Sputnik (news agency)

• 1. Origins And Restructuring

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  On the 10th of November 2014, a new entity named Sputnik emerged from the Russian government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya. This launch marked a significant shift in how Russia projected its voice to the world. The name itself was chosen by Margarita Simonyan, who became editor-in-chief shortly after the reorganization. She told The New York Times that she selected the word because it carried positive connotations and was globally recognized. The agency's roots stretch back much further than 2014. Its lineage traces to Radio Moscow, which launched in 1929 as the official international broadcasting station of the Soviet Union. That service aired across Eastern Europe and Cuba before being replaced by Voice of Russia in 1993. In December 2013, an Executive Order of the President of Russia created Rossiya Segodnya, which then established Sputnik just months later. Dmitry Kiselyov, an anchorman for Russia-1, served as the first president of this reorganized agency. Vladimir Putin stated during a visit to the RT network base in 2013 that the goal was to break the monopoly of Anglo-Saxon global information streams. The agency claims to tell the untold story while aiming to reach audiences tired of what they describe as aggressive unipolar propaganda.

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• 2. Operational Infrastructure

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  Sputnik maintains regional editorial offices in Washington D.C., Cairo, Beijing, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Montevideo, and Rio de Janeiro. These locations support its operation in thirty-one languages including English, Spanish, Arabic, and Serbian. The platform houses over eight hundred hours of radio broadcasting material each day. A twenty-four seven newswire service runs continuously to feed these outlets. Radio Sputnik operates audio services in thirty languages covering over one hundred thirty cities and thirty-four countries. Listeners can access content via FM, Digital Radio Broadcasting, HD Radio, mobile phones, and the Internet. Programming is available on satellite transponders, with a twenty-four-hour English service audible in North America through the Galaxy-19 satellite. Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert host a weekly talk show called Double Down which focuses on economics. Eugene Puryear hosts another program named By Any Means Necessary. Thom Hartmann presents his own syndicated program daily. In June 2017, Radio Sputnik subleased a translator station W288BS operating at 105.5 FM from Reston Translator LLC. This signal covers DC proper and western suburbs in Northern Virginia. From November 2017, the service began carrying programming on AM frequency WZHF 1390 AM in Washington D.C. American owners of these stations were required to register as foreign agents under United States Department of Justice rules. Federal Communications Commission regulations prevent direct foreign ownership of broadcast assets due to the Communications Act of 1934. Prior to the 1st of July 2017, Radio Sputnik had broadcast in the Washington area on WTOP-HD2 since June 2013. The agency distributes its programming to American stations through brokered arrangements managed by agent Arnold Ferolito and RM Broadcasting LLC. Availability expanded to Kansas City Missouri on stations KCXL and KOJH starting January 2020.

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• 3. Election Interference Allegations

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  During the 2016 presidential election campaign, former US Ambassador Michael McFaul wrote that Sputnik made clear its preference for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. A fake news story circulated by the outlet claimed President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton created ISIS. The website praised Trump before his election for making such assertions. Tweets from Sputnik used the hashtag #CrookedHillary. Trump revived a discredited conspiracy theory promoted by Sputnik suggesting Google suppressed bad news about Clinton. In October 2016, Sputnik improperly cited an article written by Kurt Eichenwald for Newsweek. This misattributed comments to Sidney Blumenthal who quoted Eichenwald in a non-verified email released by WikiLeaks. The author Bill Moran successfully sued Newsweek over his assertion regarding bribery and threats. Forbes reported that Sputnik International fabricated statements attributed to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. On the 7th of December 2016, Sputnik falsely reported that sanctions were on the table related to Syria. Analysis of Earnest's press briefing found the word sanctions was never used during that conference. Lee Stranahan joined Sputnik after leaving Breitbart News and became known as the agency's most visible Trump supporter. He stated in early 2020 that the entire impeachment against Trump was a lie. Andrew Feinberg worked as Sputnik's White House Correspondent until the 26th of May 2017 when he announced his departure. Feinberg told Erik Wemple of The Washington Post that editors asked him to write stories questioning the murder of Seth Rich. He believed there was no factual basis for such inquiries. Feinberg concluded that Sputnik's mission involved pushing narratives to sow doubts or hurt US reputation rather than reporting facts.

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• 4. European Bans And Closures

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  In February 2022, the European Union banned Sputnik following the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Technology companies removed Sputnik from their platforms while many regional versions closed operations. The French, German, and Greek editions ceased functioning shortly after the ban took effect. In January 2019, Facebook removed two hundred eighty-nine pages and seventy-five accounts used by Sputnik for misinformation. These pages posed as independent news sites but were actually run by employees at Sputnik. Twitter attached a state-affiliated media label to Sputnik's account alongside Chinese and other Russian state media outlets. The Wikipedia community deprecated Sputnik as an unreliable source of information. On the 2nd of March 2023, an EU regulation put the ban into force. Microsoft and Apple Inc. removed Sputnik apps from their respective stores. YouTube blocked Sputnik content worldwide on the 11th of November 2023. In September 2023, Vitaly Denisov, bureau chief of Sputnik Moldova, was deported and banned entry for ten years. Moldova stated his presence endangered informational security. Daniel Voda, Moldovan press secretary, said Sputnik constantly dealt with lies and propaganda. Banks in Estonia suspended Sputnik related accounts in October 2019. Estonian offices closed in January 2020 after police warned journalists about potential criminal charges. A report by The Swedish Institute of International Affairs found that a Swedish-language version spread false information including forged documents. That version ran from April 2015 until spring 2016 when it shut down. Emmanuel Macron's campaign team banned both RT and Sputnik from events in April 2017.

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• 5. Disinformation Campaigns Abroad

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  A report by Sputnik's Belarusian service claimed the virus was an Anglo-Saxon plot to counter China. An associated outlet in South Ossetia said COVID-19 was created as a weapon in the West for information warfare. Its Armenian affiliate insisted the virus had been created in a US laboratory. A Sputnik-associated outlet in Latvia suggested it might have been created there. In April 2017, Sputnik and RT reported little to no information on the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack in Syria. No coverage provided survivors or their testimonies during the attacks. False and missing information were frequently cited while identities of claimed experts remained unshared. Journalist Finian Cunningham wrote that White Helmets were portrayed as propaganda conduits for al-Qaeda terror groups. Reports published by Sputnik at the time lacked reliable sources or experts. Access to Sputnik online content was blocked by Turkish authorities in March 2016. The Turkish bureau chief Tural Kerimov was denied entry into the country. The website reopened later that same year. In 2018, the agency shut down its Kurdish language website without mentioning any particular reason. Former employees said the decision came at Turkey's request as part of anti-Kurdish political movement. In June 2019, Serbian language outlet of Sputnik infiltrated a disinformation hub in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Fact-checking platform Raskrinkavanje published findings about bias toward spreading disinformation in a one hundred six-page document. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sputnik republished an article claiming Russia had won the war. The piece lauded Putin's invasion for solving the Ukrainian question and declared the end of Western global domination.

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