MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Patriotism in the noblest sense of the word is crucial for making the country stronger, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his annual end-of-year news conference on Thursday.

"I believe that patriotism in the broadest and noblest sense of the word cannot but be crucial for making our country stronger," he said, when asked about Russian society’s current ideology.

Putin also commented on television content, particularly on TV shows talking about "who stole what and how they did it." "I think things have improved a lot recently, TV content has become more balanced," the president said. At the same time, he admitted that he rarely watched TV or surfed the Internet, though he sought to monitor the information space.

The Russian leader added that discussions of ideas that could form a state ideology would do no harm. He was also hopeful that the media would take up the initiative to build an ideology based on the triad of "nature, homeland and people," which had been put forward at the news conference.