From RFE/RL's News Desk:
TASS IS BACK: RUSSIAN NEWS AGENCY REVIVES SOVIET-ERA NAME
Russians who feel their country is returning to Soviet-era ways have a new piece of evidence: TASS is back.
The 110-year-old news agency, known in recent years as ITAR-TASS, says it will use the name TASS starting on October 1.
In a news item, the agency said the brand is "a symbol of professionalism, enthusiasm, and commitment to maintain and develop its
best traditions."
It said TASS is not an abbreviation. But in the Soviet era, when it was the main state news agency, the letters stood for Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union.
ITAR was added after the collapse of communism.
The agency said the name TASS and its new brand will be used on the Internet and in print as well as in advertisements and on souvenirs.
It said the transition would be complete by the end of 2015.
Also in The Moscow Times, Kevin Rothrock, an insightful and prolific commenter on all things Ru.Net (and a regular guest on the Power Vertical Podcast), takes a look at the Kremlin's efforts to control the Internet.
Good morning. I'm back!
The Moscow Times has an interesting piece up by Alexey Eremenko on civic activism and self-governance in Russia.
"A common criticism of the current Russian government is its tendency to act as an overseer of the nation rather than its representative. Accordingly, the key question concerning Russia's political future is when — or whether — the people will ever take control.
More than any reform of the parliament or government, this issue hinges on the development of grassroots activism and self-governance, practices that are taking shape slowly and painfully in a country with deep-rooted authoritarian traditions, experts say."
Read it all here.
So today's was a soft launch and we still have some bugs to work out. We'll be back tomorrow with more.
Mikhail Zygar, editor in Chief of Dozhd TV, wins International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists
Some reactions to Russia ending the FLEX high school exchange program:
Stanford University Professor Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia
Ukrainian Social Researcher Irene Fedets
Fulbright Scholar Sergeu Kostyaev
Lena Osipova, OPhD Student at School of International Service, American University
From the always insightful Sean Guillory:
"Novorossyia is just a cinematic project to rile up the population anyway. The “heroes” have always been actors in a larger drama, and when this series jumps the shark, its production set will be folded up and the stage will be prepared for a new theatrical work to dazzle the spectator. The cinematography deployed to turn Russia into “war state” is all just the tactics. We shouldn’t so quickly substitute smoke and mirrors for reality. Putin’s real strategy is to hobble Ukraine and humble the West, and on that he’s doing pretty damn well."