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MOSCOW — Russia is reorganising its major state-run media organizations to increase efficiency, cut cost and better promote Moscow’s values, the Kremlin said yesterday.According to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin, effective immediately, the RIA Novosti news agency has been reshaped into the state-run Russia Today international news agency, whose head, Dmitry Kiselev, will directly report to Putin.
State international broadcaster The Voice of Russia will also be merged with the new agency in a month’s time, and the organization will be listed as a state strategic enterprise.
Another major news agency Itar-Tass will be merged with the Russian Book Chamber, while government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta will be merged with Rodina magazine, according to the decree.
“Russia carries its independent international policy, protecting its national interests firmly. This is not so easy to explain to the outer world but it could and must be done,” the RIA Novosti news agency quoted the Kremlin’s Chief of Staff, Sergei Ivanov, as saying.
The decree also abolished the State Fund of Television and Radio Programs, placing it under the control of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. — Xinhua..
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