Diena

Last updated
Diena
Logo of Diena newspaper (Latvia).png
TypeDaily newspaper
Format Compact
Owner(s)Edgars Kots
PublisherDienas mediji, Ltd
Editor-in-chiefGatis Madžiņš
Founded23 November 1990
Language Latvian
Headquarters Riga, Latvia
Website www.diena.lv

Diena (The Day) is a Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia, published since 23 November 1990. It is one of Latvia's largest daily periodicals and used to be considered as a paper of record. [1]

Contents

History

The newspaper was initially founded as the official paper of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia. Since privatisation in 1993, Diena was owned by Swedish media group Bonnier. Diena had 18,277 subscribers in December 2009, down from 26,866 in February 2009, and 41,471 in April 2000. [2] It shifted from berliner to compact format in 2007. The newspaper's Russian language edition was discontinued in 2000.[ citation needed ]

Controversies

In 2002, the publisher was fined for articles published in 1998 and criticizing then-minister for economy Laimonis Strujevičs. In 2007, the European Court of Human Rights held the fine to be in violation of freedom of expression. [3]

In 2009, AS Diena together with its sister business daily Dienas Bizness was sold to an ambiguous investor group owned by Jonathan and David Rowland. [4] The Latvian businessman Viesturs Koziols 6 August 2010 acquired a 51% stake in the joint-stock company Diena. [5] However, an investigation by the Latvian Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau into the "Oligarchs Case" determined in 2011 that the paper in reality was owned by three Latvian oligarchs: Andris Šķēle, Aivars Lembergs and Ainārs Šlesers through the AS Rīgas tirdzniecības osta (JSC Riga Commercial Port, RTO – renamed AS Riga Port in 2022) company. This was further confirmed with the release of the notorious "Rīdzene Tapes  [ lv ]" in 2017, in which the oligarchs are heard discussing their takeover of the paper. [6] [7] RTO ultimately sold the paper in 2015.

Following the change of ownership, many of the newspaper's staff resigned in October 2009. They started the online paper Cita Diena, which was transformed into the weekly newspaper Ir in 2010. [8]

Leadership

After long-time chief editor Sarmīte Ēlerte left the paper in 2008, it experienced a frequent change of leadership from 2009 to 2013. These included editors Ilmārs Znotiņš, Juris Bojārs  [ lv ] and sociologist Aigars Freimanis  [ lv ]. On May 10, 2013, Gatis Madžiņš  [ lv ] became the incumbent chief editor of the newspaper. [9]

The owner of the paper since 2015 is former Latvijas Televīzija head Edgars Kots  [ lv ].

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aigars Kalvītis</span> Latvian politician

Aigars Kalvītis is a Latvian businessman and a former politician who was the Prime Minister of Latvia from 2004 to 2007. Currently he is the president of Latvian Ice Hockey Federation and the Chairman of the Board of Latvian gas company Latvijas Gāze. He is the Chairman of the Council of Latvian telecommunications company Tet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valdis Zatlers</span> Latvian politician and former physician

Valdis Zatlers is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007. He became President of Latvia on 8 July 2007 and left office on 7 July 2011 after failing to win reelection for a second term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasažieru vilciens</span> Railway company based in Riga, Latvia

Pasažieru vilciens is the only passenger-carrying railway company in Latvia, operating both electric and diesel trains on various lines throughout the country. It was formed in November 2001 by bringing together two separate companies, PPU Elektrovilciens and PPU Dīzeļvilciens under one name, creating the first subsidiary of Latvian Railways. As of October 2008 JSC "Pasažieru vilciens" is an independent state-owned company. As of 2017, the company employed 1,075 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laime Pilnīga</span> Latvian musical group

Laime Pilnīga is a Latvian neo rock band formed in 2006 in Riga, Latvia. The most popular songs of Laime Pilnīga are "Sirdsapziņa" ('Conscience'), "I'm In Love with the Money", "On the Road" and "Hold On". Laime Pilnīga has travelled through and performed in most of the Europe, they have received multiple international awards and have been evaluated by many critics. The band has released 3 albums in total—Dual (2011), LP (2015) and Synergy and Waterlilies (2018)—all have been nominated as "The Best Rock Recordings" at the Annual Latvian Music Recording Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olainfarm</span> Company based in Latvia

Olainfarm AS is a Latvian leading manufacturer in the chemical and pharmaceutical sector of the Baltic States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latvian Naval Forces</span> Military unit

Latvian Naval Forces is the naval warfare branch of the National Armed Forces. It is tasked with conducting military, search and rescue operations, mine and explosive sweeping on the Baltic Sea, as well as ecological monitoring activities. The Naval Forces have participated in international NATO/Partnership for Peace operations and various exercises with great success. The main development priorities of the Naval Forces are to expand their activities within the Baltic States’ Ship Squadron BALTRON and to develop a Sea Surveillance System. They pay a great deal of attention to professionally specialized training and English-language teaching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ainārs Šlesers</span> Latvian politician

Ainārs Šlesers is a Latvian business oligarch and politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Latvia, as well as Deputy Mayor of Riga. Currently he is a member of the Latvian Parliament with his political party, Latvia First, holding 9 seats in the parliament.

Viesturs Koziols is a Latvian real estate developer, media and sports entrepreneur, photographer, patron of arts, political and public figure.

<i>Rīgas Balss</i>

Rīgas Balss was a tabloid newspaper published in Riga, Latvia, published in Latvian and Russian languages. The Russian edition has turned into Vechernyaya Riga in 2001 and ceased publication in 2004. Latvian edition has turned into journal in 2008 and ceased publication in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skanste</span> Neighborhood of Riga in Latvia

Skanste is a neighbourhood located in the center of Riga, the capital of Latvia, and is currently becoming the most modern part of Riga. Geographically, the neighborhood is situated in the northern part of the railway ring on the right bank of the Daugava, bordering the Sarkandaugava, Brasa, Centrs, and Pētersala-Andrejsala neighborhoods.

Latvian Shipping Company is a Latvian shipping company founded on 29 October 1940 and listed on the NASDAQ OMX Riga. The company owns 20 ships, employing more than 700 seamen from Latvia. The total carrying capacity of the LK fleet is 957 974 DWT and the average age of the fleet does not exceed 6.5 years.
Main shareholder is Ventspils Nafta (49.94%).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarmīte Ēlerte</span>

Sarmīte Ēlerte is a Latvian politician who is a member of the Unity party. She was Minister of Culture of Latvia from 3 November 2010 until 25 October 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musiqq</span> Latvian musical group

Musiqq is a Latvian pop music duo from Liepāja formed by Marats Ogļezņevs and Emīls Balceris. The duo first gained exposure in June 2009 with the release of their first single “Klimata kontrole”("Climate control"), but on October 1 their second single "Abrakadabra" came out, which was a radio hit in Latvia and "SEB Musical Bank 2009" winner. Their debut album "Šī ir tikai mūzika"("This is just music") was released in March 2010, which included radio hits such as "Abrakadabra", "Dzimšanas diena" ("Birthday") and "Klimata kontrole". Both singers were awarded as "Gada Liepājnieks"("Liepajnieks of the year" is a prize awarded for those, who have invested their time, effort and talent into making the city a better place) in nomination "'Music" and received three Copyright infinity prizes, because their songs are the most played on the radio, television and concerts. Musiqq represented Latvia in 2011 Eurovision Song Contest Düsseldorf with the song "Angel in Disguise".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latavio</span> Former Latvian airline

Latavio was an airline based in Riga International Airport (RIX), Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 1992, after emerging from Aeroflot. The fleet generally consisted of Soviet-made Aeroflot airplanes. AirBaltic replaced it as the Latvian flag carrier.

Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze is a Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia, published in Riga. Since 5 May 2020, it is only published online, with the last print edition coming out on 30 April 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rīga Plaza</span>

Rīga Plaza is a shopping centre located in Rīga, Latvia, on the left bank of the Daugava. With a total size of 90,000 m2, it is the fourth largest shopping centre in Latvia.

<i>Ir</i> (newspaper) Latvian newspaper

Ir is an independent Latvian weekly newspaper. It was cofounded in 2010 by the former staff of Diena, after the ownership structure behind that newspaper became unverifiable.

Kristaps Gulbis is a Latvian sculptor and artist known for numerous contemporary art projects in more than 25 countries. His works have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the Museum of Modern Art in Hokaido, Japan, and at metropolitan sites in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Riga, Moscow and other European cities, as well as in New York, Seoul, and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The visual art projects curated, directed and managed by Gulbis have been set in England, Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Estonia and elsewhere in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš</span> Latvian politician and diplomat (1949–2021)

Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš was a Latvian politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Saeima (2010–2021), head of the Latvian Institute (1999–2010), and as Ambassador to the United States (1993–1999). Born in a displaced person's camp in Germany to parents escaping the Soviet occupation of Latvia, he spent his early career working for various Latvian-American organizations before moving to Latvia and taking part in the restoration of Latvian independence. In 1998, he was awarded the Order of the Three Stars.

References

  1. ↑ Purs, Aldis; Plakans, Andrejs (2017-05-02). Historical Dictionary of Latvia. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 90. ISBN   9781538102213.
  2. ↑ "Latvian Association of Press Publishers".
  3. ↑ ECtHR judgment on application no. 16657/03 (in Latvian) Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
  4. ↑ "Rowland family acquired Diena and Dienas Bizness". baltic-course.com. 2009-10-09. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  5. ↑ "Viesturs Koziols buys controlling interest in Diena". baltic-course.com. 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  6. ↑ "The Three Little Oligarchs: Latvia's Corruption Scandal - Foreign Policy Research Institute". www.fpri.org. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  7. ↑ "Magazine releases 'oligarch case' transcripts". eng.lsm.lv. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  8. ↑ "Ir Weekly newspaper profile". eurotopics.net. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  9. ↑ www.DELFI.lv (2013-05-02). "Par 'Dienas' galveno redaktoru kļūs LTV portāla vadītājs Madžiņš". delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2022-07-09.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.