ABSTRACT
The point of Surkov's concept was to reshape the perception of the West in Russia by turning it from an enemy to a global competitor. It turned out that on that day Vladimir Putin signed a decree that transformed RIA Novosti into the International Information Agency 'Rossiia Segodnia' (Russia Today) and appointed Margarita Simonyan its editor-in-chief and Dmitry Kiselev a controversial state television presenter as its head. Despite the fact that Russia Today's creation under the auspices of RIA Novosti was Gromov's idea, there are reports from former RIA Novosti employees that describe Gromov's frequent phone calls to Mironyuk, telling her off for the impartial coverage of the actions of the Russian opposition leaders or Putin's actions. The Kremlin needed a more reliable manager to head its outreach activities and guarantee the Kremlin's strategy was being implemented bluntly and efficiently.
