PRIMA NEWS
http://www.prima-news.ru/eng
Source description last updated: 18 March 2008. Prima News stopped publishing English language news in mid-2008, so this source is no longer covered regularly by ecoi.net (as at 18 October 2011).
Mission/Mandate:
“The Moscow Human Rights News Agency PRIMA distributes (both in Russian and English) news related to the human rights situation in Russia, the former Soviet Union, and abroad.
PRIMA News Agency was founded in February 2000 on the basis of Express-Chronicle human rights newspaper, which has been published in Moscow since 1987.“ (Prima News Website, http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/about, accessed on 18 March 2008)
 
Prima's editor-in-chief is Alexander Podrabinek, a former political prisoner and editor-in-chief of Express Chronicle (Prima News Website, http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/about, accessed on 18 March 2008).
 
Target group:
Media, policymakers, general public.
Objective:
Prima News’ objective is to report on human rights abuses and related political and social issues, focusing mainly on the regions of Russia.
Funding:
Prima News Agency is sponsored by the C. S. Mott Foundation, IDEE (Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe), the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation and Barbara D. Bryant. All these foundations are based in the USA (Prima News Website, http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/about, accessed on 18 March 2008).
Scope of reporting:
Geographic focus: Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, other republics of the former Soviet Union; as well as Cuba, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Iraq and Iran.
Thematic focus: Anti-Semitism, death penalty, crime, corruption, civil conflicts, discrimination, ethnic conflicts, forced disappearances, freedom of conscience, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, opposition, persecution of journalists, political repression, political prisoners, prisons, racism, refugees, terrorism, war in Chechnya, separatism, social problems, power structures, elections.
Reporting methodology:
”Having its own network of correspondents, PRIMA receives information from different regions of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other republics of the former Soviet Union. They also get reports about political events and the human rights situation in Cuba, China, Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Iraq, Iran and some other countries. Incoming news items are posted on PRIMA's website.“ (Prima News Website, http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/about, accessed on 18 March 2008)
Publication cycle:
Updated on a regular basis.
Languages:
English, Russian.
Navigation of website:
Home: Latest news.
Articles: All articles.
Files: It is possible to search for articles by date, subject or country.
Additional references:
Wikipedia: Aleksandr Podrabinek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandr_Podrabinek (accessed on 18 March 2008)
RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Russia, FSB summons activist editor for questioning, 28 January 2004
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/01/1-RUS/rus-280104.asp (accessed on 18 March 2008)