Former Izvestia editor in chief to head new Moscow information agency

The former editor-in-chief of newspaper Izvestia, Alexander Malyutin, is set to head a new current affairs and listings agency called Moscow, focusing on social, political, economic and cultural affairs in the capital. The organisation is intended to plug the gap many consider to have emerged following the closure of news agency RIA Novosti, which included a section called In Moscow that covered the city.

The agency’s official launch date will be announced next week, according to Vladimir Chernikov, the head of the Moscow City department of media and advertising. “Moscow, which will be a fully-fledged information agency prioritising city events, is already in its testing phase,” he said.

Yuri Zagrebnoy, head of information agency Mossovet, said: “There is still so much rubbish and PR on topics such as society, politics and culture. There is no objective metropolitan news that could actually help Muscovites orient themselves to what is going on in their city.”

Malyutin will also be appointed deputy editor-in-chief of the media holding Moscow Media, whose portfolio includes the new website as well as TV channels Moscow 24 and Moscow Trust, radio stations Moskva FM, Radio Moscow and Moscow FM, and news portal m24.ru.

Malyutin was appointed editor-in-chief of Izvestia in April 2011 and again in August 2013, after he stepped down in between allegedly due to disagreements with the founder of the newspaper’s publisher, media mogul Aram Gabrelyanov, who is known for his close friendship to President Vladimir Putin and his ownership of a number of sensationalist publications.