Russian journalist Ivan Safronov was convicted of treason and sentenced for 22 years in prison.

Safronov worked as a reporter for leading Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti; he also briefly served as an advisor to the head of Roscosmos, Russian space agency. He was arrested two years ago on the charge of sharing state secrets with Western intelligence agencies.

The sentence handed down on Monday is widely viewed as unfounded and based on Safronov journalistic work rather than alleged treason. As The Guardian notes, “case files revealed by Proekt showed that much of the case against him came from public data in his articles and alleged ties to foreigners that were not backed up by evidence.”

The Ukrainian government will nationalise 4 Kanal (Channel 4), a nationwide TV channel that belonged to Oleksiy Kovalyov, Ukrainian lawmaker turned Russian collaborator.

Kovalyov, who used to be a member of Ukraine’s parliament with President Zelensky’s ruling party Servant of the People, purchased 4 Kanal late last year. As Kyiv Independent reported at the time, “the broadcaster with its team of 200 people [was promised by the new owner to] preserve its ‘pro-Ukrainian vector’ and independent editorial policy”.

However, after Russia’s open invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Kovalyov joined the Russian occupation government in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Kovalyov was shot dead in August, in a string of killings of occupation authorities officials in Russian-occupied parts of southern Ukraine.

4 Kanal was seized by the court in July as Kovalyov was charged with treason. The channel, along with Kovalyov’s other property, is now controlled by the state agency in charge of recovering and managing assets. Head of the Ukrainian State Film Agency said in an interview last week that the plan is for 4 Kanal to develop as a state channel.

Yahoo is purchasing The Factual, a service that uses AI to score news content and rate the credibility of news stories. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

As Axios reports, “the deal could provide Yahoo News’ 200 million+ monthly visitors with ratings for the thousands of news sources Yahoo aggregates on its site”, marking the first Yahoo’s acquisition since it was purchased by Apollo Global Management in 2021.

Yahoo News was created in the 1990s. While the power and popularity of Yahoo has declined in the 2010s as it lost market share to newer tech giants Google and Facebook, Yahoo News remains one of the most popular news services.

Bonus — Five more stories you might want to check out:

CNN: Israeli military admits Shireen Abu Akleh likely killed by Israeli fire????, but won’t charge soldiers
The Wrap: Politico Owner Mathias Döpfner Calls for Ban On TikTok: ‘It Should Be Banned in Every Democracy’
AP News: Head of Polish state TV dismissed, for 3rd time in 7 years
The Guardian: Former Czech PM uses newspapers he owns to attack media integrity
Reuters: Russian court revokes newspaper Novaya Gazeta’s license

Weekly Digest: Russian Journalist Sentenced for 22 years, Yahoo Purchasing The Factual

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Welcome to The Fix’s weekly news digest! Every week, we bring you important news stories from the world of media – and try to put them in a wider context

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