Newspaper Subscriptions Show How the Kremlin Will Get Its News Next Year

Nov. 23, 2016

The Kremlin is planning to spend 6.6 million rubles (about $102,000) on newspaper and online news subscriptions in 2017, according to the RBC news agency. Unlike years past, this time the Kremlin isn’t revealing which individuals in President Putin’s administration are subscribed to what media publications, and officials refused to explain the increased secrecy to RBC.

Kremlin officials will order subscriptions to 214 different news publications next year (8 fewer than in 2016). The most popular newspaper in the Kremlin is Kommersant, with 58 different weekly subscribers and 55 Saturday-edition readers. The only two electronic subscriptions ordered by Kremlin officials were for the newspaper Vedomosti and the website Republic Magazine (formerly Slon Magazine).

After Kommersant, the most popular newspapers among Kremlin staff are Komsomolskaya Pravda, Moskovsky Komsomolets, Izvestia, Vedomosti, and Novaya Gazeta.

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