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Russian President Vladimir Putin tightened his grip over state media this week after dissolving one of Russias most globally respected news outlets, replacing it with what many fear may be a propaganda mouthpiece for the Kremlin. In a decree issued Monday, Putin abruptly liquidated the prominent news agency RIA Novosti, merging it with radio service Voice of Russia to create a new media conglomerate called Rossia Segodnya, or Russia Today. Like its predecessors, the new company will be state-owned, and will be separate from the Russia Today television station, now known as RT. RIA Novostis coverage is widely seen as balanced and neutral  despite the agencys ties to the Kremlin, but the conglomerate announced this week appears to be more slanted in nature.