RIA Novosti is the successor of the Soviet Information Bureau, founded in 1941 to cover World World II. It has since become Russia's most prominent news agency and is considered one of the most objective media outlets in the Russian government's large array of holdings. The agency has hundreds of employees, including in 69 cities across Russia and in 49 countries.
The move to close it came as no shock to political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky, who said there had been talk within the government for almost a year of replacing RIA Novosti editor-in-chief Svetlana Mironyuk with a “harsher Putin propagandist.”
The “Putin propagandist” to replace Mironyuk will be Dmitry Kiselyov, a television host on Russia's state-owned Channel One, who was appointed head of the new Rossia Segodnya agency with the stated goal of “highlighting the state policies and social life of Russia abroad.”
Russia currently ranks 148th in Reporters Without Borders' Freedom of the Press Index, placing behind Libya, Angola and Afghanistan
Russia currently ranks 148th in Reporters Without Borders' Freedom of the Press Index, placing behind Libya, Angola and Afghanistan
