Free Media Awards 2019
7x7 - Russia

The platform is an independent solidarity and media grassroots project that publishes news, investigative journalism projects, professional reports, commentaries and blog posts.

7×7 is a unique example of teamwork and cooperation between journalists, bloggers and activists. The online newspaper aspires to facilitate a more horizontal balance of power in Russia, with a higher degree of influence for ordinary citizens, where non-hierarchical principles can contribute to greater transparency and freedom of expression – in a region featuring few independent media organisations.

Important topics that they cover include pollution and environmental problems like the dumping of hazardous waste, and protests against this. Corruption and the use of torture in the prison system are other examples. Some of the cases covered have gained national traction. Journalists and bloggers alike who publish on the media platform 7×7 regularly receive threats and are often prosecuted.

The platform has been subject to high fines and is constantly under investigation.

Website: http://7×7-journal.ru/