Online Reporter
Gibson Nyikadzino
Zimpapers Politics Hub
Russia’s international media group, Rossiya Segodnya, is today celebrating a historic milestone covering major national and global news developments at different stages for 85 years.
In over eight decades, the media group’s transition has seen it change names and agencies including from Sovinformburo, through to the Novosti Press Agency, RIA Novosti, and presently Rossiya Segodnya.
At inception on June 24, 1941 two days after World War II started, Sovinformburo, provided real-time coverage of news from the frontlines, overseeing the work of war correspondents and providing information support to Soviet embassies and consulates.
By 1953, Sovinformburo became the Main Directorate of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic’s Ministry of Culture, and was folded into the State Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries under the USSR Council of Ministers in March 1957.
In 1961 the Soviet Information Bureau was reorganised as the Novosti Press Agency (APN) and established itself as the premier news and information agency covering events in the Soviet Union.
USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev on July 27, 1990 issued the executive order on the establishment of the Information Agency Novosti, restructuring the APN to be the Information Agency Novosti (IAN). Towards the collapse of the USSR in September 1991, IAN and the Russian News Agency merged to become Russian Information Agency Novosti (RIA Novosti).
Since December 2013, RIA Novosti news agency and Voice of Russia radio merged to be Rossiya Segodnya, before launching Sputnik international news agency and radio in November 2014. Since then, the organisation provides news in 32 languages, and has radio broadcasting in 19 countries.
