The Challenges of Reporting About (and in) Russia: The Case of Evan Gershkovich '14, with Daisy Sindelar

The spy-charge detention in Russia of Evan Gershkovich is only the latest escalation in Vladimir Putin's 20-year campaign against journalists and freedom of speech. Long before the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin had begun to decimate the ranks of both foreign and independent Russian journalists through intimidation, criminal charges, "foreign agent" laws, and violence. The steady evaporation of professional journalism and the state-sponsored propaganda that has surged in its wake has not only robbed Russian audiences of their own right to be informed. They have also deprived western audiences of the nuanced, ground-level reporting necessary to draw a critical distinction between Putin and the people he leads.

Daisy Sindelar has served as both Editor in chief and Acting President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), one of the largest global news organizations working on the ground in repressive reporting environments, including Russia, Iran, and Afghanistan. Sindelar also served as Director of Current Time, a Russian-language television and digital news channel that serves as one of the few independent sources of news about the war in Ukraine still available inside Vladimir Putin's Russia. Previous to joining RFE/RL, she was Managing Editor of The Moscow Times and Editor in Chief of its sister publication, The St. Petersburg Times. She has reported in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bosnia, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia.

Free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Department of Russian, with the generous support of a loyal Bowdoin family.

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