Without Notice, Putin Dissolves a News Agency
Vladimir Putin has suffered a plurality of cries against his political purity, now including his appointment of a certain fiercely pro-Putin supporter to the head of a revamped Russia Today media outlet - Dmitry K. Kiselyov. Control of the Media, many say, is just another step in Putin's "growing chokehold on the people of Russia."
But how was this news outlet, Руссия Сегодня, created?
Well, Putin's appointment wasn't the most major point of media regulation committed - that award goes the dissolving by decree of RIA Novosti with the stated intent of "strengthening the Kremlin's influence at home and abroad." The amount of power being exercised in these actions forces a public which has questioned the legitimacy of Putin's intentions since the beginning of his third term to continue to be distrusting.
Many believe that these moves towards the consolidation of power are in response to the recent political problems in the Ukraine - Putin continues to assert that Ukrainian ties are historically with Russia and not the West, and regulated media allows Putin to enforce his stance with far more efficacy.
Ultimately, the shuttered news outlet will be absorbed the new state run agency. Putin's close allies support the decision without giving any clear reason for the move, stating that it is "what's best for the nation" and difficult to "explain to the world at large."
One is forced to wonder - do the means justify the end? The complacency with extreme power in the hands of the government even to do thing which are "in the best interest of the nation" seems as though it bears too much invested power - especially if that agency is already suspect of corruption and self-serving tendencies. The political atmosphere in Russia seems to continue to creep towards a boiling point.
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