Galina Viktorovna Timchenko (; born 8 May 1962) is a Russian-born Latvian journalist and the CEO,

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

and owner of ''

Meduza ''Meduza'' (Russian: Медуза, named after the Greek goddess Medusa) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent ...

''.

Early life and education

Timchenko was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

on 8 May 1962. She graduated from the 3rd Moscow Medical Institute. From 1997 to 1999, she worked as an editor at the ''

Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

'' newspaper. In 1999, she moved to the newly created online edition '' Lenta.ru'', having risen from the monitoring officer to chief editor. In 2004, she assumed the position of editor in chief.

Career

In 2010,

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

conducted a study of the Russian blogosphere, and recognized ''Lenta.ru'' as the most widely quoted in the Russian-language blogs news source. According to research firm comScore, conducted in April 2013, the site Lenta.ru took 5th place in attendance of European news sites. According to Alexa.com in March 2014 ''Lenta.ru'' ranked 16th most popular in Russia. On 12 March 2014, the owner,

Alexander Mamut Alexander Leonidovich Mamut (; born 29 January 1960) is a Russian-Israeli billionaire, oligarch, lawyer, banker and investor. Until 2020, he was a co-owner of Rambler Group. In June 2022, ''Forbes'' estimated Mamut's net worth at $2 billion. ...

, fired Galina Timchenko and replaced her with Alexey Goreslavsky. 39 employees out of the total 84, including Director-general Yuliya Minder, including 32 correspondents, all 5 photo-editors and 6 administrators resigned as a result. The employees of Lenta.ru issued a statement that the purpose of the move was to install a new Editor-in-Chief directly controlled by the Kremlin and turn the website into a propaganda tool. In October 2014, Timchenko together with several former journalists of ''Lenta.ru'' launched a new media based in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, named ''

''. Timchenko told ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' that the decision to base Meduza in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

was made because "it is possible to establish an independent publishing house in Latvia, while in Russia it is impossible". In 2022, she received the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

' (CJP) Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award as ''Meduza''s CEO and publisher for "extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom". In 2023, her phone had been hacked with spyware

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

while she was in Germany. According to investigators, the attack could have come from Russia or a European Union state.Investigation finds Russian journalist Galina Timchenko targeted by Pegasus spyware
by

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Timchenko, Galina 1962 births 20th-century Russian journalists 20th-century Russian women writers 21st-century Russian journalists 21st-century Russian women journalists 20th-century Russian women journalists 21st-century Russian women writers Living people Journalists from Moscow Free Media Awards winners Meduza Russian newspaper editors Russian women newspaper editors