This 'new light' is fairly obviously an attempt to distance themselves from the teachings of Charles Taze Russell. (Strictly speaking, it is indeed more accurate to say Rutherford was the founder of Jehovah's Witnesses anyway after he co-opted the Watch Tower Society and some of Russell's Bible Students.)
The Watch Tower Society has previously claimed (particularly throughout the 1980s and 1990s) that "The Watchtower has consistently presented evidence to honesthearted students of Bible prophecy that Jesus’ presence in heavenly Kingdom power began in 1914" (The Watchtower, 15 January 1993).
The Internet has made it extremely easy to disprove such claims by showing quite specifically that Russell actually believed Jesus' "presence as Bridegroom and Reaper was recognized during the first three and a half years, from A. D. 1874 to A. D. 1878", that "The year A. D. 1878 … clearly marks the time for the actual assuming of power as King of kings" (both quotes Studies in the Scriptures Volume III [Thy Kingdom Come], 1911 edition, page 239), and that Armageddon would "break out with suddenness and force not long after October, 1914" (The Watchtower, 15 May 1911).
So because 'the jig is up' with their claims about Russell, it would appear that they have decided it is in their best interests to simply cut ties with him instead. (It is also possible that complaints have been made by extant Bible Student groups about the Watch Tower Society claiming Russell as a JW.) In keeping with this, Charles Taze Russell hasn't been mentioned at all in any JW publications since 2009.
That's not to say they will never mention him again, but it is quite likely that in future if they do refer to him, it will be in the same manner as others such as William Miller, and not as someone they consider to have had their god's approval. Though with 2014 looming, it is fairly unlikely they will focus on much of anything from the long-gone 19th century. (Similarly, references to 1914 have been way down in post-1990s JW literature compared to the 1990s and earlier.)
(Of course, now that the FDS has been 'identified' as the Governing Body [which it has apparently been since 1919 even though the GB didn't formally exist until the 1970s], they should be able to front up to court in Victoria, Australia for the Unthank "working with children" case. Unless they're still claiming the 'slave' still doesn't actually exist.)