Margarita Simonyan
In 2005, Margarita Simonyan became Editor-in-Chief of RT — a global, 24/7 news network that includes seven TV channels, digital platforms in Russian, English, Spanish, Arabic, German, and French, and a video news agency RUPTLY. Under Margarita Simonyan’s helm, RT grew its TV audience to 70 million weekly viewers, became the number one TV news networks on YouTube with more than 5 billion views and received 5 Emmy nominations. In 2013, Margarita Simonyan also became Editor-in-Chief of Rossiya Segodnya, an international news agency and radio service that broadcasts in more than 30 languages. She began her journalism career in Krasnodar at the local TV and radio station and was later appointed chief of the VGTRK (All-Russia State Television and Radio Company) bureau in Krasnodar. As a war correspondent, she reported from Chechnya during the Second Chechen Campaign, from the Beslan School Siege, and from Abkhazia, which earned her several journalism awards.