Who we are
Who we are
Kronika was founded by Bard College and PEN America with the support of the Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust. Started in 2022 to protect Russian independent journalism and public memory from censorship and erasure, it has grown into an international project building archives and technology to preserve endangered media.
Kronika was founded by Bard College and PEN America with the support of the Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust. Started in 2022 to protect Russian independent journalism and public memory from censorship and erasure, it has grown into an international project building archives and technology to preserve endangered media.
Our mission
Our mission
Kronika uses technology to protect independent journalism and public memory from censorship, erasure,
and digital disappearance.
Kronika uses technology to protect independent journalism and public memory from censorship, erasure, and digital disappearance.
Kronika uses technology to protect independent journalism and public memory from censorship, erasure, and digital disappearance.
We preserve endangered media, build tools that make it accessible and useful, and help journalists, researchers, educators, and communities keep this record alive. Our goal is not simply to save information, but to ensure that it remains available as evidence, historical memory, and a resource for understanding authoritarianism and resisting it.
We preserve endangered media, build tools that make it accessible and useful, and help journalists, researchers, educators, and communities keep this record alive. Our goal is not simply to save information, but to ensure that it remains available as evidence, historical memory, and a resource for understanding authoritarianism and resisting it.
Our values
Our values
01
Build with partners
Build
with partners
Journalists, media organizations, researchers, and communities help shape what we preserve and how we make it accessible.
02
Acknowledge the context
Technology is never neutral. We design our work around the political, legal, cultural, and security realities of the communities we serve.
03
Experiment with purpose
We test new approaches while staying focused on practical needs, long-term value, and our mission.
04
Leverage technology
to serve the mission
We use AI and data science when they solve real problems, improve preservation, and expand access—not for their own sake.
05
Make archives
to be used
Preservation matters only when people can find, understand, and work with what has been saved.
01
Build with partners
Journalists, media organizations, researchers, and communities help shape what we preserve and how we make it accessible.
02
Acknowledge the context
Technology is never neutral. We design our work around the political, legal, cultural, and security realities of the communities we serve.
03
Experiment with purpose
We test new approaches while staying focused on practical needs, long-term value, and our mission.
04
Leverage technology
to serve the mission
We use AI and data science when they solve real problems, improve preservation, and expand access—not for their own sake.
05
Make archives to be used
Preservation matters only when people can find, understand, and work with what has been saved.
Our team
Our team
Sascha Molokostova
Head of Product
Leads the development of Kronika’s products, archival platforms, and user-facing technology
Anna Nemzer
Co-founder & Head of Archives and Collections
Leads Kronika’s archival strategy, collection development, and work with media and archival partners
Vera Shengeliya
Senior Manager, Digital Oblivion
Leads Kronika’s research and public work on digital oblivion and its implications for journalism, archives, and public memory
Ilia Veniavkin
Co-founder &
Head of Communications
Leads Kronika’s public engagement, strategic communications, institutional positioning, and external partnerships
Liesl Gerntholtz
Senior Consultant
Provides institutional leadership and strategic oversight for Kronika on behalf of PEN America and Bard College
M. Gessen
Founder
Opinion columnist for The New York Times and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing
M. Gessen
Founder
Opinion columnist for The New York Times and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing
M. Gessen
Founder
Opinion columnist for The New York Times and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing
M. Gessen
Founder
Opinion columnist for The New York Times and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing
Jonathan Becker
Founder
Acting President of Bard College; Professor of Political Studies; Vice Chancellor of the Global Higher Education Alliance for the 21st Century
Sascha Molokostova
Head of Product
Leads the development of Kronika’s products, archival platforms, and user-facing technology
Anna Nemzer
Co-founder & Head of Archives and Collections
Leads Kronika’s archival strategy, collection development, and work with media and archival partners
Vera Shengeliya
Senior Manager, Digital Oblivion
Leads Kronika’s research and public work on digital oblivion and its implications for journalism, archives, and public memory
Ilia Veniavkin
Co-founder & Head of Communications
Leads Kronika’s public engagement, strategic communications, institutional positioning, and external partnerships
Liesl Gerntholtz
Senior Consultant
Provides institutional leadership and strategic oversight for Kronika on behalf of PEN America and Bard College
M. Gessen
Founder
Opinion columnist for The New York Times and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing
Jonathan Becker
Founder
Acting President of Bard College; Professor of Political Studies; Vice Chancellor of the Global Higher Education Alliance for the 21st Century
M. Gessen
Founder
Opinion columnist for The New York Times and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing
M. Gessen
Founder
Opinion columnist for The New York Times and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing
M. Gessen
Founder
Opinion columnist for The New York Times and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Opinion Writing
We do not disclose the names of all team members for security reasons
We do not disclose the names of all team members for security reasons
Our press coverage
Our press coverage
February 2, 2026
How Kronika Aims to Safeguard Journalism
A conversation with M. Gessen about how a project that began by protecting Russian independent journalism is expanding to safeguard endangered media around the world.
November 30, 2024
Unerased
Vladimir Putin’s government is trying to scrub critical journalism from the internet. The Russian Independent Media Archive is standing in its way.
March 5, 2025
A New Digital Archive to Preserve an Investigative Legacy in Central America
A look at how CAIMA grew from the rescue of Guatemala’s elPeriódico archive into a regional effort to preserve independent journalism threatened by censorship, closure, and political persecution.
August 29, 2024
How the Russian Independent Media Archive Is Defying Censorship — and Saving History
M. Gessen and Ilia Veniavkin discuss why RIMA was created, how it preserves journalism erased or altered by censorship, and why archives matter for understanding Russia’s past and future.
April 11, 2023
Digital Archive Aims to Preserve a Threatened Russian Independent Media
A report on the launch of RIMA as a joint PEN America–Bard College effort to preserve two decades of independent Russian journalism as media outlets faced closure, censorship, and exile.
May 4, 2023
PEN America in New York Is Creating a Digital Archive of Independent Russian Media
An early report on RIMA’s effort to bring endangered Russian independent media under one digital roof and preserve the “first draft of history” before websites and archives disappear.
February 2, 2026
How Kronika Aims to Safeguard Journalism
A conversation with M. Gessen about how a project that began by protecting Russian independent journalism is expanding to safeguard endangered media around the world.
November 30, 2024
Unerased
Vladimir Putin’s government is trying to scrub critical journalism from the internet. The Russian Independent Media Archive is standing in its way.
March 5, 2025
A New Digital Archive to Preserve an Investigative Legacy in Central America
A look at how CAIMA grew from the rescue of Guatemala’s elPeriódico archive into a regional effort to preserve independent journalism threatened by censorship, closure, and political persecution.
August 29, 2024
How the Russian Independent Media Archive Is Defying Censorship — and Saving History
M. Gessen and Ilia Veniavkin discuss why RIMA was created, how it preserves journalism erased or altered by censorship, and why archives matter for understanding Russia’s past and future.
April 11, 2023
Digital Archive Aims to Preserve a Threatened Russian Independent Media
A report on the launch of RIMA as a joint PEN America–Bard College effort to preserve two decades of independent Russian journalism as media outlets faced closure, censorship, and exile.
May 4, 2023
PEN America in New York Is Creating a Digital Archive of Independent Russian Media
An early report on RIMA’s effort to bring endangered Russian independent media under one digital roof and preserve the “first draft of history” before websites and archives disappear.
February 2, 2026
How Kronika Aims to Safeguard Journalism
A conversation with M. Gessen about how a project that began by protecting Russian independent journalism is expanding to safeguard endangered media around the world.
November 30, 2024
Unerased
Vladimir Putin’s government is trying to scrub critical journalism from the internet. The Russian Independent Media Archive is standing in its way.
March 5, 2025
A New Digital Archive to Preserve an Investigative Legacy in Central America
A look at how CAIMA grew from the rescue of Guatemala’s elPeriódico archive into a regional effort to preserve independent journalism threatened by censorship, closure, and political persecution.
August 29, 2024
How the Russian Independent Media Archive Is Defying Censorship — and Saving History
M. Gessen and Ilia Veniavkin discuss why RIMA was created, how it preserves journalism erased or altered by censorship, and why archives matter for understanding Russia’s past and future.
April 11, 2023
Digital Archive Aims to Preserve a Threatened Russian Independent Media
A report on the launch of RIMA as a joint PEN America–Bard College effort to preserve two decades of independent Russian journalism as media outlets faced closure, censorship, and exile.
May 4, 2023
PEN America in New York Is Creating a Digital Archive of Independent Russian Media
An early report on RIMA’s effort to bring endangered Russian independent media under one digital roof and preserve the “first draft of history” before websites and archives disappear.
We are Kronika, a civic technology project dedicated to preserving independent journalism under threat
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© 2026 Kronika. All rights reserved
We are Kronika, a civic technology project dedicated to preserving independent journalism under threat
Subscribe to the newsletter
© 2026 Kronika. All rights reserved
We are Kronika, a civic technology project dedicated to preserving independent journalism under threat
Subscribe to the newsletter
© 2026 Kronika. All rights reserved