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Thursday, April 10, 2014

Russia Pulls Plug On The Voice of America

Russia has pulled the US-funded Voice of America radio station from the air, a senior state media official said Wednesday, calling it "spam on our airwaves," according to globalpost.com.

Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of the Rossiya Segodnya state media conglomerate, said a contract to broadcast Voice of America on AM radio would not be renewed.

"Rossiya Segodnya will not work with Voice of America," Kiselyov said, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The United States has targeted Kiselyov for sanctions over his role in promoting Russia's annexation of Crimea. He presents a highly opinionated weekly news show on state television.

"It's as if they broadcast from the underworld. Or at least a world that no longer exists," Kiselyov said of VOA and US-funded Radio Liberty, which still broadcasts in Russia through a partner station.

"I view these stations as spam on our airwaves," he said.

In 2006 Russian regulators forced national stations to stop broadcasting Voice of America shows, a move seen as politically motivated.

But the station continued to be broadcast in Moscow on a local AM radio frequency under an agreement with Voice of Russia, a state-owned station now controlled by Kiselyov's conglomerate.

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