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Izvestia

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Izvestia is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia.

Izvestia-frontpage
Izvestia-frontpage

The name comes from a Russian word that means "bring news" or "tidings." It can also mean a herald, which is a messenger who brings news. The word comes from a verb that means to inform or notify. Today, the paper calls itself a "national newspaper" of Russia. It is a major way that people in the country get their information.

Izvestia logo old
Izvestia logo old

In the past, the paper worked in a specific way. During the Soviet period, it was an organ for the Supreme Soviet. This meant it shared the official views of the Soviet government. It shared what the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet published. This type of news is often called propaganda. Propaganda is information used to push a specific idea or viewpoint. The paper also covered foreign relations between different countries.

The history of the paper began in February 1917. It has had many different names since then. In 1917, it was called the Izvestiya of the Petrograd Soviet. Later, it had much longer names involving many different groups of workers. By 1938, it became the Izvestia of the Soviets of Deputies of the Workers of the USSR. It changed its name again in 1977. Finally, in 1991, it became simply Izvestia.

Moscow IzvestiaBuilding 0623
Moscow IzvestiaBuilding 0623

Many different groups have owned the newspaper over the years. Vladimir Potanin once owned it through a large holding company. On June 3, 2005, the state-owned company Gazprom purchased a controlling stake. Gazprom Media later sold the paper to the National Media Group in 2008. In 2005, the paper had 240,967 copies in circulation. By 2007, that number grew to 371,000 copies. Boris Yefimov was the chief artist until he died in 2008. He was a very old illustrator who once worked for Joseph Stalin.

Sometimes, the paper has faced hard jobs and big changes. In 2005, the editor-in-chief, Raf Shakirov, left his job. The Committee to Protect Journalists said he was forced to resign. This happened because officials did not like how the paper covered the Beslan school hostage crisis. Some reports said the owner asked him to leave because of photos in the paper. In May 2024, the European Union placed the paper on a sanctions list. They accused the newspaper of spreading propaganda.

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File:Izvestia-frontpage.jpg
Izvestia-frontpage.jpg
File:Izvestia logo old.png
Izvestia logo old.png
File:Moscow IzvestiaBuilding 0623.jpg
Moscow IzvestiaBuilding 0623.jpg
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