This autumn, the Latvian Journalists’ Association awarded the annual Excellence Award recognising the best works by journalists in Latvia. This year, two pieces by the independent media outlet “Chayka.lv” located in Daugavpils were nominated for the award. One of those was the series of videos called “We Are Here” produced jointly with TVNET’s Russian-language editorial team and supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia.
The Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia (NCM) has been financially supporting independent Russian-language media in the Baltics since 2017. The initiative was intended as a response to the spread of disinformation in the region and as a tool for ensuring responsible, inclusive dialogue within the Russian-speaking community. Initially, the main part of the support was distributed through a grant scheme in three phases that supported content production in the Russian language. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the need for providing qualitative and reliable content to Russian speakers in the Baltics, as an alternative to media outlets based in Russia, has remained on the agenda. The main reason for supporting independent Russian-language media in the Baltics is to strengthen democratic values and build a resilient, inclusive and responsible society, focusing on the Russian-speaking community.
When the funding through grant schemes was finalised, the conditions for continuing support to independent media in the Russian language were assessed. Since then, support has mainly been aimed at training and multimedia content production in partnership with the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence (BCME). While the office does not have any stake on editorial decisions, it monitors the implementation together with BCME to ensure the reliability and quality of the content. Recipients have praised the grant for flexibility and ability, which are crucial in the fast-changing media environment.
This support aligns with the “FOR-IN” project, which aims to develop regional networks of integration specialists and foster knowledge exchange to implement key holistic integration principles. It also seeks to encourage refugees and immigrants to proactively participate in the development and implementation of programmes that support their integration. By quickly adapting the “FOR-IN” project's specifications, it provided versatile solutions to the influx of Ukrainian refugees, underlining its significance for the Baltic States. The NCM’s regional offices in Narva and Daugavpils proved particularly valuable in fostering cooperation with ethnically, socially and linguistically diverse communities. Presence in remote regions clearly demonstrates the commitment to expand collaboration with regional partners.
Besides supporting individual media outlets, funding has been granted under the project “Diversification of multimedia content for minority audiences in the Baltics”. The project was implemented in close partnership with the BCME and one of the results was a video podcast show “Even More Real Daugavpils” (original title in Russian – “Ещё Более Настоящего Даугавпилса”). The entertainment and conversational show with interesting and active guests – residents of the city – aired 11 episodes which were published and are still available on the YouTube channel Chayka.lv. The videos “We Are Here” (“Мы здесь”) by Chayka.lv and TVNET, which were nominated for this year’s Excellence Award, was also supported by the NCM. It is a video series about real people sharing their life stories through the span of leaving their homes in Ukrainian, Russian and Belarus and their temporarily settlement in Latvia, including the Latgale region. The episodes are still available on www.Chayka.lv and its YouTube channel (in Russian with Latvian subtitles), as well as on www.rus.tvnet.lv.
A special example of cooperation was recently implemented by NCM Latvia with the independent Russian-language media is “Pskovskaya Guberniya”, which has been published in the Pskov region since 2000, but its editorial staff had to leave Russia in 2022 and has since been based in Latvia. It is an independent regional newspaper that covers news and publishes extensive investigative reports, including topics such as the optimisation of educational institutions and social sector facilities in the Pskov region, corruption scandals, the deaths of Pskov paratroopers in Ukraine and other topics. The support of this project was made possible thanks to funds made available after the NCM office in St. Petersburg was closed in 2022.
There are no immediate plans for future support from the NCM Latvia related to media in the Russian language. Possible engagement will be assessed depending on developments in the local media landscape evaluating the most relevant measures to ensure consolidation of different parts of Latvian society. Inclusiveness and integration are essential parts of a resilient society and have been core criteria for providing such support.
Photo: Magnus Fröderberg/norden.org
