MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) – Russia needs to have more propaganda, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday, in comments on the dissolution of RIA Novosti, the country’s major state-owned news agency, announced last week.
“The tool of propaganda is an integral part of any state. It is everywhere. And Russia should have it as well. Propaganda in the good sense of the word,” Peskov said.
Last week Putin signed a decree dissolving RIA Novosti, the country’s major news agency, and radio station Voice of Russia, creating in their place a new media conglomerate to be known as Rossiya Segodnya.
The move was widely seen as the latest development in a gradual tightening of state control over Russia's media environment, where the state already has a strong presence.
The Kremlin appointed controversial television presenter Dmitry Kiselyov, who is known for his outspoken opinions on gay rights and the current street protests in Ukraine, to head Rossiya Segodnya.
