The Moscow News ends print edition

The print edition of The Moscow News, an English-language weekly newspaper, has closed, according to its editor Natalia Antonova. In a statement on The Moscow News website, Antonova wrote that the paper had “been shut down by order of the management … Our website remains active and we will continue bringing you stories and features on Moscow about Russia”.

The Moscow News was founded in 1930 by US socialist Anna Louise Strong to spread the message of socialism to an international audience. The success of the newspaper meant it was translated into a number of languages including French, German, Spanish and Arabic. The newspaper has changed hands numerous times and since 2007 has been owned by state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.

In December last year, the Kremlin announced it was closing RIA Novosti and replacing it with a new media organisation called Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today). Despite being owned by the state, RIA Novosti has a reputation for independent and balanced reporting including on sensitive issues such as the antigovernment protests in Moscow in 2011 and 2012. Pro-Kremlin conservative television host Dmitry Kiselyov will head the new agency.