Rossiya Segodnya incorporates the former RIA Novosti news service and the international radio service Voice of Russia. According to the Decree of the President of Russia on December 9, 2013, the mandate of the new agency is to "provide information on Russian state policy and Russian life and society for audiences abroad." Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, said that Rossiya Segodnya was being created in order to increase the cost efficiency in Russian state media. However, RIA Novosti's own report about the move speculated it was an attempt to consolidate state control over the media sector and Western news outlets stated that this was also a move by Putin to propagate a more pleasant image of Russia abroad. According to a report on the RT news channel, Rossiya Segodnya is "in no way related" to the RT news channel despite the similarity in name. However, a report by the BBC states that it "seems likely that will complement the work of the state-funded foreign-language TV station, RT." On 31 December 2013, Margarita Simonyan was appointed editor-in-chief of the news agency, as well as being RT's news channel editor-in-chief. She will serve in both positions concurrently. On 10 November 2014, the agency launched the Sputnikmultimedia platform with Radio Sputnik as its audio component, replacing the Voice of Russia. The radio service is available internationally on FM, digital DAB/DAB+, HD-Radio, as well as mobile phones and the Internet. Within Russia itself, Rossiya Segodnya continues to use the RIA Novosti brand as its Russian-language news agency using the website . Following his transfer from Ukraine to Russia on 7 September 2019 as part of the Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchanges. In 2015 Rossiya Segondya received 6.48 billion Rubel from the state budget. Kirill Vyshinsky became the executive director of Rossiya Segodnya on 9 September 2019.
Controversy
Allegations of homophobia
This organisatation is headed by Dmitry Kiselyov, a pro-Putin news presenter on the domestic Russia-1television channel, who has gained significant controversy in the Western media with his remarks claiming foreign conspiracies against Russia and verbally abusing homosexuals. Dmitry described as the "spearhead" of such anti-LGBTQ propaganda on the network, making various provocative comments regarding the Russian LGBTQ community. He has stated that a gay person's organs are unworthy of being transplanted heterosexual, and that gay men should be prohibited from donating blood or sperm. The RussianLGBTQ community has also been referred to by Kiselyov as an "aggressive minority" opposed to "parents fighting to give their children a healthy upbringing", stating falsified statistics that "40% of children brought up by homosexuals have venereal diseases".
Allegations of censorship
On December 1, 2014, Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Chalenko accused "Russia Today" of censorship after an interview with the former Defense Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Strelkov. The Strelkov's press service and the agency's editorial staff reduced it, removing the confirmation of Igor Strelkov's own title of Colonel of the FSB and the negative assessment of the assault by Donetsk airport units.
Awards
On May 17, 2017 MIA Rossiya Segodnya design center was awarded The Communicator Awards: gold - in the category "Marketing and Promotion" and two silver.
