Rossiya Segodnya

For other uses, see Rossiya Segodnya (disambiguation).

55°44′15.38″N 37°35′24.92″E

Rossiya Segodnya

Native name	Россия Сегодня
Formerly	RIA Novosti
Company type	Federal State Unitary Enterprise
Industry	State media
Predecessor	RIA Novosti
Founded	9 December 2013
Headquarters	Zubovsky Boulevard 4, Moscow , Russia
Key people	Dmitry Kiselyov Margarita Simonyan
Products	Wire service, international radio, internet website
Owner	Government of Russia
Subsidiaries	Sputnik RIA Novosti inoSMI 1prime.ru
Website	rossiyasegodnya.com

MIA Rossiya Segodnya (Russian: Россия сегодня, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə sʲɪˈvodʲnʲə]; lit. 'Russia Today') is a media group owned and operated by the Russian government, created on the basis of RIA Novosti.^[1][2][3][4] The group owns and operates Sputnik, RIA Novosti, inoSMI and several other entities. The head of the organisation is Dmitry Kiselyov.^[5] Margarita Simonyan is the chief editor.

As of September 2024^[update], the Media and Journalism Research Center evaluated Rossiya Segodnya to be "State Controlled Media" under its State Media Matrix.^[6][7]

History

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 on 9 December 2013,^[8][9][10] the mandate of the new agency is to "provide information on Russian state policy and Russian life and society for audiences abroad."^[11] Vladimir 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.^[12] However, RIA Novosti's own report about the move speculated it was an attempt to consolidate state control over the media sector^[13] and The Guardian news outlet stated that this was also a move by Putin to propagate a more pleasant image of Russia abroad.^[5]

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). 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."^[14] 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.^[15]

On 10 November 2014, the agency launched the Sputnik multimedia platform with Radio Sputnik as its audio component, replacing the Voice of Russia.^[16] 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.^[17]

In 2015 Rossiya Segondya received 6.48 billion rubles from the state budget.^[18] Following his transfer from Ukraine to Russia on 7 September 2019 as part of the Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchanges,^[19] Kirill Vyshinsky became the executive director of Rossiya Segodnya on 9 September 2019.^[20]

Projects

• Sputnik^[21]
• RIA Novosti^[22]
• inoSMI (inosmi.ru) ^[23][24]
• ukraina (ukraina.ru), a state-sponsored disinformation website^[25][26]
• Baltnews (previously baltnews.lv, baltnews.ee, baltnews.lt, now baltnews.com)^{[27][28][29][30]}

Controversy

Allegations of homophobia

The organisation is headed by Dmitry Kiselyov, a pro-Putin^[5] news presenter on the domestic Russia-1 television channel, who has gained significant controversy in the Western media with his remarks claiming foreign conspiracies against Russia and verbally abusing homosexuals.^[12]

Kiselyov, who has been described as the "spearhead" of such anti-LGBTQ propaganda on the network,^[4] has made various provocative comments regarding the Russian LGBTQ community. He has stated that a homosexual person's organs are unworthy of being transplanted to a heterosexual, and that gay men should be prohibited from donating blood or sperm. The Russian LGBTQ community has also been referred to by Kiselyov 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".^[4]

Allegations of censorship

Main article: Media freedom in Russia

On 1 December 2014, Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Chalenko accused Rossiya Segodnya of censorship after an interview with the former Defense Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Strelkov. The Strelkov's press service and the agency's editorial staff reduced it, removing the confirmation of Igor Strelkov's own title of Colonel of the FSB and the negative assessment of the assault by Donetsk airport units.^[31][32]

Awards

On 17 May 2017 MIA Rossiya Segodnya design center was awarded The Communicator Awards: gold - in the category "Marketing and Promotion" and two silver.^[33]

Sanctions

March 2022 saw the UK government imposing sanctions on Rossiya Segodnya for broadcasting Russian propaganda.^[34]

February 2023 saw Canada also sanctioning Rossiya Segodnya for being involved in Russian propaganda and spreading misinformation relating to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,^[35] with other sanctions being put in place by the EU.^[36]

See also

• Media of Russia

References

1. Pizzi, Michael (9 December 2013). "Putin dissolves RIA Novosti news agency". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
2. "Russian news agency RIA Novosti closed down". BBC News. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
3. "Putin's RIA Novosti revamp prompts propaganda fears". BBC News. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
4. Ennis, Stephen (17 January 2014). "Homophobia spreads in Russian media". BBC Monitoring. BBC News. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
5. "Putin appoints homophobic presenter to head state news agency". The Guardian. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
6. "Rossiya Segodnya". State Media Monitor. Media and Journalism Research Center. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
7. "Typology". State Media Monitor. Media and Journalism Research Center. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
8. Zurcher, Anthony (10 December 2013). "Putin press move: Russia media react". BBC News. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
9. Myers, Steven Lee (9 December 2013). "Without Notice, Putin Dissolves a News Agency". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
10. "Putin dissolves state news agency, tightens grip on media". Reuters. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
11. Cerabino, Frank. "Cerabino: Jupiter businessman says he's no foreign agent of Russia". The Ledger. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
12. Myers, Steven Lee (9 December 2013). "With No Notice, Putin Scraps Kremlin News Agencies". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
13. "RIA Novosti to be liquidated in state-owned media overhaul". RIA Novosti. 9 December 2013. Archived from the original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2013. The move is the latest in a series of shifts in Russia's news landscape, which appear to point toward a tightening of state control in the already heavily regulated media sector.
14. Ennis, Stephen (9 September 2013). "Putin's RIA Novosti revamp prompts propaganda fears". BBC News. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
15. "RT editor Simonyan to head Kremlin-backed news agency". BBC News. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
16. "Sputnik closes Nordic language services". The Independent Barents Observer (in Russian). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
17. "РИА Новости - события в Москве, России и мире сегодня: темы дня, фото, видео, инфографика, радио". РИА Новости.
18. Kurylenko, Nina; Badanin, Roman; Luganskaya, Daria (5 November 2014). "Россия создаcт новый интернет-проект для пропаганды за границей" [Russia will create a new internet project for propaganda abroad]. RBK Group (in Russian). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
19. "Kremlin welcomes exchange of detainees conducted between Russia and Ukraine: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Director of RIA Novosti Ukraine Kirill Vyshinsky is among those who have returned to Russia". TASS. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
20. "Вишинському дали посаду в Росії" [Vyshinsky was given a position in Russia]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 7 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
21. Ennis, Stephen (16 November 2014). "Russia's global media operation under the spotlight". BBC News. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
22. "Ria Nowosti". eurotopics.net. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
23. "InoSMI: Kremlin Stealing News to Shape the Views". euvsdisinfo.eu. 3 June 2019.
24. Muir, Martha (23 September 2021). "Russian disinformation campaigns change tack to get around western defences". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
25. ""Россия сегодня" и Киселев запустили сайт об Украине" [Rossiya Segodnya and Kiselev launched a website about Ukraine]. BBC News Russian (in Russian). 18 June 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
26. "Ukraina.ru". rossiyasegodnya.com. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
27. "Following an investigative report by BuzzFeed and others, a network of pro-Kremlin news outlets in the Baltic states suddenly admits to being run by the Russian state". Meduza. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
28. Roonemaa, Holger; Springe, Inga (29 August 2023). "This Is How Russian Propaganda Actually Works In The 21st Century: Skype logs and other documents obtained by BuzzFeed News offer a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Kremlin's propaganda machine". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
29. "Российский заказ: как работают сайты Baltnews" [Russian order: how Baltnews websites work]. Крым.Реалии (in Russian). RFE/RL. 31 August 2018. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
30. "Baltnews". rossiyasegodnya.com. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
31. ""Дважды урезанное" интервью Стрелкова: ни слова об ФСБ" [Strelkov's "twice trimmed" interview: not a word about the FSB]. BBC Russian Service (in Russian). 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
32. Ponomarev, Alexey (2 December 2014). "Интервью Стрелкова на "России сегодня" подверглось двойной цензуре" [Strelkov's interview on Rossiya Segodnya was double censored]. republic.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
33. "Дизайн-центр "Россия сегодня" везет в Россию три награды" [Design Centre "Rossiya Segodnya" is bringing three awards to Russia]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 17 May 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
34. "Foreign Secretary announces sanctions on Putin's propaganda". 31 March 2022.
35. "Canada sanctions Russian propagandists, singers, actors, musicians, and Wagner Group media". Retrieved 5 February 2023.
36. "10th package of sanctions on Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine: the EU includes additional 87 individuals and 34 entities to the EU's sanctions list". 25 February 2023.

External links

• Official website (in Russian)