Putin vs. the Press

Special Digital Premiere: Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, 7/6c, pbs.org/frontline, PBS App, YouTube
Broadcast Premiere: Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, 10/9c (check PBS listings)
7/6c: pbs.org/frontline, PBS App YouTube
10/9c: PBS stations (check local listings), YouTube
www.facebook.com/frontline | Twitter: @frontlinepbs
Instagram: @frontlinepbs | YouTube: youtube.com/frontline

Since the start of the Ukraine war, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government have carried out an intense crackdown on the press — branding journalists as “foreign agents,” and threatening anyone who calls the Ukraine conflict an invasion or act of war with up to 15 years in prison.

Now, a new FRONTLINE documentary, Putin vs. the Press, tells the story of one journalist and his battle to defend free speech in Putin’s Russia: Nobel prize-winner Dmitry Muratov, branded on Sept. 1 as a “foreign agent” by the Kremlin.

In light of this development, Putin vs. the Press will have a special premiere Sept. 12 on streaming platforms (pbs.org/frontline, PBS App, YouTube) before its broadcast premiere on PBS stations Sept. 26 (check local listings). With unique access, the film follows Muratov as he fights to keep his newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, alive and his reporters safe amid the government’s crackdown.

“If you write the word ‘war’, you’ll be shut down,” Muratov says in the documentary. “If you tell us how the fighting is going on in Ukraine, you have no right to do so. Because you must only cite the point of view of the official military authorities. This is absolutely ferocious censorship. … If we give up on democracy, we say yes to war.”

Putin vs. the Press is directed by Patrick Forbes. The documentary explores Muratov’s leadership of Novaya, an independent paper known for its investigative reporting: exposing the horrors of the Chechen war, the corruption of the ruling elite, and the increasing authoritarianism of modern Russia. Between 2000 and 2009, six Novaya journalists and contributors were murdered — a reality that haunts Muratov: “We lost so many people from the paper … my main task is to keep my employees safe,” he says in the documentary.

The film chronicles how Muratov sustained Novaya for years by walking a tightrope — sometimes compromising with the Kremlin, accepting funding from oligarchs, and always keeping a channel open to Putin — and how he and Novaya then became a target of the authorities’ crackdown amid the war on Ukraine.

From Muratov’s decision to auction his Nobel medal to help Ukrainian refugees, to the violent backlash that followed, to the court’s revoking of Novoya’s license to operate and Muratov’s attempts to find new ways to publish, Putin vs. the Press is a powerful account of a critical time for Muratov, his paper and his country.

“We’ve stayed at home, stayed here with our readers who can’t leave,” says Muratov, who is now one of a dwindling number of independent journalists still in Russia.

As the war on Ukraine and Putin’s clampdown on the Russian news media continue, Putin vs. the Press is an essential look at Muratov’s fight, and what’s at stake.

Putin vs. the Press will be available to watch in full at pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS App, and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel starting Sept. 12, 2023, at 7/6c. It will premiere on PBS stations Sept. 26, 2023 at 10/9c (check local listings). International distribution of the film is handled by Abacus Media Rights. Subscribe to FRONTLINE’s newsletter to get updates on events, podcast episodes and more related to Putin vs. the Press.

Credits
Putin vs. the Press is an Oxford Films Production for GBH/FRONTLINE and Channel 4. The director is Patrick Forbes. The producers are Yelena Durden-Smith and Vanessa Tuson. The senior producer is Dan Edge. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.

About FRONTLINE
FRONTLINE, U.S. television’s longest running investigative documentary series, explores the issues of our times through powerful storytelling. FRONTLINE has won every major journalism and broadcasting award, including 104 Emmy Awards and 31 Peabody Awards. Visit pbs.org/frontline and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to learn more. FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen, and Corey David Sauer.

 

FRONTLINE Press Contact:

Anne Husted, FRONTLINE, Manager, Public Relations and Communications | frontlinemedia@wgbh.org  |  617.300.5312