After 18 months of saturation by Russian news and Russian-proxy news sites, I decided to present a compilation of each.
Russian news sites generally toe the Kremlin line, they carry State approved stories, are occasionally State sponsored, but must be over 80% owned by Russians.
The Russian proxy news sites carry mainly stories which are either pro-Russian or support Russian initiatives on a consistent, continual basis. Many of these sites appeared shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Of note is Russia Insider, owned by expatriates (expats) living in Russia but wholly pro-Russian. Most other listed sites are non-apologetic rags, promoting the Russian cause while pretending to be neutral. GlobalResearch (dot) ca also owns GlobalResearch (dot) org, but is neither Canadian oriented or neutral.
A never ending list would consist of ‘reporters’, pro-Russian writers and experts who Russian news and proxy sites regularly present as experts, supporting Russia, Russian causes and events supporting Russian national interests. I will hold this list for another time.
Equally important are Russian efforts to divide Western countries and alliances, as this promotes Russian national interests.
In total, there are 93,000 media outlets in Russia, including 27,000 newspapers and magazines and 330 television channels.[2] Television is the most popular source of information. There are three television channels with a nationwide outreach, and a multitude of regional channels. Local and national newspapers are the second most popular choice, while the Internet comes third. In all media spheres there is a mixture of private and state-ownership. The three nationwide television channels have been criticised for their alleged lack of neutrality.
Having marginalised print media, Putin turned his attention to Russian television. Broadcasters that once carried lively debates were turned into stultifying Kremlin instruments. As state-controlled TV stations began to spout increasingly convoluted theories to demonstrate their loyalty to Putin, Russian propaganda entered the realm of the absurd – so much so that Soviet propagandists would hide behind their Putinist counterparts.
Russian News Sites – internal to Russia. Many State-owned/sponsored, some not. Listed alphabetically. For more: Top 20 Russian News. Online Newspapers (in Russia)
- Agentura.ru – Covers Russian secret services, intelligence and terrorism issues.
- AK&M – News Agency – Provides economic, financial, and stock market news.
- Argumenty i Fakty – popular weekly. On 7 March 2014 it was bought by the Government of Moscow
- eXile – Alternative newspaper featuring essays, humor, book reviews, Moscow club guide, and more.
- Expatica – Russia Information portal providing daily Russian news and essential information on living in, working in or moving to Russia.
- Gazeta.ru – politics and business online newspaper. Owned by Rambler.ru.
- Interfax – Major Russian news agency. Toes the Kremlin line.
- Inside Russia and Eurasia – Independent monthly intelligence report of the European Press Agency.
- ITAR-TASS – One of the largest Russian information agencies. Successor to the leading Soviet news agency TASS.
- Izvestia – popular daily
- Kommersant – daily, news and business-orientated
- Komsomolskaya Pravda – mass circulation, left-leaning daily
- Lenta.ru – General news site, Europe’s fifth most popular site, Russian and former Soviet state coverage.
- LifeNews – tabloid
- Moscow Expat Life – Quarterly publication for entire expat community in Moscow addressing all aspects of living and working in this city.
- Moscow News – English language weekly.
- Moscow Times – Leading English language daily newspaper.
- Moskovskij Komsomolets – popular daily, regarded as publishing sensational or provocative items on Russian politics and society
- Moskovskiye Novosti – daily. Owned by Rossiya Segodnya through the RIA Novosti news agency.
- Neftegaz – News and information about Russian oil and gas industry.
- Novaya Gazeta Liberal newspaper known for its investigative journalism.
- Other Russia, The – News from the Coalition for Democracy in Russia.
- Pravda.ru (also http://english.pravda.ru/) – Pro-government news site, not online version of pro-communist printed newspaper of the same name.
- Prime-Tass – Russia’s leading business news agency.
- RBC Daily – Daily financial and analytical newspaper
- RBC News – RosBusinessConsulting – Provides breaking news on Russian stock and financial markets, and daily commentary.
- Regnum – Goverment-affiliated, one of the leading Russian online information services covering news from Russia, the CIS countries, and the Baltic states.
- RIA Novosti – State-operated domestic Russian-language news agency
- Rossiyskaya Gazeta – Russian government owned daily newspaper of record which publishes the official decrees, statements and documents of state bodies.
- Russia Beyond the Headlines – English version of state owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
- Russia in Global Affairs – Journal on foreign affairs and international relations. Also carries material from analytical centers and articles from Russian newspapers.
- Russia Profile – Online information service and magazine offering expert analysis of Russian politics, economics, society and culture.
- Russia Today – First 24/7 English-language news channel. Founder – RIA-Novosti.
- Russian Life – Magazine covering the culture, history, travel and life.
- Siberian Light – Blogging Russia – Covers Russia and the former Soviet Union, providing analysis of the most topical issues.
- Sputnik – State run news agency. Formerly Radio Voice of Russia – Site of the state radio company. Features daily news, comments and special reports.
- St. Petersburg Times – Major English-language newspaper.
- Trud – Left-leaning daily
- Vedomosti – Daily financial and analytical newspaper
- Vesti.ru – state-owned online newspaper
- Vladivostok Times – East Russian English-language newspaper.
- Zhizn – Zhizn is regarded as a tabloid and a typical “yellow press”, often providing gossip, scandals and questionable facts. #3 most read news site in Russia. Weekly.
Many more ‘news’ sites in Russia, these are the most prolific.
Russian-Proxy News Sites – External to Russia. These are the worst of the worst, unapologetically pro-Russian. These are the sites most quoted by Russian trolls.
Proxy is an agent or substitute authorized to act for another person or a document which authorizes the agent so to act.
- Russia Insider The mission of this site is media criticism and reform, run by Western expats providing “alternative” news.
- GlobalResearch (GlobalResearch.ca and GlobalResearch.org)
- OpEdNews “Progressive, Liberal”
- Washingtonsblog
- Serendipity This website is based on a libertarian (in the sense of J.S.Mill) perspective and is opposed to Fascism, Capitalism, Zionism, the Anglo-Zionist Empire, the Surveillance State and all who secretly work to cause wars for their own advantage and profit
- 21st Century Wire – Started 2009.
- La Russophobe – US-based popular Russia blog recording the rise of the Neo-Soviet Union.
Russian Opposition News Sites
- Grani.ru – opposition online newspaper
- Nezavisimaya Gazeta – pro-opposition privately owned daily
Russian Neutral News Sites
- The New Times – weekly independent newspaper
Russian Neutral Magazines
- Vokrug sveta –a Russian geographic magazine, one of the oldest popular science magazines in the world.
Russian Television Channels.
Most Russians get their news from Television, still, even in the age of the internet .
- First Channel – national, state-owned channel – news and entertainment
- Rossiya 1 – national, state-owned channel – news and entertainment
- Zvezda – national, owned by Russian Ministry of Defense
- NTV – national 50% state-owned – news and entertainment
- Russia K – state-owned – culture and arts
- Russia 2 – state-owned, commercial
- Russia 24 – state-owned – news channel
- Petersburg – Channel 5 – state-owned – commercial
- TV Center – owned by Moscow city government – news and entertainment
- STS – commercial – entertainment
- Domashny – commercial, entertainment
- TNT – state-owned, commercial
- Ren TV – Moscow-based commercial station with strong regional network
- Russia Today – state-funded, international English-language news channel
- Dozhd – private independent news channel
- ProRussia.tv – state-owned, in French
Russian Radio – National Coverage
- AvtoRadio – state-owned/private national network
- Echo of Moscow – news and analysis. On 18 February 2014, a shareholders’ meeting replaced the station’s long-serving director, Yury Fedutinov, with former the Voice of Russia’s Yekaterina Pavlova, a Kremlin-loyalist in ‘the latest in a series of personnel reshuffles at top state-owned media organizations that appear to point toward a tightening of Kremlin control over an already heavily regulated media landscape’ the state owned RIA Novosti news agency reported the same day. The station’s editor-in-chief, Alexei Venediktov, and his deputy, Vladimir Varfolomeev, were also removed from the broadcaster’s board of directors. Venediktov, one of the station’s founders, had written on March 11 on his Twitter account: ‘Gazprommedia (owner of 66% of the broadcaster’s shares) urged the early dismissal of the radio’s board of directors and a change in independent directors’.
- Europa Plus – private national network
- Radio Mayak (92.4%)
- Radio Russia (coverage: 96.9% of the population)
- Radio Yunost (51.0%)
- Russkoye Radio – private national network
- Voice of Russia – (Golos Rossii) a state-run external service, broadcasting in English and other languages. (Like the RIA Novosti news agency, the broadcaster was merged into a new media agency Rossiya Segodnya, officially “to save money”, under a 9 December 2013 presidential decree.)
Russian News – Official US
- Radio Free Europe – Russia – News and analysis of Russian domestic politics by the staff of Radio Liberty.
Filed under: Information operations
