The world has become hyper-connected. News from across the world gets transmitted instantly creating massive flows of information.
Social media further intensifies the exchange of stories making every user a newsmaker with an audience. In all this confusion we rely on professionals who collect and investigate information and relate it to us in a concise manner.
These days there is a profuse variety of news outlets in Russia, but it was not always like that. Compared to the history of the Russian state that dates back to the 9th century, the country’s press is relatively young.
The first newspaper in Russia appeared in 1621 and was hand-written. Almost a century later, the first printed edition came out. Unlike newspapers in the West that covered mostly business and trade issues, the Vedomosti concentrated primarily on foreign and domestic policy and was published irregularly.
The 19th century brought about positive changes in attitude to the press. As a result, periodicals mushroomed, daily papers started to arrive. During that century, journalism in Russia gradually underwent the most important transformation of all - from being largely an unpaid hobby of the nobility to professional work.
For many decades (especially during the USSR period), Russia’s media were strongly associated with the Tass news agency.
It is still one of the most influential in Russia, widely known and one of the largest in the world. With an impressive network of correspondents and contributors and foreign bureaus in 63 countries, Tass has unparalleled capacity to provide its audience with quality reporting.
The good news for those who have not mastered Russian is that the news by Tass is available online in English and free.
Russia’s high-grade media accessible to foreigners is not, however, limited to the old guard of the industry. In 2014, another leading and credible Russian international news agency Rossiya Segodnya established Sputnik, a news outlet for online publications and radio broadcasting service geared towards a non-Russian audience.
A slightly younger peer of Sputnik founded by the predecessor of Rossiya Segodnya caters for dedicated TV watchers. It is Russia Today (RT), an international TV network that operates as a multilingual service with channels in five languages. Formal news reports alternate with thought-provoking documentaries, talk shows, debates, cultural and sports programmes.
RT is available in many countries including South Africa through one of the DStv basic packages DStv Access. It has an unusual format. For example, many non-Russian journalists work there, including icons such as Larry King on the show, Politicking. RT is famous for its stunning sense of humour that reacts to the actual events.
Their online store is more like the museum full of the masterpieces of self-irony. The slippers with “Russian” on the left sole and “step” on the right - whatever more do you need to join the Big Politicks?
There are many things that set the Russian media apart. After all, each nation has its own line of thought and ways of expressing it.
One valuable feature of RT, I’d say, is you will not find a “highly likely” attitude there.
What Russian news outlets do assume is that their readers, viewers and listeners have the ability and willingness to think beyond.
Furthermore, if I had to create an informal slogan for RT, I would say, “You deserve a second opinion”. Because I believe you really do.
Ambarov is the Russian consul-general in Cape Town