REGNUM News Agency

REGNUM News Agency logo

REGNUM News Agency is a Russian non-governmental, nationwide online news service disseminating news from Russia and abroad from its own correspondents, affiliate agencies and partners. REGNUM covers events in all regions of Russia as well as neighboring countries in Europe, Central Asia and South Caucasus.

REGNUM was founded on July 22, 2002; however the REGNUM family of agencies started functioning on June 19, 1999. REGNUM press centers are located in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Pskov, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Barnaul, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Kaluga, Yerevan (Armenia). REGNUM is licensed as mass media service, registration certificate No. El 77-6430 issued on August 6, 2002. REGNUM is a registered trademark, certificate No. 262482.

Editorial policies

It is rumored that Regnum editorial office employees greet each other with a special greeting, «СФО», which in Russian means «Death to the Fascist Occupiers», thus stressing the anti-fascist role of the news agency. In an interview by editor-in-chief of Regnum, Vigen Akopyan to the Russian portal gorod.lv, the principal position of the agency was explained as to oppose Russian investment in any country whose politics are hostile to Russia or which is promoting the rehabilitation of World War II-era Nazism and fascism. Although Mr. Akopyan did not say what country he had in mind, Russian journalists figured out it was Estonia. [1]

Regional bureaus

The system of REGNUM News Agency includes regional bureaus in the Russian territory and abroad:

Correspondents

REGNUM News Agency has an extended correspondent network (about 400 correspondents) in Russia and neighboring countries.

Audience

According to TNS Gallup Media survey of Moscow audience of Russian online news services, managers and specialists prevail among REGNUM audience – 72% (Yandex. News – 63%, Newsru.com – 64%). In November–December 2006, MASMI-Russia Company conducted the 11th survey of Runet audience Online Monitor. REGNUM newsline is read more by managers (28.3% of REGNUM audience comparing to 20.3% of Runet average).

Controversy

Estonia's Security Police (Kapo) in its 2005 yearbook laid a claim according to which Regnum had been designed as a tool in Russia's state propaganda machine operating under direction of Modest Kolerov, at the time the head of an agency within President Vladimir Putin's Administration. The claim stated that in essence, Regnum is not a news outlet as it presents itself, but an umbrella for Russia's secret services operations in countries of the so-called "near abroad", which efforts are directed to promoting Russia's geopolitical agenda.[2]

As Russia's foreign policy tool Regnum has been instrumental in encouraging opposition to energy independence plans in the Baltic states, contributing to the negative popular vote on the question of a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Портал русской общины Эстонии - Информагентство "Регнум" не станет рекламировать Эстонию даже за деньги". baltija.eu.
  2. ↑ "KAPO 2005 AASTARAAMAT" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "The Last Gasp of Empire: Russia's Attempts to Control the Media in the Former Soviet Republics". ned.org.
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