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MADem

(135,425 posts) Tue Dec 10, 2013, 09:14 AM Dec 2013

Putin just shut down RIA Novosti and VoR--and folded them into his OWN "RT" propaganda machine. [View all]

(SFC) The Kremlin announced today that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree dissolving the state run news agency RIA Novosti and state-owned Voice of Russia radio.
What a bully! He's even swiping their BUILDING! So much for "freedom of the press" and all that fun stuff....

http://www.sportsfeatures.com/olympicsnews/story/50767/putin-signs-decree-to-shut-down-ria-novosti-and-the-voice-of-russia

RIA Novosti was the appointed national news agency and photo pool for the Sochi 2014 Olympics coming up in less than 60 days. Their appointment goes back to the fall of 2011.

Both agencies will be “scrapped and absorbed” by a new media conglomerate called Rossiya Segodnya, in English “Russia Today” according to the decree which appears to be tightening state control on the media sector. However it will be separate from RT, the Kremlin-funded English-language television channel originally known as Russia Today.

The new organization will also take over the current RIA Novosti building in downtown Moscow, the decree said.

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Putin just shut down RIA Novosti and VoR--and folded them into his OWN "RT" propaganda machine. [View all] MADem Dec 2013 OP

It sucks that our own media is so biased to the right MannyGoldstein Dec 2013 #1

I think that, for the most part, people who would seek out RT for news el_bryanto Dec 2013 #3

Not necessarily--there are people who are shocked to learn that the R in RT stands for "Russia." nt MADem Dec 2013 #8

I'm waiting for the Greenwald column on this. nt msanthrope Dec 2013 #2

that`s going to be a long wait madrchsod Dec 2013 #9

I assume they'll maintain the separation as was the case dipsydoodle Dec 2013 #4

Bottom line is Putin has his thumb on everything. It's like the old Pravda - Izvestia days. MADem Dec 2013 #6

Since when did that dictatorship ever have a free press? Rex Dec 2013 #5

Perhaps they didn't adequately photoshop his moobs, or something.... MADem Dec 2013 #7

HAHAHAHA!!! Rex Dec 2013 #10

Good old Pootie. HappyMe Dec 2013 #11

That's about the size of it! MADem Dec 2013 #12

Yikes, that's creepy. HappyMe Dec 2013 #13

I agree--and so do many journalists inside and outside of Russia. MADem Dec 2013 #23

Holy crap! HappyMe Dec 2013 #24

It must be horrific for them to live in fear like that. MADem Dec 2013 #25

Yeah, it isn't as if the lgbt athletes HappyMe Dec 2013 #27

And FEAR can impact their performance if they do 'gird up' and go to the Games. MADem Dec 2013 #29

Russia has had an increasingly ugly downward trend in press freedoms over the past decade... Blue_Tires Dec 2013 #14

Yes, they have--and just in time for the Olympics! MADem Dec 2013 #17

RIA Novosti doesn't appear to be shut down or changed in any way yet. FarCenter Dec 2013 #15

Did you read the article? Putin co-opted it. His RT propaganda machine is running it. nt MADem Dec 2013 #16

Article states dipsydoodle Dec 2013 #18

It's still state-owned. With the SAME NAME. So they've BIFURCATED their propaganda. MADem Dec 2013 #20

It was under the "Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media" before FarCenter Dec 2013 #19

It's even less so now. This is "oversight on steroids." Just in time for Sochi! nt MADem Dec 2013 #21

Additional material for the "Nothing to See Here, Move Along" Deniers..... MADem Dec 2013 #22

I'll bet that even in the face of this, HappyMe Dec 2013 #26

Yep....it's amazing how much can be thrown under the bus because, ya know, Snowden is dreamy. MADem Dec 2013 #28

RIA Novosti was former President Dmitry Medvedev's effort to liberalize Russian media. pampango Dec 2013 #30

Sad day for Russia. It was the "voice of the opposition" -- such as it was. MADem Dec 2013 #31