Photo/Illutration Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov talks to the media at the Novaya Gazeta newspaper offices in Moscow on Oct. 8. (AP Photo)

There were no reporters in the newsroom and abandoned photographic equipment looked forlorn.

That was the scene that greeted me a few years ago when I visited a Turkish commercial broadcasting station that had been shut down for standing up to the government.

"An old TV drama we aired in the past was the government's excuse for arresting our executives," lamented a staffer, sending a chill down my spine.

Freedom of the press can be taken away all too easily.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump had no qualms about naming the reporters and news agencies he disliked and banning them from White House press briefings.

Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist and vocal critic of the Saudi Arabian government, was murdered in Turkey.

Against this backdrop, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov has been named a co-recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

The editor-in-chief of Russia's independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Muratov for years has been going after the Putin administration's wrongdoings.

Although mired in financial difficulties, this is a high-profile paper noted for its achievements in investigative journalism.

According to a colleague of mine who visited its headquarters in Moscow, the premises are so small as to be almost anticlimactic.

At the entrance is a monument dedicated to a female reporter who was shot dead. And on the newsroom walls are photos of several other slain reporters.

Katharine Graham (1917-2001), who led The Washington Post from 1963 to 1991, once remarked that any newspaper that does not criticize the government has no reason to exist. Her paper is best known for openly challenging the administration of former U.S. President Richard Nixon.

Her words have become more weightier than ever now that on every continent news organizations that refuse to give in to government pressure are forced to fight tough battles and face oppression.

According to a nongovernmental organization that keeps track of country-by-country level of press freedom, Japan's global standing has declined steadily and surely in recent years.

Today, Japan ranks 67th, the lowest among G-7 nations.

This is perturbing, to say the least.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 9

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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