RT (TV network)

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"Russia Today" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Rossiya Segodnya or Russian Federation Today.
RT
Russia-today-logo.svg
Launched December 10, 2005 (2005-12-10) (registered on April 6, 2005)[1]
Owned by Russian Government, via ANO “TV-Novosti”[2]
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
(HD feed downgraded to letterboxed 480i/576i for SDTVs)
Slogan Question More
Country Russia
Language English
Spanish
French
German
Arabic
Broadcast area Worldwide
Headquarters Moscow, Russia
Formerly called Russia Today (2005–2009)
Sister channel(s) Rusiya Al-Yaum
RT Actualidad
RT America
RT UK
RT Documentary
RT Deutsch
Website rt.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview (UK) Channel 135 with RT UK
MHz Networks (U.S.)
Satellite
Bell TV (Canada) Channel 724
Viasat Channel unallocated
Airtel digital tv (India) Channel 324
Indovision (Indonesia) Channel 355
yes (Israel) Channel unallocated
SKY Italia (Italy) Channel 531
Cyfra+ (Poland) Channel 146
NTV Plus (Russia) Channel unallocated
Freesat (UK) Channel 206 (SD/HD) with RT UK
Sky UK & Ireland Channel 512 (SD/HD)
Channel 518 (SD) with RT UK
Sky (New Zealand) Channel 092
Dish Network (U.S.) 'Nationwide:
Channel 280 (SD/HD)
Washington, D.C. area:
Channel 8084 (SD/HD) with RT America
GlobeCast WorldTV (U.S.) Channel 462 with RT America/International
Reliance Digital TV (India) Channel 461
Cignal Digital TV (Philippines) Channel unallocated
CanalDigitaal (Netherlands) Channel 90
Dish TV (India) Channel 738
Videocon d2h (India) Channel 363
Foxtel (Australia) Channel 658
Astro (Malaysia) Channel 520 (SD) (Coming Soon)
Cable
Available on certain U.S. cable systems Check Local Listings
Available on select Canadian cable systems Check Local Listings
Verizon FiOS (Washington, D.C. area) Channel 455 with RT America
Cox Communications (Washington, D.C. area) Channel 473 with RT America
RCN Cable (Washington, D.C. area) Channel 33 with RT America
Destiny Cable (Philippines) Channel 86 (Analog)
Channel 221 (Digital)
StarHub TV (Singapore) Channel 151
SkyCable Platinum (Philippines) Channel 221 (Digital)
Cablelink (Philippines) Channel TBA
Cablemás (Mexico) Channel 290
Ziggo (Netherlands) Channel 509
NOS (Portuguese media company) (Portugal) Channel 214
Foxtel (Australia) Channel 658
IPTV
Shaw Exo TV (Canada) Channel 505
Bell Fibe TV (Canada) Channel 517
Optik TV (Canada) Channel 573
Eagle Multimedia (U.S.) Channel unallocated with RT America
Russian TVGroup (U.S.) Channel unallocated with RT America
HyppTV (Malaysia) Channel 418 (HD) (Coming Soon)
Singtel TV (Singapore) Channel 163 (SD)
TPG Telecom (Australia) Channel unallocated
PTCL Smart TV (Pakistan) Channel 102
Open IPTV (Serbia) Channel 547
Streaming media
Live stream On Air (free, available in English)
Sling TV Internet Protocol television

RT, originally Russia Today, is a Russian state-funded television network which runs cable and satellite television channels, as well as Internet content directed to audiences outside the Russian Federation. RT International, which is based in Moscow, presents around-the-clock news bulletins, documentaries, talk shows, and debates, as well as sports news and cultural programmes about Russia.[4] RT operates as a multilingual service with channels in three languages: the original English language channel was launched in 2005, followed by the Arabic language channel in 2007 and the Spanish language channel in 2009. RT America (since 2010),[5] and RT UK (since 2014) offer some locally based content for those countries.

RT is a brand of "TV-Novosti", an "autonomous non-profit organization", founded by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on April 6, 2005.[1][6] During the economic crisis in December 2008, the Russian Government headed by Vladimir Putin included ANO "TV-Novosti" in the list of core organisations of strategic importance of Russia.[7][8][9]

RT has been called a propaganda outlet for the Russian government[10][11][12] and its foreign policy[10][11][13][14] by former Russian officials[15] and by news reporters,[16] including former RT reporters.[17][18][19] It has also been accused of spreading disinformation.[20][21][22] The United Kingdom media regulator Ofcom has threatened RT with sanctions because of repeated violations of its rules on impartiality.[23] The network states that it offers a "Russian perspective" on global events.[24]

History[edit]

Foundation[edit]

The creation of RT was a part of a larger public relations effort by the Russian government that was intended to improve the image of Russia abroad.[25] RT was conceived by former media minister Mikhail Lesin,[26] and Russian president Vladimir Putin's press spokesperson Aleksei Gromov.[27] At the time of RT's founding, RIA Novosti director Svetlana Mironyuk stated: "Unfortunately, at the level of mass consciousness in the West, Russia is associated with three words: communism, snow and poverty," and added "we would like to present a more complete picture of life in our country."[26] It is registered as an autonomous nonprofit organization[28][29] funded by the federal budget of Russia through the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation.[30][31]

In 2005, RIA Novosti helped establish ANO TV-Novosti (or "Autonomous Non-profit Organization TV-News") to serve as the parent organization for the planned channel. ANO TV-Novosti was registered on April 6, 2005.[1] ANO TV-Novosti appointed Sergey Frolov as its CEO position;[32] Frolov stated regarding the channel's development: "A main problem in the beginning was that in our country we've never broadcast English-language television. When it began Russia Today had a certain lack of personnel: it seems hard to find qualified journalists, political scientists, economists, analysts, with good English skills in Moscow."[33]

Former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev visits RT offices with Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.

The channel was launched as Russia Today on December 10, 2005. At its launch, the channel employed 300 journalists, including approximately 70 from outside Russia.[25] Russia Today appointed Margarita Simonyan as its editor-in-chief, who recruited foreign journalists as presenters and consultants.[26] Simonyan stated that the channel's intent was to have a "professional format" akin to the BBC and Euronews that would "reflect Russia's opinion of the world" and present a "more balanced picture" of Russia.[34]

Simonyan, who was only 25 years old at the time of her hiring by the channel, was a former Kremlin pool reporter and had worked in journalism since she was 18. She told The New York Times that after the fall of the Soviet Union, many new young journalists were hired, resulting in a much younger pool of staffers than other news organizations.[35] Journalist Danny Schechter (who has appeared as a guest on RT)[36] has stated that having been part of the launch staff at CNN, he saw RT as another "channel of young people who are inexperienced, but very enthusiastic about what they are doing."[37] Shortly after the channel was launched, James Painter wrote that RT and similar news channels such as France 24 and TeleSUR saw themselves as "counter-hegemonic", offering a differing vision and news content from that of Western media like CNN and the BBC.[38]

Development and expansion[edit]

Dmitry Medvedev took part in the launch of RT Documentary
Vladimir Putin during the visit the new RT broadcasting centre

RT launched several new channels in ensuing years: the Arabic language channel Rusiya Al-Yaum in 2007, the Spanish language channel RT Actualidad in 2009, RT America – which focuses on the United States – in 2010, and the RT Documentary channel in 2011.[5]

In August 2007, Russia Today became the first television channel to report live from the North Pole (with the report lasting five minutes and 41 seconds). An RT crew participated in the Arktika 2007 Russian polar expedition, led by Artur Chilingarov on the Akademik Fyodorov icebreaker.[39][40] On December 31, 2007, RT's broadcasts of New Year's Eve celebrations in Moscow and Saint Petersburg were broadcast in the hours prior to the New Year's Eve event at New York City's Times Square.[40]

RT drew particular attention worldwide for its coverage of the 2008 South Ossetia war.[40][41][42] RT named Georgia as the aggressor[42] against the separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which were protected by Russian troops.[43] RT saw this as the incident that showcased its newsgathering abilities to the world.[10] Margarita Simonyan stated, "we were the only ones among the English-language media who were giving the other side of the story – the South Ossetian side of the story."[41]

In 2009, Russia Today rebranded itself to simply the "RT" initials.[44] Simonyan denied that the name change was an attempt to hide its Russian origins, stating the corporate logo was changed to attract more viewers and commenting, "who is interested in watching news from Russia all day long?"[5]

In early 2010, RT unveiled a highly controversial advertising campaign called "Question More," which was created for the channel by Britain-based McCann Erickson.[13] One of the advertisements featured as part of the campaign showed President of the United States Barack Obama "morphing" into Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and asked: "Who poses the greatest nuclear threat?" The ad was banned in American airports. Another showed a Western soldier "merging" into a Taliban fighter and asks: "Is terror only inflicted by terrorists?"[45] One of RT's 2010 billboard advertisements won the British Awards for National Newspaper Advertising "Ad of the Month".[46]

RT is one of several international channels that have challenged the United States media, which previously dominated global news coverage.[47] In 2010 Walter Isaacson, Chairman of the U.S. Government's Broadcasting Board of Governors (which runs Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia), called for more money to invest into the programs because, "We can't allow ourselves to be out-communicated by our enemies," mentioning specifically Russia Today, Iran's Press TV and China's China Central Television (CCTV) in the next sentence. He later explained he actually was referring to "enemies" in Afghanistan, not the nations he mentioned.[48] In 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the United States was "losing the information war" abroad to foreign channels like RT, Al Jazeera and China Central Television[49] and that they are supplanting the Voice of America.[50][51]

Since 2012[edit]

In early 2012, shortly after his appointment as the United States Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul challenged Margarita Simonyan[52] on Twitter, regarding allegations from RT[53] that he sent Alexei Navalny to study at Yale University.[52][53] According to RT, McFaul was referring to a comment in an article by political scientist Igor Panarin, which RT had specified were the views of the author.[54][55] McFaul then accepted an interview by Sophie Shevardnadze on RT on this and other issues and reasserted that the Obama administration wanted a "reset" in relations with Russia.[56][57]

On April 17, 2012, RT debuted World Tomorrow, a news interview program hosted by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The first guest on the program was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.[58][59][60] The interview made global headlines as Nasrallah rarely gives interviews to Western media.[61] Commentators described this as a "coup"[62][63] or a "scoop".[64] WikiLeaks described the show as "a series of in-depth conversations with key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries from around the world."[65] It stated that the show is "independently produced and Assange has control"; WikiLeaks offers a "Broadcasters license, only".[44]

Assange said that RT would allow his guests to discuss things that they "could not say on a mainstream TV network."[66] Assange said that if Wikileaks had published Russian data, his relationship with RT might not have been so comfortable.[61] In August of that year, RT suffered a denial of service attack for several days by a group calling itself "Antileaks". It was speculated that the group was protesting Assange and/or Russia's jailing of members of the activist music group Pussy Riot.[67]

On October 23, 2012, RT, along with Al Jazeera and C-SPAN, broadcast the Free and Equal Elections Foundation third-party debate among four third-party candidates for President of the United States.[68][69] On November 5, RT broadcast the two candidates that were voted winners of that debate, Libertarian Party candidate Governor Gary Johnson and the Green Party of the United States candidate Jill Stein from RT's Washington, D.C. studio.[70][71][72]

In November 2012, Israeli Defense Force bombs severely damaged RT's offices in Gaza City, wounding four journalists, during Operation Pillar of Defense. The office was right next to that of the Israeli target, Al-Aqsa TV, a television station that was affiliated with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.[73]

In May 2013, RT announced that former CNN host Larry King would host a new talk show on RT. King said in an advertisement on RT: "I would rather ask questions to people in positions of power, instead of speaking on their behalf."[74][75] As part of the deal, King would also bring his Hulu series "Larry King Now" to RT. On June 13, 2013 RT aired a preview telecast of King's new Thursday evening program Politicking, with the episode discussing Edward Snowden's leaking of the PRISM surveillance program.[76]

President of Russia Vladimir Putin 2013 visit to RT new broadcasting centre and interview with RT correspondents.

Vladimir Putin visited the new RT broadcasting centre in June 2013 and stated "When we designed this project back in 2005 we intended introducing another strong player on the international scene, a player that wouldn’t just provide an unbiased coverage of the events in Russia but also try, let me stress, I mean – try to break the Anglo-Saxon monopoly on the global information streams.... We wanted to bring an absolutely independent news channel to the news arena. Certainly the channel is funded by the government, so it cannot help but reflect the Russian government's official position on the events in our country and in the rest of the world one way or another. But I’d like to underline again that we never intended this channel, RT, as any kind of apologetics for the Russian political line, whether domestic or foreign."[77][78]

On July 12, 2014, during his visit to Argentina, Putin announced that Actualidad RT will broadcast on free-to-air in the South American country, making it the first foreign television channel to be broadcast free-to-air there.[79][80] RT was made available on the dominant Australian subcrption television platform Foxtel on February 17, 2015.[81] In October 2014, RT announced the launch of a dedicated news channel, RT UK, aimed at the British market. The new channel started operating on October 30, 2014.[82]

Organization[edit]

State-owned RIA Novosti news agency, which founded RT in 2005, is one of the largest in Russia. Its chairperson is Svetlana Mironyuk, who has modernised the agency since her appointment in 2003.[83][84][85] RIA Novosti has stated it helped establish RT, but is "neither a sponsor nor a backer of Russia Today."[5] Mikhail Seslavinsky, in charge of the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation asserted in 2005 that "Russia Today will come as an independent company".[86] Under Russian Law RT is a fully independent organisation. Sputnik International have also stated that they have not been influenced by RIA Novosti.[29]

In 2007, RT established offices in the same building as RIA Novosti, after the Russian Union of Journalists was forced to vacate them.[87] In 2012 Anna Kachkayeva, Dean of Media Communications at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, stated that they "share the same roof" because the two organizations are located in the same building, but regarding "funding, editorial policy, management and staff, they are two independent organisations whose daily operations are not interconnected in any way."[29] In 2008, Simonyan noted that more than 50 young RT journalists had gone on to take positions in large Western media outlets.[40] By 2010, RT had grown to a staff of 2,000.[5]

In December 2012 on the eve of RT's seventh anniversary of broadcast, RT moved its production studios and headquarters to a new state-of-the-art eight-story, 28,000 square metres (300,000 sq ft) facility in Moscow, which houses six studios. The move also marked RT's upgrade of all of its English-language news programming to high-definition.[88][89][90]

In 2013, a presidential decree issued by Vladimir Putin dissolved RIA Novosti and subsumed it into a new information agency called Rossiya Segodnya (directly translated as Russia Today).[91] According to a report on the RT website, the new news agency is "in no way related" to the news channel RT despite the similarity to RT's original name.[91] However, on December 31, 2013, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the RT news channel, was also appointed as editor-in-chief of the new news agency while maintaining her duties for the television network.[92]

On 30 October 2014 RT UK News bulletins launched weekday nights at 6pm, 8pm, 9pm and 10pm with host Bill Dod. On Fridays the news will also be broadcast at 7pm.[93]

RT cooperates with a number of media sources in Russia and abroad, including private media like Izvestia, Kommersant, Trud, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Vedomosti, Argumenty i Fakty and the non-Russian Association for International Broadcasting, Huffington Post and News.com.au.[94]

Budget[edit]

When it was established in 2005, ANO TV-Novosti invested $30 million in start-up costs to establish RT,[12] with a budget of $30 million for its first year of operation. About half of the network's budget came from the state and the other half from banks and companies friendly to the government.[38] Its annual budget increased from approximately $80 million in 2007 to $380 million in 2011, but was reduced to $300 million in 2012.[95][3][96] Putin has prohibited funding for RT from being reduced as of October 30, 2012.[97] RT's ruble budget in 2013-14 was equivalent to $300 million US dollars, compared to the $367 million budget of the bigger BBC-World Service Group.[98]

Network[edit]

According to RT, the network's feed is carried by 22 satellites and over 230 operators, which provides a distribution reach to about 700 million households in more than 100 countries,[99] and that RT America is available to 85 million households throughout the United States.[100]

In addition to its main English language channel RT International, RT UK and RT America, RT also runs Arabic language channel Rusiya Al-Yaum, Spanish-language channel Actualidad RT, as well as the documentary channel RTDoc. RT maintains 21 bureaus in 16 countries, including those in Washington, D.C., New York City, London, England; Paris, France; Delhi, India; Cairo, Egypt; Baghdad, Iraq; and Kiev, Ukraine. It employs over 2,000 media professionals worldwide.[4] The sharp decline in the ruble at the end of 2014, forced it to postpone channels in German and French.[98]

Channel Description Language Launched
RT International The flagship news channel of the RT network, it covers international and regional news from a Russian perspective. It also includes commentary and documentary programs. Based in Moscow with a presence in Washington, New York, London, Paris, Delhi, Cairo, Baghdad, Kiev and other cities.[4] English 2005
RT Arabic Based in Moscow and broadcast 24/7. Programmes include news, feature programming and documentaries. Arabic 2007
RT Spanish Based in Moscow with bureaus in Miami, Los Angeles, Havana and Buenos Aires. Covers headline news, politics, sports and broadcast specials.[101] Spanish 2009
RT America RT America is based in RT's Washington, D.C. bureau, it includes programs hosted by American journalists. The channel maintains a separate schedule of programs each weekday from 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and simulcasts RT International at all other times. English 2010
RT UK RT UK is based in RT's London bureau at Millbank Tower. Includes programs hosted by British journalists. The channel offers five hours of programming per day, Monday to Thursday UK News at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm and 10pm and simulcasts RT International at all other times. On Fridays there is No 10pm UK News bulletin. English 2014
RT Deutsch A brand-new German part of RT network based in RT's Berlin bureau. Covers local German as well as world news topics.[102] German 2014
RT Français A new French part of RT network based in RT's Paris bureau. Covers local French as well as world news topics.[103] French 2014
RT Documentary A 24-hour documentary channel. The bulk of its programming consists of RT-produced documentaries related to Russia.[104] English, Russian 2011
Ruptly A video news agency ran by RT based in Berlin, Germany and Washington, D.C. English 2013

The RT website offers a live stream available online for viewing on computers and mobile devices. It provides many of its newscasts and featured shows via YouTube. In September 2012, RT signed a contract with Israeli-based RRSat to distribute high definition feeds of the channel in the United States, Latin America and Asia.[105] In October 2012, RT's Rusiya Al-Yaum and RT joined the high definition network Al Yah Satellite Communications ("YahLive').[106]

Ratings[edit]

In the United States, RT typically pays cable and satellite services to carry its channel in subscriber packages.[107] In 2011, RT was the second most-watched foreign news channel in the United States (after BBC World News),[108] and the number one foreign network in five major U.S. urban areas in 2012.[109] It also rates well among younger Americans under 35 and among inner city areas.[109] According to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board between approximately 2.5 million Britons watched RT during the third quarter of 2012, making it the third most-watched rolling news channel in Britain, behind BBC News and Sky News (not including Sky Sports News).[88][110][111] However RT was soon overtaken by Al Jazeera English,[112] and viewing figures had dropped to about 2.1 million by the end of 2013.[113] For comparison it has marginally fewer viewers than S4C, the state-funded Welsh language broadcaster,[114] or minor channels such as Zing, Viva and Rishtey.[115] According to internal documents submitted for Kremlin review, RT's viewership amounts to less than 0.1 percent of Europe’s television audience, except in Britain, where 2013 viewership was estimated at approximately 120,000 persons per day.[107] According to the leaked documents, RT was ranked 175th out of 278 channels in Great Britain in May 2013, or in fifth place out of eight cable news channels.[107]

Latin America is the second most significant area of influence for internet RT (rt.com). In 2013, RT ascended to the ranks of the 100 most watched websites in seven Latin American countries.[116]

In 2012, Pew Research found RT to be the most popular news channel on YouTube, with Fox News Channel coming in second.[117] In 2013, RT became the first television news channel to reach 1 billion views on YouTube.[11] In 2014 its English YouTube channel was reported have 1.4 million subscribers.[118] In recent years, however, more than 80% of RT's online viewership was for videos of accidents, crime, disasters, and natural phenomena, such as the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor event, with less than 1% of viewership for political videos.[107] The most popular video of Russian president Putin shows him singing "Blueberry Hill" at a 2010 St. Petersburg charity event.[107]

Programming[edit]

"Breaking the Set" (2012–2015) presenter and correspondent Abby Martin.

The English language RT International, RT America and RT UK channels carry similar programming, with the latter channels focusing more on news from the United States and the United Kingdom. RT Arabic and Actualidad RT in Spanish feature their own news presenters, as well as translated versions of RT's English programming.

Marcin Maczka writes that RT's ample financing has allowed RT to attract experienced journalists and use the latest technology.[95] RT anchors and correspondents tend to concentrate on controversial world issues such as the financial and banking scandals, corporate impact on the global economy, and western demonstrations. It has also aired views by various conspiracy theorists, including neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, and Holocaust deniers (presented as "human rights activists").[119][120][121] News from Russia is of secondary importance and such reports emphasize Russian modernisation and economic achievements, as well as Russian culture and natural landscapes, while downplaying Russia's social problems or corruption.[35][95] RT's current feature programs include (with presenters parenthesised):[122]

Notable on-air staff[edit]

Vladimir Putin with journalists

Current[edit]

News anchors and presenters
Correspondents
Business presenters
Documentary presenters
  • Martyn Andrews - entertainment, cookery and travel (formerly of Wayfarer/Moscow Out/Venice of the North)
  • James Brown - Discovering Russia (formerly news presenter and host of Close-Up Russia)

Former[edit]

Guests[edit]

Russian President Vladimir Putin RT interview, 6 September 2012.

According to Jesse Zwick, RT persuades "legitimate experts and journalists" to appear as guests by allowing them to speak at length on issues ignored by larger news outlets. It frequently interviews progressive and libertarian academics, intellectuals and writers from organisations like The Nation, Reason magazine, Human Events, Center for American Progress[140] and the Cato Institute[42] who are critical of United States foreign and civil liberties policies.[140] RT also features little known commentators, including anarchists, anti-globalists and left-wing activists.[95] Journalist Danny Schechter holds that a primary reason for RT's success in the United States is that RT is "a force for diversity" which gives voice to people "who rarely get heard in current mainstream US media."[37]

Notable guests have included think tank intellectuals like Jared Bernstein,[42] John Feffer and Lawrence Korb; journalists and writers Jacob Sullum, Pepe Escobar,[140] and Brian Doherty,[141] and heads of state, including Ecuador's Rafael Correa,[141] and Syria's Bashar al-Assad.[142] UKIP leader Nigel Farage has appeared on RT seventeen times since 2010.[143][114]

Reception[edit]

Programming[edit]

In 2008, Heidi Brown wrote in Forbes that "the Kremlin is using charm, good photography and a healthy dose of sex appeal to appeal to a diverse, skeptical audience. The result is entertaining – and ineffably Russian." She added that Russia Today has managed to "get foreigners to at least consider the Russian viewpoint – however eccentric it may be..."[144] In 2012, Tracy Quan wrote that RT is "a far more interesting network than some care to admit."[141] Mark Adomanis, who has appeared on RT, wrote "I generally find RT as a station to be tabloidy, a bit over-hyped, and basically harmless."[64]

The Alyona Show, hosted by Alyona Minkovski, ran from 2009 to 2012 (when Minkovsky left RT to join The Huffington Post). Daily Beast writer Tracy Quan described The Alyona Show as "one of RT's most popular vehicles".[145] The New Republic columnist Jesse Zwick wrote that one journalist told him that Minkovski is "probably the best interviewer on cable news."[140] Benjamin R. Freed wrote in the avant-garde culture magazine SOMA that "The Alyona Show does political talk with razor-sharp wit."[146] David Weigel called the show "an in-house attempt at a newsy cult hit" and noted that "her meatiest segments were about government spying, and the Federal Reserve, and America's undeclared wars".[42] Minkovski had complained about being characterized as if she was "Putin's girl in Washington" or as being "anti-American".[146] After Minkovski argued that Glenn Beck was "not on the side of America. And the fact that my channel is more honest with the American people is something you should be ashamed of.", Columbia Journalism Review writer Julia Ioffe asked "since when does Russia Today defend the policies of any American president? Or the informational needs of the American public, for that matter?"[10]

From April to August 2011, RT ran a half-hour primetime show Adam vs. the Man,[147][148][149] hosted by former Iraq War Marine veteran and high profile anti-war activist Adam Kokesh. David Weigel writes that Kokesh defended RT's "propaganda" function, saying "We're putting out the truth that no one else wants to say. I mean, if you want to put it in the worst possible abstract, it's the Russian government, which is a competing protection racket against the other governments of the world, going against the United States and calling them on their bullshit."[42] The conservative media watchdog Accuracy in Media criticized Kokesh's appearance on RT, writing RT uses Americans like Kokesh to make propaganda points.[150]

Reviewing Julian Assange's show World Tomorrow, The Independent noted that Assange, who was under house arrest, was "largely deferential" in asking some questions of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who himself was in hiding. However, he also asked tough questions such as why Nasrallah had not supported Arab revolts against Syrian leaders, when he had supported them in Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, and other countries.[61] The New York Times journalist Allesandra Stanley wrote that "practically speaking, Mr. Assange is in bed with the Kremlin, but on Tuesday's show he didn't put out" and that he "behaved surprisingly like a standard network interviewer."[58] Douglas Lucas in Salon wrote that the RT deal "may just be a profitable way for him to get a gigantic retweet."[44] Glenn Greenwald, who has been a guest on RT,[151] wrote that RT presenting the Julian Assange show led to "a predictable wave of snide, smug attacks from American media figures".[152] Mark Adomanis rebuts some of the "fevered denunciations" against RT and Julian Assange in an article in Forbes.[64] A Moscow Times writer noted that RT has received "considerable" criticism in general.[40]

Criticism[edit]

Propaganda and related issues[edit]

Mouthpiece of the Kremlin[edit]

Since its foundation in 2005, RT has been widely accused of being a mouthpiece of the Kremlin. In an interview with U.S government-owned external broadcaster Voice of America, the Russian-Israeli blogger Anton Nosik (ru) said the creation of RT "smacks of Soviet-style propaganda campaigns."[153] Pascal Bonnamour, the head of the European department of Reporters Without Borders, called the newly announced network "another step of the state to control information."[154] In 2009, Luke Harding (then the Moscow-based, Russia correspondent of The Guardian) described RT's advertising campaign in the United Kingdom as an "ambitious attempt to create a new post-Soviet global propaganda empire."[13] An article in the Christian Science Monitor wrote that RT reported on the good job Putin was doing in the world and next to nothing on things like the conflict in Chechnya or the murder of government critics.[155]

Former KGB officer turned political refugee, Konstantin Preobrazhensky, criticized RT as "a part of the Russian industry of misinformation and manipulation".[15]

Linas Antanas Linkevičius, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, posted on Twitter on March 9, 2014 amid the Crimean crisis, "Russia Today propaganda machine is no less destructive than military marching in Crimea".[156]

United States Secretary of State John Kerry referred to RT as a state-sponsored "propaganda bullhorn" and he continued by saying, "Russia Today network has deployed to promote president Putin's fantasy about what is playing out on the ground. They almost spend full-time devoted to this effort, to propagandize, and to distort what is happening or not happening in Ukraine."[157] RT responded that they wanted "an official response from the U.S. Department of State substantiating Mr. Kerry's claims."[158] Richard Stengel from the U.S. Department of State responded.[20] Stengel stated in his response, "RT is a distortion machine, not a news organization," although he supports RT's right to broadcast in the United States. Concluding that "the network and its editors should not pretend that RT is anything other than another player in Russia's global disinformation campaign against the people of Ukraine and their supporters".[159]

In Russia, Andrey Illarionov, former advisor to Vladimir Putin, has called the channel "the best Russian propaganda machine targeted at the outside world".[35][95] Media analyst Vasily Gatov wrote in a 2014 Moscow Times article that sharp ethical and reporting skills are not required for RT employees.[160]

Cliff Kincaid, the director of Accuracy in Media's Center for Investigative Journalism, called RT "the well-known disinformation outlet for Russian propaganda".[161]

Putin and Medvedev off-limits[edit]

According to a 2010 report by The Independent, RT journalists have said that coverage of sensitive issues in Russia is allowed, but direct criticism of Vladimir Putin or then-President Dmitry Medvedev is not.[37] Masha Karp wrote in Standpoint magazine that contemporary Russian issues "such as the suppression of free speech and peaceful demonstrations, or the economic inefficiency and corrupt judiciary, are either ignored or their significance played down".[162] In 2008, Stephen Heyman wrote in The New York Times that in RT's Russia, "corruption is not quite a scourge but a symptom of a developing economy."[35] Speaking after the launch of RT America, Garry Kasparov said "Russia Today is an extension of the methods and approach of the state-controlled media inside Russia, applied in a bid to influence the American cable audience".[14]

Anti-Americanism, anti-Westernism[edit]

The New Republic writer James Kirchick accused the network of "often virulent anti-Americanism, worshipful portrayal of Russian leaders."[163] Edward Lucas wrote in The Economist (quoted in Al Jazeera English) that the core of RT was "anti-Westernism."[164] Julia Ioffe wrote "Often, it seemed that Russia Today was just a way to stick it to the U.S. from behind the façade of legitimate newsgathering."[10] Shaun Walker wrote in The Independent that RT "has made a name for itself as a strident critic of US policy."[165] Allesandra Stanley wrote in The New York Times that RT is "like the Voice of America, only with more money and a zesty anti-American slant."[58] David Weigel writes that RT goes further than merely creating distrust of the United States government, to saying, in effect: "You can trust the Russians more than you can trust those bastards."[42]

Russian studies professor Stephen F. Cohen stated in 2012 that RT does a lot of stories that "reflect badly" on the United States and that they are "particularly aggrieved by American sermonizing abroad." Citing that RT compares stories about Russia allowing mass protests of the 2011–2012 Russian election protests with those of U.S. authorities nationwide arresting members of the Occupy movement. Cohen states that despite the pro-Kremlin slant, "any intelligent viewer can sort this out. I doubt that many idiots find their way to RT."[140]

John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus says he appears on RT as well as the U.S.-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, commenting "You're going to find blind spots in the coverage for any news organization."[140]

Airing conspiracy theories[edit]

An 2013 article in Der Spiegel noted that RT "uses a chaotic mixture of conspiracy theories and crude propaganda", referring to a program which linked the Boston Marathon bombings to a U.S. government conspiracy.[11]

The launch of RT UK was greeted with a barrage of criticism in the British press. In The Observer, Nick Cohen accused the channel of spreading conspiracy theories and being a "prostitution of journalism" and in The Times, Oliver Kamm called on broadcast regulator Ofcom to act against this "den of deceivers".[166]

In 2015, Peter Pomerantsev in The Guardian accused RT of disinformation and of spreading conspiracy theories.[167]

Journalists at the The Daily Beast and The Washington Post have noted that RT employs Tony Gosling, a contemporary exponent of the antique and long-discredited theories regarding the alleged control of the world by Illuminati and Elders of Zion.[168][169]

Anti-Israel[edit]

RT has been accused of being anti-Israel by Jewish and Israeli sources, describing its reporting as being unbalanced. Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman made a complaint to Putin at their official meeting in 2012.[170][171][172][173]

Choice of guests[edit]

In 2010 journalist and blogger Julia Ioffe described RT as being "provocative just for the sake of being provocative" in its choice of guests and issue topics, featuring a Russian historian who predicted that the United States would soon be dissolved, showing speeches by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, reporting on homelessness in America, and interviewing the chairman of the New Black Panther Party. She wrote that in attempting to offer "an alternate point of view, it is forced to talk to marginal, offensive, and often irrelevant figures".[10] The Economist magazine noted that RT's programming, while sometimes interesting and unobjectionable, and sometimes "hard-edged", also presents "wild conspiracy theories" that can be regarded as "kooky".[174] A 2010 Southern Poverty Law Center report stated that RT extensively covered the "birther" and the "New World Order" conspiracy theories and interviewed militia organizer Jim Stachowiak and white nationalist Jared Taylor.[119] An Al Jazeera English article stated that RT has a penchant "for off-beat stories and conspiracy theories."[164]

Margarita Simonyan told Nikolaus von Twickel of The Moscow Times that RT started to grow once it became provocative and that controversy was vital to the channel. She said that RT's task was not to polish Moscow's reputation.[5]

Interpreter mag reported that RT has made Manuel Ochsenreiter, an alleged neo-Nazi, its primary on-air spokesman for the German point of view.[120][175] Interpreter mag also reported that RT hosted alleged holocaust denier Ryan Dawson, presenting him as a geopolitical analyst, human rights activist and Asian affairs expert.[121]

Responses to RT's news coverage[edit]

During the 2008 South Ossetia War Russia Today correspondent William Dunbar resigned because he was not allowed to report on Russian airstrikes on civilian targets and stated "any issue where there is a Kremlin line, RT is sure to toe it."[176] Human Rights Watch said that the RT claim of 2,000 South Ossetian casualties was exaggerated.[177][178] Shaun Walker, the Moscow correspondent for The Independent said that Russia Today had "instructed reporters not to report from Georgian villages within South Ossetia that had been ethnically cleansed", also showed that "RT blasted "GENOCIDE" across its screens for most of the war’s duration".[45] Julia Ioffe wrote that an RT journalist whose reporting deviated from "the Kremlin line that Georgians were slaughtering unarmed Ossetians" was reprimanded.[10] According to Variety, sources at RT confirmed that Dunbar had resigned, but rejected that it was over bias. One senior RT journalist told the magazine, "the Russian coverage I have seen has been much better than much of the Western coverage... When you look at the Western media, there is a lot of genuflection towards the powers that be. Russian news coverage is largely pro-Russia, but that is to be expected."[179]

In September 2012, United Kingdom broadcast regulator Ofcom found that two Libyan dispatches broadcast by Lizzie Phelan on RT in August 2011 were in breach of its code on accuracy and impartiality. The following November, RT was again found in breach of impartiality rules in relation to its coverage of the Syrian conflict.[180]

RT team covering protests in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on December 10, 2011

In December 2011 RT's Margarita Simonyan tweeted that protesters involved in 2011–2012 Russian protests should "burn in hell".[181][182]

After a May 2012 protest broke into violence between police and protesters, Simonyan tweeted "You were warned that all your starry-eyed idealism would end in fanatical carnage."[183] RT blamed the clashes on "a number of radical protesters."[184] Navalny, who exposed massive corruption and theft in Kremlin-connected companies, frequently has been covered in a negative fashion on RT,[165]

Putin chose RT for his first televised interview after the election and stated that new laws against non-governmental organizations, street rally disorders or defamation only had to do with "crime and legal procedure, not politics."[185]

In 2012 Jesse Zwick in The New Republic criticized RT, stating it held that "civilian casualties in Syria are minimal, foreign intervention would be disastrous, and any humanitarian appeals from Western nations are a thin veil for a NATO-backed move to isolate Iran, China, and Russia." He wrote that RT wants to "make the United States look out of line for lecturing Russia." Zwick also noted that Stephen F. Cohen has criticized western coverage of the Syrian conflict, saying he was suspicious of CNN coverage and that "It seems to be the flip side of RT. It's too black and white, too virtuous and simple. Each side sounds like one hand clapping."[140]

Zwick also wrote that RT provided a "disproportionate amount of time" to covering libertarian Republican Ron Paul during his 2012 presidential campaign.[140] Paul also has been interviewed on RT.[186] Writing after her 2014 on-air resignation, Liz Wahl suggested the reason for this "wasn't his message of freedom and liberty but his non-interventionist stance and consistent criticism of U.S. foreign policy. His message fit RT's narrative that the United States is a huge bully."[187] In a June 2011 broadcast of Adam vs. the Man, host Adam Kokesh endorsed support and fundraising for Paul, leading to a complaint to the Federal Election Commission charging a political contribution had been made by a foreign corporation. Kokesh denied his cancellation in August was related to the complaint, but said it did involve Paul's aide Jesse Benton.[149]

An August 2013 news story concerning unverified reports of the killing of 450 Kurdish civilians near the Turkey-Syria border again breached Ofcom's rules. This complaint centred on mobile phone footage of three men being apparently being burnt alive.[188] That December, Ofcom again found RT in breach of its standards in relation to the impartiality of a documentary entitled "Syrian Diary" broadcast the previous March.[189]

On March 4, 2014, Breaking The Set host Abby Martin, speaking directly to her viewing audience during the show's closing statement, said that even though she works for RT, she is against Russia's intervention in Ukraine. She said that "what Russia did is wrong", as she is against intervention by any nation into other countries' affairs.[190] Later, Martin asserted that RT still supports her despite her differences of opinion with the Russian government.[191] RTs press office suggested that Martin would be sent to Crimea and responded to accusations of propaganda, stating "the charges of propaganda tend to pop up every time a news outlet, particularly RT, dares to show the side of events that does not fit the mainstream narrative, regardless of the realities on the ground. This happened in Georgia, this is happening in Ukraine".[192] Glenn Greenwald said that American media elites love to mock Russian media, especially RT, as being a source of shameless pro-Putin propaganda, where free expression is strictly barred. Agreeing the "network has a strong pro-Russian bias", he suggested that Martin's action "remarkably demonstrated what 'journalistic independence' means".[193]

On March 5, 2014, RT Washington, D.C. bureau anchor Liz Wahl resigned on air, blaming RT for propaganda. Wahl stated that what "broke" her was that RT censored a question from her interview with Ron Paul about "Russia's intervention in Ukraine". In response, RT released a statement: "When a journalist disagrees with the editorial position of his or her organization, the usual course of action is to address those grievances with the editor, and, if they cannot be resolved, to quit like a professional. But when someone makes a big public show of a personal decision, it is nothing more than a self-promotional stunt. We wish Liz the best of luck on her chosen path".[194] In a March 2014 Politico article, Wahl stated “For about two and a half years. I’d looked the other way as the network smeared America for the sake of making the Kremlin look better by comparison, while it sugarcoated atrocities by one brutal dictator after another.”[187]

RT America broadcast with former anchor Liz Wahl.

When asked about a clip of her interviewing a guest on RT by Brian Stelter, host of CNN's Reliable Sources, Wahl responded,

New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof commented on CNN's Piers Morgan Live about Wahl's and Martin's initial actions, "admire their outspokenness but, you know, at the end of the day, RT is a Russian propaganda arm, and I don't think its going to matter very much to the geopolitical consequences here."[195]

Former RT Moscow anchor Stacy Bivens, and other former RT journalists speaking under anonymity according to BuzzFeed, said they regretted working for the network, citing their dislike of the network's use of propaganda. Bivens, for example, was explicitly asked to go to Germany and procure a story proving that "Germany is a failed state". When she rejected, other reporters were sent instead.[19]

Steve Bloomfield, the foreign editor of Monocle wrote that RT's "coverage of Ukraine could not have been kinder to Moscow if Vladimir Putin had chosen the running order himself. While Putin kept up the pretence that there were no Russian troops in Crimea, so too did RT. The storming of government buildings across eastern Ukraine has been portrayed as the understandable actions of peace-loving protesters who fear "chaos" in Kiev".[196]

After the July 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, RT rushed to blame others for the plane's shoot-down in Ukraine amid accusations by Ukrainian fighters of Russian involvement in the crash.[197] Sara Firth resigned as an RT correspondent over the coverage of the downed flight MH17. Shortly before resigning, she wrote, "RT style guide Rule 1: It is ALWAYS * Ukraine’s fault (* add name as applicable)." She later noted that there is "bias" against Russia and stated "I have always said it’s better to have RT than to not have that perspective, but actually with a story like this and the way they misreport it, it’s quite dangerous, I don’t want to be [a] party to it."[17]

The following November, RT was again found in breach of Ofcom's impartiality rules. This time in relation to its coverage of the Ukraine crisis, specifically events leading up to the annexation by Russia of Crimea.[198] Because of repeated violations of its rules on impartiality, Ofcom threatened sanctions should further breaches occur.[23]

In January 2015 Ofcom found RT not in breach of rules on generally accepted standards following a compliant centred on the use of graphic imagery of bodies at the MH17 crash site.[199][200]

In September 2015 Ofcom found RT in breach of the impartiality rules in its coverage of the events in Ukraine and Syria. It also upheld the complaint by BBC that RT's allegations of doctoring BBC's reports on chemical attacks in Syria were "misleading".[201][202]

As an example in a RT broadcast, named Genocide of Eastern Ukraine, they claimed that the Ukrainian government was deliberately bombing civilians, had murdered and tortured journalists, as well as crucifying babies. Ukrainian army forces were accused of "ethnic cleansing" and were compared to the Nazis in World War Two. Meanwhile, the only response to the allegations in the broadcast was in the form of a caption saying "Kiev claims it is not committing genocide, denies casualty reports", which appeared on screen for six seconds. According to Ofcom the broadcast had "little or no counterbalance or objectivity".[202]

Professional awards[edit]

Martyn Andrews reporting from Siberia, 2007.
  • September 2006 – The 10th "Golden Tambourine" International Festival for Television programmes and films[203] awarded RT's documentary People of the Bering Strait in the Ethnography and Travel category
  • June 2007 – The 11th "Save and Preserve" International Environmental Television Festival[204] awarded its Grand Prix to RT's Meeting with Nature series.
  • September 2007 – Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio[205] awarded RT with the Prize for Professional Skillfulness
  • November 2007 – RT's report on the anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe received a special prize from the international 2007 AIB Media Excellence Awards[206]
  • April 2008 – RT's daily studio show Entertainment Today hosted by Martyn Andrews and Anya Fedorova receives a special diploma from the board of the Russian Entertainment Awards[207]
  • September 2008 – Russia's most prestigious broadcasting award TEFI to Kevin Owen in Best News Anchor category[208]
  • November 2008 – Special Jury Award in the Best Creative Feature category for a Russian Glamour feature story at Media Excellence Awards in London[4]
  • January 2009 – Silver World Medal from the New York Festivals, for Best News Documentary "A city of desolate mothers"[209]
  • August 2010 – First nomination for an International Emmy Award in News category for its coverage of president Barack Obama's trip to Russia.[210]
  • August 2012 – Second nomination for an International Emmy Award for its coverage of the international Occupy Wall Street movement.[211]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

1.^ Stephen Heyman estimated that more than $100 million had been spent on the station as of May 2008.[35]

References[edit]

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