Muratov co-founded the pro-democracy newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993 with several other journalists. He was the newspaper's editor-in-chief from 1995 to 2017, and again assumed the position in 2019. The newspaper is known for its reporting on governmental corruption and human rights violations. In the 2000's, six of Novaya Gazeta’s journalists were murdered, including Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in 2006 while covering human rights abuses in Chechnya.

Muratov was the recipient of various honors, including the International Press Freedom Award (2007) from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted the difficult conditions facing journalists worldwide and that “freedom of expression…is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.” Read Less ^