Putin tightens grip on media, dissolves state news agency
11 Dec 2013 6:24 AM IST
The abolition of RIA Novosti, as well as international radio station Voice of Russia, and establishment of a news agency to be called Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) is part of efforts to strengthen the president’s authority after protests against him.
It is also designed to improve Russia’s international standing after growing Western criticism of its record on human rights and democracy, and accusations, which it denies, of bullying neighbours such as Ukraine.
Political analyst Pavel Salin said the decision was probably a result of Kremlin turf wars and a victory for the conservatives.
It sidelines liberal RIA Novosti Chief Editor Svetlana Mironyuk and promotes a TV presenter accused of making homophobic remarks on air to lead the new agency.
‘I expect a sharp ideological turn now towards much more hawkish reporting under the even closer eye of the Kremlin and directed at the West,’ Salin said after the move was set out of a decree signed by Putin.
A source close to the government said Mironyuk had sought a degree of independence and her removal was a political act.
Maxim Shevchenko, a pro-Putin TV presenter, said on Twitter that a ‘nest of anti-Russian media forces’ had been destroyed.
It is also designed to improve Russia’s international standing after growing Western criticism of its record on human rights and democracy, and accusations, which it denies, of bullying neighbours such as Ukraine.
Political analyst Pavel Salin said the decision was probably a result of Kremlin turf wars and a victory for the conservatives.
It sidelines liberal RIA Novosti Chief Editor Svetlana Mironyuk and promotes a TV presenter accused of making homophobic remarks on air to lead the new agency.
‘I expect a sharp ideological turn now towards much more hawkish reporting under the even closer eye of the Kremlin and directed at the West,’ Salin said after the move was set out of a decree signed by Putin.
A source close to the government said Mironyuk had sought a degree of independence and her removal was a political act.
Maxim Shevchenko, a pro-Putin TV presenter, said on Twitter that a ‘nest of anti-Russian media forces’ had been destroyed.
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