LETA
Encyclopedia
LETA is the main Latvia
n news agency
. Its headquarters are in Riga
.
In 1940, when Latvia was occupied
by the Soviet Union
, it became a subordinate agency of TASS
, a status it would keep until Latvia regained independence in 1991.
During the occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
, LETA was subordinated to the German DNB news agency.
From 1971 it was known as Latinform. On 31 May 1990 the Latvian government restored the name LETA and the news agency's independence from TASS.
In 1997 LETA was put up for privatisation by the Latvian state.
On April 27, 2011 LETA website got defaced by unknown hacker the reason claiming to be commercially biased news sources. It was down for a few hours as was LETA side project "nozare.lv" and others.
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n news agency
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
. Its headquarters are in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
.
History
It was founded as Latopress in 1919, soon after Latvia became independent; the name was changed to LTA the next year when the wire service was subordinated to the Latvian Telegraph Agency. The name LETA was only used occasionally during the interwar period.http://www.leta2000.com/leta90/In 1940, when Latvia was occupied
Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers, according to the European Court of Human Rights, the Government of Latvia, the State Department of the United States of America, and the European Union, to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union ostensibly under the...
by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, it became a subordinate agency of TASS
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union
The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union , was the central agency for collection and distribution of internal and international news for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations...
, a status it would keep until Latvia regained independence in 1991.
During the occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany was completed on July 10, 1941 by Germany's armed forces. Latvia became a part of Nazi Germany's Reichskommissariat Ostland — the Province General of Latvia...
, LETA was subordinated to the German DNB news agency.
From 1971 it was known as Latinform. On 31 May 1990 the Latvian government restored the name LETA and the news agency's independence from TASS.
In 1997 LETA was put up for privatisation by the Latvian state.
On April 27, 2011 LETA website got defaced by unknown hacker the reason claiming to be commercially biased news sources. It was down for a few hours as was LETA side project "nozare.lv" and others.