Putin dissolves state news agency, tightens grip on Russian media
Source: Reuters
President Vladimir Putin tightened his control over Russia's media on Monday by dissolving the main state news agency and replacing it with an organization intended to promote Moscow's image abroad.
The move to abolish RIA Novosti and create a news agency to be known as "Rossiya Segodnya" (Russia Today) is the second in two weeks strengthening Putin's hold on the media as he tries to reassert his authority after protests against his rule.
Independent political analyst Pavel Salin said the move was likely a result of a turf wars at the Kremlin and a victory for the hawks as it also sidelines the current RIA Novosti head, Svetlana Mironyuk, who is seen as more liberally-minded. "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.
The head of the new agency to be built from the ashes of RIA Novosti is a conservative news anchor, Dmitry Kiselyov, who once caused outrage by saying the organs of homosexuals should not be used in transplants. Kiselyov has proved a loyal Putin supporter as a television presenter, at times making provocative remarks. In 2010 he said homosexuals should be banned from donating blood or sperm and last year said they should also be banned from donating organs.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/09/us-russia-media-idUSBRE9B80TF20131209
Conservatives win another victory in Moscow. I am a little surprised that Putin seems to be so worried about any opposition to him. He seems to have a solid handle on the levers of power but gets stressed out over any sign of protest.
= new reply since forum marked as read
wouldn't be able to get away with the crap that his comrades do, without GG screaming to the high heavens? Why the deference? 
You made me laugh.
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Josh Levs, CNN
updated 11:40 AM EST, Mon December 9, 2013
(CNN) -- German President Joachim Gauck will not represent his country at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, his office says.
The announcement makes Gauck, a former pastor, the first major political figure to boycott the games, which will be held at the Black Sea resort in February.
According to a report in the German publication Der Spiegel, Gauck made the decision in protest against human rights violations and the harassment of Russian opposition political figures. The magazine said the Russian government was informed of his decision last week.
But Gauck's office is downplaying the report . "He simply decided not to go," his spokesman Tobias Scheufele told CNN. "We're not saying anything about his motivations."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/08/world/europe/germany-russia-olympics-boycott/index.html
