What it’s like to be a Russian-speaking journalist in Latvia and Estonia. Julia Bali and Anna Stroja | 7

In this candid and emotion-filled episode of Media & Society, we talk to Julia Bali, Editor-in-Chief of Estonia’s Radio 4 (ERR), and Anna Stroja, Editor-in-Chief of Latvian Radio 4, about working at the crossroads of language, policy, and public trust. In Latvia, television broadcasts in Russian are no longer available in linear transmission as of 2025, and radio broadcasts will end in 2026, while Estonia continues to invest in Russian-language media and considers it a critical aspect of national security and integration. What does that mean for audiences who rely on radio, for national security, and for the journalists themselves?   The Media & Society podcast offers a platform for in-depth conversations about how people experience, think about, and feel regarding media and journalism. Aimed at media professionals and scholars, it explores the multifaceted relationship between media, journalism, and audiences in two Baltic countries — Latvia and Estonia. The podcast series is hosted by Līga Ozoliņa, a PhD student at Rīga Stradiņš University and a researcher at the Social Sciences Research Centre. Theme song: Jeremy Blake, Science Montage, Youtube audio library The podcast series is recorded at Rīga Stradiņš University’s multimedia studio and is produced as part of the Scientist Grant 'Making Sense of Media: A Non-Media-Centric and Open-Ended Approach to the Study of Media-Related Experiences and Perceptions' (No. RSU-ZG-2024/1-0007), which is carried out under the project 'RSU Internal and RSU with LASE External Consolidation' (No. 5.2.1.1.i.0/2/24/I/CFLA/005). The project is funded by the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility and the state budget of the Republic of Latvia. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.