Rossiya Segodnya

Not to be confused with RT (TV network) or Russian Federation Today.

Coordinates: 55°44′15.38″N 37°35′24.92″E / 55.7376056°N 37.5902556°E

Rossiya Segodnya
Federal State Unitary Enterprise
Industry News media
Founded 9 December 2013
Headquarters Zubovsky Boulvard 4, Moscow, Russia
Key people
 Dmitry Kiselyov
Margarita Simonyan
Products Wire service, international radio, internet website
Owner wholly owned by the Government of Russia as a unitary enterprise
Subsidiaries Sputnik, RIA Novosti (ria.ru)

Rossiya Segodnya (Russian: Россия Сегодня, tr. Rossíya Sevódnya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə sʲɪˈvodʲnʲə]) is an international news agency founded by a decree of the Russian President on 9 December 2013. "Rossiya Segodnya" directly translates from Russian into English as "Russia Today", but should not be confused with the TV network RT, which was known as Russia Today prior to 2009.[1] However, the station is sometimes referred to as "Russia Today" or the "New Russia Today" in foreign media.[2][3][4]

Rossiya Segodnya incorporates the former RIA Novosti news service and the international radio service Voice of Russia (formerly Radio Moscow). According to the Decree of the President of Russia, the mandate of the new agency is to "provide information on Russian state policy and Russian life and society for audiences abroad."[1] Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, said that Rossiya Segodnya was being created in order to increase the cost efficiency in Russian state media.[5] However, RIA Novosti's report about the move speculated it was an attempt to consolidate control over said media,[6] and Western news outlets stated that this was also a move by Putin to propagate a more pleasant image of Russia abroad.[4]

According to a report on the RT news channel, Rossiya Segodnya is "in no way related" to the RT news channel despite the similarity in name (RT was known as Russia Today prior to its rebranding in 2009).[1] However, a report by the BBC states that it "seems likely [...] that [Rossiya Segodnya] will complement the work of the state-funded foreign-language TV station, RT."[7] On 31 December 2013, Margarita Simonyan was appointed editor-in-chief of the news agency, as well as being RT's news channel editor-in-chief. She will serve in both positions concurrently.[8]

On 10 November 2014, the agency launched the Sputnik multimedia platform with Radio Sputnik as its audio component, replacing the Voice of Russia. The radio service is available internationally on FM, digital DAB/DAB+ (Digital Radio Broadcasting), HD-Radio, as well as mobile phones and the Internet. Within Russia itself, Rossiya Segodnya continues to use the RIA Novosti brand as its Russian-language news agency using the website ria.ru.[9]

Controversy

Allegations of homophobia

This organisatation will be headed by Dmitry Kiselyov,[10] a pro-Putin[4] news presenter on the domestic Rossiya 1 television channel, who had gained significant controversy in the Western media with his remarks claiming foreign conspiracies against Russia and verbally abusing homosexuals.[5]

Dmitry described as the "spearhead" of such anti-LGBTQ propaganda on the network,[3] making various provocative comments regarding the Russian LGBTQ community. He has stated that a gay person's organs are unworthy of being transplanted heterosexual, and that gay men should be prohibited from donating blood or sperm. The Russian LGBTQ community has also been referred to by Dmitry as an "aggressive minority" opposed to "parents fighting to give their children a healthy upbringing", stating falsified statistics that "40% of children brought up by homosexuals have venereal diseases".[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Putin orders overhaul of top state news agency". RT. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Pizzi, Michael (9 December 2013). "Putin dissolves RIA Novosti news agency". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ennis, Stephen. "Homophobia spreads in Russian media". bbc.co.uk. BBC Monitoring. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Putin appoints homophobic presenter to head state news agency". theguardian.com. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Myers, Steven Lee (9 December 2013). "With No Notice, Putin Scraps Kremlin News Agencies". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "RIA Novosti to be liquidated in state-owned media overhaul". RIA Novosti. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Putin's RIA Novosti revamp prompts propaganda fears". BBC News. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "RT editor Simonyan to head Kremlin-backed news agency". BBC News. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "Sputnik launched to news orbit: Russia’s new intl media to offer alternative standpoint". RT. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  10. ↑ Vladmir Putin Issues Decree to Reorganize Voice of Russia

External links