parfenchikov, the current head of Karelia, has already announced his nomination for a second term.
“Apparently, someone is afraid of losing the election, so they force me to leave,” said the media outlet’s head.
Zakharchuk stated that she was not going to show the situation in Karelia to the audience "through rose-colored spectacles" and had always tried to make Stolitsa na Onego an independent and objective media. After Natalya Zakharchuk's resignation, the entire editorial creative team remains working in the media outlet. It was not possible to get an operational comment from the journalist.
The pressure on mass media is increasing in Russia every year. For example, deputies of the Novooskolsky Urban District of Belgorod Oblast asked the prosecutor's office to suspend the Byt (‘household’) News Agency's work and check its editor Yevgeny Belousov's work for distributing fakes about the special operation. According to the deputies, Belousov could publish them because he headed the regional branch of the Golos (‘voice, vote’) Organization for the Rights of Voters, recognized as a foreign agent.
The My (‘we’) Independent Media Outlet’s website from Kirov was attacked by hackers more than 100 times in one month. The journalists believe that pro-government activists tried to hack them. The media outlet’s representatives cover the special operation's consequences in the region and anti-war actions.