The Gagarin Center at Bard College is partnering with PEN America to launch the Russian Independent Media Archive (RIMA), a project that aims to preserve the last two decades of independent Russian journalism, an irreplaceable historical record at risk of erasure as Russian media outlets not aligned with the regime of President Vladimir Putin are shuttered and their reporters and editors are cast into exile. The project is inspired by Masha Gessen, Bard faculty member and trustee of PEN America, a nonprofit organization that works to defend free expression worldwide through the advancement of literature and human rights, and made possible with the support of Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust, advised by PEN America trustee Peter Barbey.
Launched with the content from more than a dozen outlets and a half-million entries, the digital archive will include over 519,000 documents from more than 70 independent national, regional, investigative and cultural news outlets published since President Putin took office in 2000. The archive will make the journalism of this pivotal period accessible to the reporters, historians, political scientists and other researchers whose work counters propaganda-driven manipulation of Russia’s historical narrative. The archives may be viewed here.
The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, which contributes to archiving and securing data from Russian media and provides technical consultations, is also collaborating on the project. With the support of the Mass Media Defence Center, PEN America is entering into licensing agreements with participating outlets to protect their copyright while the archive serves as a secure home for the content.