Where the news comes from
Each word shows its gender (m., f., n.) and a phrase with the right preposition. Note that Russian reads something in a newspaper (в газе́те) but watches it on TV or the internet (по телеви́зору, в интерне́те). Foreign words in -о and -и, like ра́дио and СМИ, never change their ending.
| Word | Meaning | Gender | In a phrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| mass media | pl. | ||
| newspaper | f. | ||
| magazine | m. | ||
| television (the medium) | n. | ||
| TV set | m. | ||
| radio | n. | ||
| internet | m. | ||
| website | m. | ||
| social media | pl. | ||
| programme, broadcast | f. | ||
| channel | m. | ||
| the news | pl. |
The people involved
Several of these end in -тель, the suffix for “the person who does it”: чита́ть (to read) → чита́тель (reader). веду́щий (presenter) is an adjective used as a noun, so it declines like one: с веду́щим, “with the presenter”.
What the media do: the verbs
Each verb is given as an aspect pair where one exists: imperfective for the ongoing process, perfective for the finished result (see verb aspect). The preposition and case it needs are in blue.
Online and social media
Internet Russian borrows freely from English, then gives each word a Russian gender and endings: лайк is masculine (two лайка), репо́ст too. Many of these words also make verbs: ла́йкать, “to like (a post)”, is casual; поста́вить лайк is neutral.
How sure is the report?
Russian news language signals precisely how a fact is sourced. Reading these phrases tells you whether something is confirmed, attributed to someone, or still a rumour. They also link to reported speech.
| Phrase | Certainty | Example |
|---|---|---|
| официа́льноofficially | confirmed | |
| по да́ннымaccording to (data from) + gen. | sourced | |
| как ста́ло изве́стноit has emerged that | sourced | |
| со ссы́лкой наciting + acc. | attributed | |
| я́кобыallegedly, supposedly | doubtful | |
| по неподтверждённым све́дениямaccording to unconfirmed reports | rumour |
How Russian headlines work
Headlines (заголо́вки) save words. Three habits explain most of them: a verb is often left out, the present tense can stand for a fresh past event, and a dash replaces a verb of motion or “is”.
Check yourself
Say the Russian out loud, then reveal it.