"This move will allow our agency to become a direct participant in events in the global industry of news, firstly, newspapers aimed at using all the advantages of the Internet to improve public awareness," RIA Novosti Editor in Chief Svetlana Mironyuk said.
WAN CEO Timothy Balding said in his letter, "I am delighted to inform you that RIA Novosti's application for Associate Membership of the World Association of Newspapers has been approved unanimously and with enthusiasm by the WAN Board."
WAN vice president and member of the board, Yevgeny Abov, said, "Involvement in WAN gives the agency access to the latest information on modern technologies for dealing with the news and great opportunities for exchanging experience with foreign colleagues."
WAN, founded in 1948 and based in Paris, is a non-profit, non-government organization that groups 76 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 nations, 10 news agencies, and 10 regional press organizations.
The association has the status of an official consultant representing the interests of a newspaper industry in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), the United Nations (UN) and the Council of Europe (CE).
