Russia today

Federal State Unitary Enterprise IIA Russia Today is the news agency created in 2013 by the Russian President Vladimir Putin based on the liquidated Russian agency of the international information of RIA Novosti and the Russian state broadcasting company "Voice of Russia" for publicizing of state policy of the Russian Federation abroad.

The agency is under authority of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation.

Assets

For July, 2017 among assets of the organization:

• radio and websites Sputnik
• RIA Novosti
• 65% in Prime Business news agency
• "The English-language newspaper "Novosti Moskvy" (controls the Prime agency)
• R-sport
• RIA Real estate
• rating agency RIA Reyting
• portal of INOSMI
• Russian Agency for Legal and Judicial Information (RAPSI)

Financing

2014: Public finance of 2.6 billion rub

In the draft budget for 2014 (September, 2013) it is specified that subsidies of the most part of the state media projects will be cut down. The budget of RIA Novosti holding in the 2014th can be reduced to 2.6 billion. On state funds of RIA Novosti will organize "information and propaganda maintenance of domestic and foreign policy" of Russia, will organize actions "on increase in interest of the main target audiences in the Russian public and political life"^[1].

In 2014 financing of RIA made 2.68 billion rubles of the federal budget.

In December, 2015 the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the first time published expense information of autonomous nonprofit organization "TV-novosti" which manages RT TV channel (the former Russia Today). According to the report posted on the website of Ministry of Justice for 2014 of ANO spent 11.7 billion rubles for broadcasting in the English, Arab and Spanish languages, and 48.7 million rubles - on creation and broadcasting of the channel in French.

Thus, RT spent almost all allocated funds from the budget – in 2014 to it 11.87 billion rubles were appointed.

2013: Public finance 2.7 or 2.9 billion rub

In 2013 financing of RIA Novosti from the state budget had to be cut down from 2.9 billion (2012) to 2.7 billion rubles. And 200 million rubles went to the account of an increase of money for ITAR-TASS. The organization requested public finance this year in the amount of 3.4 billion rubles.

On other sources financing in 2013 made 2.9 billion rub^[2].

In December, 2015 the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the first time published expense information of autonomous nonprofit organization "TV-novosti" which manages RT TV channel (the former Russia Today). In the report for 2013 it is reported that ANO spent 12.9 billion rubles.

2012: Public finance of 2.9 billion rub

Financing of RIA Novosti in 2012 made 2.9 billion rubles of the state budget.

2011: Loss of 2.9 billion rub

• Revenue: 871,261,000 rub
• Net loss: - 2,989,298,000 rub

The general monthly audience of the website of RIA Novosti averages 11 million users. From them 2-2.5 million monthly watch video on the website rian.ru.

2010: Loss of 2.3 billion rub

• Revenue (minus the VAT, excises and so forth): 736,244,000 rub.
• Net loss: - 2,361,837,000 rub

2009: Loss of 1.2 billion rub

Revenue of RIA Novosti for 2009 (minus the VAT, excises and so forth) 600,182,000 rub at net loss of-1.277 billion rub^[3].

2008: Loss of 0.75 billion rub

• Revenue (minus the VAT, excises and so forth): 583,598,000 rub.
• Net loss: 755,384,000 rub.

Names of the agency

• 6/24/1941 — the Soviet information bureau
• 2/21/1961 — Novosti Press Agency (NPA)
• 7/27/1990 — Novosti News agency
• 09.1991 — Russian news agency "Novosti"
• 05.1998 — Russian news agency "Vesti"
• 4/1/2004 — Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian agency of the international information of "RIA Novosti'"
• 12/9/2013 - "The international news agency Rossiya Segodnya"

Heads of RIA Novosti

• Vinogradov, Andrey Georgiyevich (August, 1991 — January, 1992);
• Makharadze, Maysarat Nasrutdinovna (January, 1992 — August, 1993);
• Markov, Vladimir Nikolaevich (September, 1993 — March, 1998);
• Gindileev, Eduard Raisovich (May — August, 1998);
• Volin Alexey Konstantinovich (August, 1998 — June, 2000);
• Zhidakov, Alexey Vladimirovich (the acting chairman from June to October, 2000);
• Kulistikov, Vladimir Mikhaylovich is a chairman of the board (from October, 2000 to April, 2001);
• Zhidakov, Alexey Vladimirovich is a chairman of the board (April, 2001 — January, 2003);
• Mironyuk Svetlana Vasilyevna is a chairman of the board (since January 24, 2003 till 12/9/2013).
• Kiselyov Dmitry Konstantinovich (from 12/9/2013 - on a crust. time)

History

2014: Reformatting in Rossiya Segodnya

At the end of February, 2014 the ovy management of Rossiya Segodnya made the decision to close the correspondent network in regions. In total there 150 correspondents work: from them there will be 20. And from 69 regional correspondent offices only 19 will work.

As of March, 2014 RIA Novosti which is in process of liquidation under the decree of the President of Russia the beginning actively to curtail the activity as in-Russian news agency. The new management is going to stop release of the majority of information tapes, to reduce to a minimum Russian a corset and to sell property in regions.

Independently RIA Novosti earned more than a quarter of the income in addition to three quarters of financing from the federal budget in recent years (in 2014 — 2.68 billion rubles), tells one of sources familiar with the sales volume of information and advertizing. By estimates of several sources of RBC in the agency, the legal successor of RIA — the Rossiya Segodnya agency will lose at least a third of the available own income. Income from operational information can be reduced more than twice, will decrease by a third of receipt from information maintenance due to dismissal of people and staff reduction, expects the source in RIA Novosti familiar with a situation.

Inclusion in "the liquidating weight" of one of the most valuable assets of the agency — the photoarchive bringing about a half of income of RIA from sale of photographic materials is discussed, the interlocutor in the agency says. He turns on unique collections of a photo: historical XIX centuries and works of the famous masters. Among them, for example, more than 25 thousand photos of four most famous Russian pictorialists and reporters: Anatoly Garanin, Yury Abramochkin, Boris Kauffman and Yury Artamonov. In total in an image bank more than 1 million photos.

Dismissal of employees threatens to turn into a separate problem. At once several employees of RIA Novosti claim that the new management still finally did not decide neither on the state, nor on an organization structure, and in the agency there are already cases of liquidation of the whole divisions. For example, the division of the Open Demonstration project, the editorial office of the Russian-language newspaper "Moskovskiye Novosti" were in full strength liquidated (earlier RIA Novosti reported that reached the agreement on sale of the newspaper to structures of the capital mayor's office).

Staff of General production center also tells about reduction, according to them, the status of the structure as independent it will be liquidated.

The directorate of sales is cardinally reduced, at the same time the separate divisions of directorate providing works with the whole customer groups are actually liquidated. One of interlocutors of RBC told what a part of "sales managers" bought up ITAR-TASS. "To this fact were even indignant in Presidential Administration and asked not to act this way so any more" — he told.

According to one of sources of RBC, on places of the left sales managers yet anybody is going to be employed, vacancies are closed. With respect thereto now there is nobody not only to look for new buyers of products of the agency, but also to work with available.

For March, 2014 RIA Novosti releases more than 110 information films, nearly a half of which is the share of the child agency of economic news of the Prime. The last in new structure with high probability will not be, and other tapes will be most reduced. According to the staff of RIA, the new management gives a priority in internal lighting of events of ITAR-TASS and is aimed at that not to duplicate it.

Traffic on Internet resources will inevitably be reduced, believes one more source of RBC in RIA. "RIA Novosti partially bought traffic on the party. Now financing of these expenses is not planned" — he explained. Besides, the division of the agency which was responsible for online promotion and work in social networks is almost liquidated, almost all employees left. Therefore partnership with other resources is questionable too, and they provided about a third of all traffic on the main website ria.ru.

Reduction of income can be counterbalanced in such scale only by economy of costs on the dismissed employees. However the Rossiya Segodnya is going to increase international a corset, RIA Novosti with reference to the Chief Editor Irakli Gachicheladze reported on March 6. Structure of the new agency, Gachicheladze promised, just about will appear, literally next week. So far the fate of a number of divisions and projects remains to the unknown.

Liquidation of RIA Novosti regarding dismissal of employees will drag on till summer, one of employees of the agency believes. Notifications on reduction in connection with liquidation in RIA began to issue since the end of February, 2014, however received them still not everyone, and should notify on dismissal under the law in two months.

According to one of the staff of RIA Novosti, a certain clarity appeared concerning the R-Sport agency which is also expected by large-scale reductions. After the termination Olympic Games such large number of sports information is not necessary any more, from important events only the FIFA World Cup which covering definitely will not demand so many efforts in the short term is expected, he explains.

On the agency of legal and judicial information of RAPSI discussion continues still, employees were officially not notified on anything. This agency, as well as Prayma, in new structure can not turn out what the solution to liquidate the Joint Edition of News (JEN) indirectly confirms. Instead of it the main directorate of information based on which ORN also arose in 2007 will be recreated. "It existed earlier, then editions began to be enlarged, there were other projects, and ORN appeared" — explains a source of RBC.

The Rossiya Segodnya agency will locate at the address: Zubovsky br, 4 where before there was RIA Novosti. It inherits the foreign offices of RIA Novosti and also the state radio station "Voice of Russia".

2013: Putin's decree on liquidation of RIA Novosti. Kiselyov replaces Mironyuk in the agency head

In 2013 the policy of RIA Novosti in information support of opposition rallies on Bolotnaya Square, was recognized unacceptable. Blamed of the agency head Svetlana Mironyuk also that later, as if she in practice moved at this time to live to Spain where has the real estate, and did not react to appeals from Presidential Administration to correct accents in information policy state media that led to the conflict with Alexey Gromov, the first deputy head of administration. Before the last closed eyes to an internal political turn of the agency though work on the foreign policy direction had to be a key task of RIA. It was meant that the internal agenda had to be engaged in TASS. According to Vadim Gorshenin, the head of Pravda.ru holding, to Mironyuk "frankly failed the international perspective - there was time when the English-language version of Pravda.ru bypassed on traffic the English-language version of RIA at a difference of the enclosed budgets in tens if not hundreds of times".

In December, 2013 the President Vladimir Putin signed the decree on liquidation of RIA Novosti news agency. The text of the document was published on December 9 on the official site of the head of state. The agency head Svetlana Mironyuk left this organization.

Логотип РИА Новости

Based on RIA Novosti "The international news agency Rossiya Segodnya" was created. The leader of Russia 1 TV channel Dmitry Konstantinovich Kiselyov is appointed the CEO of the new agency. According to the decree, the CEO of Rossiya Segodnya is appointed and dismissed by the president.

As it appears from the document published by the Kremlin, publicizing abroad of state policy of the Russian Federation and the Russian public life will become the main activity of Rossiya Segodnya.

Besides, the decree liquidates broadcasting company "Voice of Russia". All property of radio station is transferred to new international news agency. Also reorganization of Rossiyskaya Gazeta will be carried out. The Rodina magazine will be attached to it.

Before the liquidation RIA Novosti was one of the largest media holdings in Russia. Except the agency of the same name entered into holding:

• Prime business news agency,
• specializing in news of science and technologies of RIA Science,
• agency of legal and judicial information of RAPSI,
• R-Sport sports news agency and also
• Moscow News publishing house.

On the Internet the holding was provided by 40 information resources in 22 languages.

2011: Merger of Prime-Tass

• In April, 2011 the head of online projects of RIA Novosti news agency Irina Kedrovskaya noted that, having passed to a multimedia format on the Internet, media should solve a number of new problems. "We began to create a multimedia content four years ago. Also faced that we can provide all this material only on our website. Now we are faced by a task to redistribute our information flows so that users could consume our multimedia content on any platform", - Kedrovskaya told.

• In the spring of 2011 the economic news agency "Prime-Tass" was redeemed by autonomous nonprofit organization "The English-language newspaper "Novosti Moskvy", entering into RIA Novosti holding. 65 percent of shares of the edition were purchased. Later the name was replaced with PRIME and it was integrated with edition RIA Novosti. The private news agency "PRIME" was founded under this name in 1993. In 1996 based on "PRAYMA" the economic agency "Prime-Tass" which 35 percent belonged to ITAR-TASS was created.

• Since September 22, 2011 more than two tens regional offices of Prime news Agency stopped the existence. Told Marker a source in news agency about it. On Thursday September 22 all regional correspondents received the letter from the Moscow edition without printings by e-mail notifying them on a rupture of labor relations. "Ladies and gentlemen! From now on we were disconnected from the system of RIA Novosti. On it nice regional edition "Prime" stopped the existence" — the message said. The fees promised to send to the correspondents who lost work on October 12-14.

According to the source Marker in the editorial office of news agency, the decision to close regional a corset was made by the management of RIA Novosti. Bureaus in regions decided to abolish as RIA has own network of correspondents in the cities of Russia, now these employees will write also for Prime. "Someone from regional journalists of Prime was transferred to RIA, but these are units. All others are dismissed" — reported a source. It is known that the editor regional a corset Boris Polukhin saved the place in Prime.

Collage © Eduard Katykhin, Marker.ru

RIA claim that dismissals will not affect the most part regional a corset. "Most of correspondents of regional network "Prayma" passes to work into correspondent network RIA, and the head of regional network "Prayma" becomes the first deputy head of regional edition RIA", - the First Deputy Chief Editor of RIA Novosti Maxim Filimonov told Marker. "The Prayma network merges with RIA Novosti network as the corset in regions is service division in relation to all divisions entering into group of RIA. The joint regional network RIA Novosti, including correspondents both RIA, and PRAYMA, will work not only for needs of both agencies. The same will happen also to the international network which will work for all divisions of group", - he notes.

2004

Since April, 2004 the official name - Federal State Unitary Enterprise RIA Novosti.

1996: The first banners on the website

In June of Sovinformburo, the 1996th on the website, the first banner advertizing was posted. History did not save a name of the customer, but the price of placement is known — $200 for a month of finding of a banner on the website.

1993: RIA Novosti

After the collapse of the USSR and the conversions, subsequent to this event, NPA began to be called Russian news agency "Novosti". Since 1993 RIA Novosti acquired the status of the state information and analytical agency.

1961: NPA

The Novosti Press Agency (NPA) is the Soviet news agency formed in 1961 on the basis of Sovinformburo. Became the leading information and publicistic body of the Soviet public organizations.

1941: Sovinformburo

Sovinformburo created for the third day after attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union in June, 1941 solved at the same time several problems – made and published reports from the front for the Soviet printing and also announced abroad the events which were taking place in the USSR coordinated work with foreign journalists.

Work on foreign countries became gradually main area of work of Sovinformburo. There was a war, support of allies – support financial, military and moral was necessary for the country. Journalists helped diplomats and politicians to receive it. Through 1171 newspapers, 523 magazines and 18 radio stations in 23 countries of the world, the Soviet embassies abroad, readers and listeners learned societies of friendship, different public organizations about fight of the Soviet people against fascism.

See Also

Media in Russia

Notes