The Voice of Russia
December 9, 2013 6:54 AM   Subscribe

Via decree, Russian president Vladimir Putin has abolished the country's state-owned news agency RIA Novosti, as well as the state-owned Voice of Russia radio station, effective immediately.

The new news organization, Rossiya Segodnya, will be headed by conservative news anchor, Dmitry Kiselyov.

No explanation was issued to the staff, with an internal email merely warning that a "liquidation committee" will be formed and asking that everyone "remains calm." The agency is one of the biggest in the world and is also an official sponsor of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi next February.
posted by roomthreeseventeen (47 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm sure it's just that I've been watching too much Nikita, but if somebody told me there was a "liquidation committee" I sure as hell wouldn't be remaining calm...
posted by kmz at 6:57 AM on December 9, 2013 [11 favorites]


Are there national alternatives to this in Russia? Or is this the effective shuttering of a free press?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:03 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Ironic isn't it that the "free press" is state-owned?
posted by spitbull at 7:03 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm sure that "remain calm, the liquidation committee will take care of you!" has exactly the desired effect.

Maybe it sounds more... pastoral, in Russian.
posted by fatbird at 7:05 AM on December 9, 2013 [6 favorites]


Potomac: RIA Novosti was never much of a free press; it's the state news agency. There are plenty of other sources for news, though.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 7:08 AM on December 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


Hey, maybe it means that Putin feels it's time to reform the system, open things up, and foster a truly free press that will -- *Gasp* -- ok, I can't keep a straight (type)face that long.

Fromt he article, it sounds a bit like a media consolidation move, basically unifying the government's pet press under one brand and linking it to one face while booting the somewhat less controllable voices that had found niches in RIA Novosti. Streamlining everything makes it easier to unify and coordinate the propaganda and simpler to shut out anyone who tries any actual journalism.
posted by kewb at 7:09 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


There are plenty of other sources for news, though.

Well that's good to hear. Still, pretty chilling right? Like when President Christie closed PBS....
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:09 AM on December 9, 2013 [11 favorites]


СПАСИБО ОБАМА
posted by Etrigan at 7:14 AM on December 9, 2013 [56 favorites]


"In a related story, Putin quietly announced the establishment of a new, more fair and balanced news organization, named новости лиса."
posted by Xoebe at 7:16 AM on December 9, 2013 [13 favorites]


There's always staff openings at Politico.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:28 AM on December 9, 2013 [3 favorites]


What's really surprising to me is that particularly over the last couple of decades the trend for state organizations like this is not liquidation but privatization- I'd expect the story to say not that it's closing but that it's being sold to one of Putin's pet oligarchs on the cheap.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:31 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


What's he got to gain by liquidating (*shudder*) a house organ?
posted by wenestvedt at 7:43 AM on December 9, 2013


I was expecting the same thing, Pope Guilty. There's this perverse little kernel somewhere inside me that can't help saying, "Well, it's bad, but at least maybe he's being open about who's in charge."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:52 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Good to see Vlad is going through the playbook for old school kleptocratic dictators made rich by natural resources. It's not at all concerning that most of Russia is in Europe and that he heads the 8th largest economy in the world and a military with 8,500 nuclear warheads.

RIA Novosti was supposed to be a headline sponsor of the Sochi Winter Games. With balmy temperatures of 10°C expected and costs running 5x more than expected perhaps he needs an extremely partisan press agency to turn his personal white elephant into a glorious success.

Or, I note with interest his approval ratings are at a record low, although apparently nearly two out of every three Russians think he does a good job. Perhaps he needs a more compliant state broadcaster to get him nearer the 99% approval dictators traditionally require.
posted by MuffinMan at 8:05 AM on December 9, 2013 [5 favorites]


Государственный бизнес не ездил прибыль.
posted by clavdivs at 8:07 AM on December 9, 2013


Please sit still, close your eyes, and whistle the national anthem. The liquidation committee will be with you shortly.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 8:15 AM on December 9, 2013


Strange that the are closing it right before the Olympics. While I suppose we'll never know the details (the Vancouver Olympics were this big success, right?), but I wonder how big a shitshow Sochi will be. Bring in the clowns.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:21 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


To be replaced with a tumblr of shirtless Putin riding bears.
posted by klangklangston at 8:28 AM on December 9, 2013 [6 favorites]


Ironic isn't it that the "free press" is state-owned?

It is possible to have something state-funded and also independent of the head of state. Canada has a conservative government, but all you will ever hear about the CBC is that it is too "left wing".
posted by Hoopo at 8:33 AM on December 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


What's really surprising to me is that particularly over the last couple of decades the trend for state organizations like this is not liquidation but privatization- I'd expect the story to say not that it's closing but that it's being sold to one of Putin's pet oligarchs on the cheap.

An oligarch who buys ink by the barrel is dangerously closer to being able to become a rival center of power in the country than one who just owns every nickel mine and smelter in Krasnoyarsk Krai. A pet oligarch is one thing, but I doubt Putin trusts any of them quite so much as all that.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 8:54 AM on December 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


Hey, minor question here. Does one really transliterate "сегодня" as "segodnya", not "sevodnya"?
posted by benito.strauss at 8:56 AM on December 9, 2013


wenestvedt: "What's he got to gain by liquidating (*shudder*) a house organ?"

Well, as the first link in the FPP points out, he's replacing a media head who has a reputation for independence from the government line with a hardcore, conservative pundit who toes the government line.

This is also strongly suggested in 2nd of 4 sentences that comprise the FPP above.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:56 AM on December 9, 2013


clavdivs: "Государственный бизнес не ездил прибыль."

"The State is not chasing business profits" - is that the general meaning?
posted by IAmBroom at 8:59 AM on December 9, 2013


For a second I read it as, "Putnin has dissolved the parliament and Russia will be ruled directly by regional governors..."

I'm guessing that I'm only ahead of myself.
posted by Atreides at 9:00 AM on December 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


Does one really transliterate "сегодня" as "segodnya", not "sevodnya"?

Oof, no. That's a failure by Reuters' translator.
posted by Etrigan at 9:01 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


NPR added a bizarre little fact, if I heard it correctly: all of the property of (previous chief) is being allocated as property of the state agency.

I mean, I know Russia was fond of doing that about one century ago, but ... Geez. "Get out. We're taking over the paper. And the radio station. And your apartment. Also your toaster. Leave the keys to your car with the agent outside."
posted by IAmBroom at 9:02 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Pres. V.V. Putin sure does have a beautiful soul. G.W. Bush got that right.
posted by Area Man at 9:14 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


you call that a news agency? now, TASS, *that* was a news agency!
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 9:24 AM on December 9, 2013 [4 favorites]


Ugh, and Russia Today is the cadre of douchewits who're constantly pumping out terribly composed videos of wildly misleading non-info about the secret tyrannies of Obama and how he's going to steal all the guns and blah blah blah, which are breathlessly touted by my overly credulous libertarian associates with a loose grasp on fact checking and reality (but I repeat myself).
posted by FatherDagon at 9:27 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm always amazed when I see people I think are generally intelligent and reasonable post RT crap on Facebook. I guess it's because the announcers wear nice suits and have nice mid-Atlantic accents, and are also easy on the eyes.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:38 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm always amazed when I see people I think are generally intelligent and reasonable post RT crap on Facebook. I guess it's because the announcers wear nice suits and have nice mid-Atlantic accents, and are also easy on the eyes.

Like Fox, Russia Today is for viewers who have a cargo cult approach to news. It must be credible, they have lower third banners!
posted by jaduncan at 10:06 AM on December 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


What happened to the old-fashioned conservative distrust of all things Russian? Putin is a former KGB officer, but modern U.S. conservatives give credence to his state-controlled propaganda network. These are crazy times.
posted by Area Man at 10:14 AM on December 9, 2013


When they say "Russia Today," what they mean is "Russia Sixty Years Ago."

What happened to the old-fashioned conservative distrust of all things Russian? Putin is a former KGB officer, but modern U.S. conservatives give credence to his state-controlled propaganda network. These are crazy times.


Putin hates Obama, Muslims, and gay people. What else is there?
posted by Sys Rq at 10:16 AM on December 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


Also the "New Russia" that's Putin rules over, Victor Von Doom style, is pretty much the ideal conversation state, nothing but unchecked crony capitalism, no safeguards for anyone, and a police force you can unleash at will to do whatever you want.
posted by The Whelk at 10:20 AM on December 9, 2013 [6 favorites]


Oof, no. That's a failure by Reuters' translator.

A reminder to always take "foreign" interpretations of local events with a grain of salt.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:35 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


And talking of managing news cycles: Putin amnesty may free Greenpeace 30 and Pussy Riot.

20th constitutional anniversary for home, Greenpeace and Pussy Riot for the foreign media.
posted by jaduncan at 10:42 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


It's as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

I fear something terrible has happened.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 10:53 AM on December 9, 2013


Also the "New Russia" that's Putin rules over, Victor Von Doom style, is pretty much the ideal conversation state, nothing but unchecked crony capitalism, no safeguards for anyone, and a police force you can unleash at will to do whatever you want.

Let's not forget the legislation of "traditional morality" in concert with the crony leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. I mean, that's what Pussy Riot was protesting.
posted by kewb at 10:54 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


In Soviet Russia, state media liquidates you!
posted by klangklangston at 11:39 AM on December 9, 2013


KokuRyu: "Oof, no. That's a failure by Reuters' translator.

A reminder to always take "foreign" interpretations of local events with a grain of salt.
"

Since the failure in question is one of mistransliterating the consonants in a person's name, I don't think it has much bearing on your caveat. The meaning isn't affected.
posted by IAmBroom at 12:36 PM on December 9, 2013


> Hey, minor question here. Does one really transliterate "сегодня" as "segodnya", not "sevodnya"?

> Oof, no. That's a failure by Reuters' translator.

I strongly prefer "segodnya" to "sevodnya" as a transliteration for "сегодня." Because if "sevodnja," why not "sivodnja"? Transliteration is a predictable system for rendering foreign spellings in Roman letters (modulo diacritics). Its usefulness would suffer if it was affected by quirks of pronunciation. You would have trouble looking up foreign titles in the LOC catalog unless you also knew how to pronounce them in their language, for example.
posted by Nomyte at 3:46 PM on December 9, 2013 [3 favorites]


The shortwave service of the Voice of Russia is supposedly closing down at the end of the year anyway, although nobody seems to know what this latest decree means for VoR.

Which is, for this child of the Cold War, a rather nostalgic moment. Radio Moscow used to be such a thunderous voice across the bands; you could even hear its interval chimes in the background late at night under BBC Radio 4's longwave service, as it had a transmitter on the same frequency.

"Gorovit Moskva"... Do svidaniya, tovarisch.
posted by Devonian at 5:37 PM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Makes me wish Limbaugh and O'Reilly and their cohorts were broadcasting from Russia directly instead of indirectly as they are now.
posted by aryma at 11:35 PM on December 9, 2013


Noch. Stuk v dver. OTKRIVAITE!
Nikogo net!
A KTO GOVORIT?
Govorit Moskva. Moskovskoye vremya desyat chasov.
posted by prefpara at 10:43 AM on December 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


It took me about ten minutes to figure out that joke, prefpara.
posted by benito.strauss at 12:08 PM on December 10, 2013






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