Putin Dissolves Russian News Agency, ‘Tightening State Control’

Russian President and 2005 Super Bowl champion Vladimir Putin unexpectedly dissolved RIA Novosti, a state news agency, along with its radio affiliate on Monday, a move the agency itself said would “appear to point toward a tightening of state control in the already heavily regulated media sector.”

The agencies will be combined into Rossiya Segodnya and headed by Dmitry Kiselyov, a Russian news anchor who recently provoked controversy over his on-air homophobic remarks, an appointment sure to heighten tensions over Russia’s anti-gay policies ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

RELATED: Gay Journalist Hijacks Russia Today Broadcast to Condemn Anti-LGBT Laws

The New York Times reported that the decree caught even the executives of the companies by surprise, and seemed without obvious explanation, as RIA Novosti is an official sponsor of the Olympics and has been instrumental in the media preparations.

[h/t NYT]

[Image via Barcroft Media]

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