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The Werewolf game: an interview with Google's former news chief Richard Gingras - Coda Story

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For years, Coda Story has documented how Silicon Valley platforms enable authoritarian power, from Google’s Project Dragonfly to Meta’s accommodation of Putin’s demands. But journalism itself rarely examines its own complicity in these systems. This conversation, conducted at the International Press Institute Congress in Vienna, reveals how dependency shapes what questions get asked and which ones are ignored. In June 2019, I stood in the corner of a hotel ballroom in Athens and watched as some of the most prominent publishers and senior editors from across the European continent were made to sit blindfolded on chairs arranged in circles. It was past midnight. The bar had been open for hours. In this dimly lit space, Google executives moved between the circles, their voices cutting through the nervous laughter. “Werewolves, wake up,” one of them commanded. “Choose your victim.” The blindfolded editors, people who ran newsrooms, who held governments accountable, who prided themselves on

Anna Jibladze Authoritarian Technology The Werewolf game: an interview with Google’s former news chief Richard Gingras Richard Gingras spent 15 years shaping Google's relationship with journalism—funding conferences, building friendships, creating dependencies. At a Vienna conference, we asked him to account for the system he architected. By Natalia Antelava 2 November 2025 q&a Interview sections: Context Key moments Transcript ⇡ Why we wrote this story For years, Coda Story has documented how Silicon Valley platforms enable authoritarian power, from Google’s Project Dragonfly to M

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