RT (TV network)
|Launched||10 December 2005|
|Owned by||ANO TV-Novosti|
|Picture format||576i 16:9 (SDTV)
|Language||Arabic, English, Russian, Spanish|
|Broadcast area||Worldwide, via Cable, Satellite, Digital Terrestrial Television, and Internet|
|Formerly called||Russia Today|
|Sister channel(s)||Rusiya Al-Yaum, RT Actualidad (Spanish), RT America, RT Documentary|
|Website||RT.com "Where to watch RT" map|
|Freeview (UK)||Channel 85|
|MHz Networks (USA)||Channel 30.4 WNVC Fairfax, Virginia|
|Channel 35.4 WYBE Philadelphia, Pennsylvania1|
|Channel 30.8 WNVT Goldvein, Virginia|
|Channel 31.5 W31CT Cortez, Colorado|
|Bell TV (Canada)||Channel 724|
|Airtel digital tv (India)||Channel 311|
|Indovision (Indonesia)||Channel 355|
|SKY Italia (Italy)||Channel 531|
|GlobeCast World TV (North America) FTA||Channel 462|
|Cyfra+ (Poland)||Channel 146|
|NTV Plus (Russia)|
|Freesat (UK)||Channel 206 (SD/HD)|
|Sky (UK)||Channel 512 (SD/HD)
Channel 518 (SD)
|Sky (New Zealand)||Channel 096|
|Dish Network (USA)||Channel 280|
|Reliance Digital TV (India)||Channel 461|
|Rogers Cable (Canada)||Channel 177|
|Shaw Exo TV (Canada)||Channel 505|
|Destiny Cable (Philippines)||Channel 86|
|StarHub TV (Singapore)||Channel 151|
|SkyCable Platinum (Philippines)||Channel 156 (Digital Platform)|
|UPC Netherlands||Channel 409|
|Cablelink (Philippines)||Channel TBA|
|Bell Fibe TV (Canada)||Channel 517|
|Optik TV (Canada)||Channel 573|
|Hypp.TV (Malaysia)||Channel 2008|
|Mio TV (Singapore)||Channel 163|
|TPG Telecom (Australia)||Channel unallocated|
|PTCL Smart TV (Pakistan)||Channel 99|
|Live Webcast||Watch (Free, available in English)|
|Livestation||Watch (Free, 502 Kbit/s, available in English)|
RT, also known as Russia Today, is an international multilingual Russian-based television network. It is registered as an autonomous non-profit organization23 funded by the federal budget of Russia through the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation.45
RT presents round-the-clock news bulletins, documentaries, talk shows, and debates, as well as sports news and cultural programs on Russia aimed at the overseas news market.6 RT has had some notable guests including heads of state Vladimir Putin,7 Nouri Al-Maliki,8 Rafael Correa9 and Bashar al-Assad.10
RT broadcasts through 30 satellite and 500 cable operators to 550 million people in over 100 countries. It has more than 2 million viewers in the United Kingdom6 and has rivaled Al Jazeera as the most popular English-speaking foreign channel in Britain.11 RT America states it is available to 85 million people in the United States.12 In 2011 it was the second most-watched foreign news channel in the U.S. after BBC World News.13 In 2012 it was the number one foreign station in five U.S. urban areas.14
The creation of Russia Today was a part of larger effort by the Kremlin intended to improve the image of Russia abroad.15 RT was conceived by former media minister Mikhail Lesin,16 and Vladimir Putin’s press spokesperson Aleksei Gromov17 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."16
In 2005 RIA Novosti helped establish "ANO TV-Novosti", (Autonomous Non-profit Organization TV-News) - The parent organization of RT TV. ANO TV-Novosti General director (CEO) position was filled by Mr. Sergey Frolov18 Frolov described: "A main problem in the beginning was that in our country we've never broadcasted 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."19
RT started broadcasting as "Russia Today" on 10 December 2005, initially with 300 journalists, including approximately 70 from outside Russia.15 Russia Today’s editor-in-chief position was filled by Margarita Simonyan who recruited foreign journalists as presenters and consultants.16 She said the channel’s intent was to have a "professional format" like the BBC, CNN and Euronews that would "reflect Russia's opinion of the world" and present a "more balanced picture" of Russia.20
Simonyan was a reportedly well-connected former Kremlin pool reporter, only 25 years old, who had been working 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, thus the youth of most of the staffers.21 Journalist Danny Schechter, who has been a guest on RT,22 has stated that having been part of the start-up team for CNN, he saw RT as another “channel of young people who are inexperienced, but very enthusiastic about what they are doing."23 Shortly after the channel was launched, James Painter wrote that Russia Today and similar stations like 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 BBC24
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 2011.25
In August 2007, RT had television's first ever live report from the North Pole, which lasted 5 minutes, 41 seconds. An RT crew participated in the Arktika 2007 Russian polar expedition, led by Artur Chilingarov on the Akademik Fyodorov icebreaker.2627 In December 2007 the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration broadcast RT's televised Moscow and Saint Petersburg celebrations.27
RT drew particular world attention for its coverage of the 2008 South Ossetia war.272829 RT portrayed the small country of Georgia as the aggressor29 against the separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia which were protected by Russian troops.30 RT was the only source of information in the West about the Russian position. RT saw this as the incident which showcased its news abilities to the world.31 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."28
In 2009 Russia Today rebranded itself to the more neutral "RT."32 Margarita Simonyan denied it was an attempt to hide its Russian origins, saying the corporate logo was changed to attract more viewers and commenting "Who is interested in watching news from Russia all day long?”25
The early 2010 “Question More” advertising campaign created for RT in Britain by McCann Erickson was highly controversial.33 One advertisement showed American President Barack Obama “morphing” into Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and asked: "Who poses the greatest nuclear threat?" The ad was banned in American airports. Another shows a Western soldier "merging" into a Taliban fighter and asks: "Is terror only inflicted by terrorists?"34 One of RT’s 2010 billboard advertisements won the British Awards for National Newspaper Advertising “Ad of the Month.”35
Russia Today is one of several international channels which have challenged the United States media which previously dominated global news coverage.36 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 for 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.37 In 2011 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the United States was “losing the information war” abroad to foreign channels like Russia Today, Al Jazeera, and China Central Television38 and that they are supplanting the Voice of America.3940
In early 2012 Shortly after his appointment as the United States Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul challenged Margarita Simonyan41 over Twitter in regards to allegations from RT42 that he sent Alexei Navalny to study at Yale.4142 RT discovered McFaul was referring to a comment in an article by political scientist Igor Panarin which RT had specified were the views of the author.4344 Ambassador 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.45
On April 17, 2012 RT began to broadcast the World Tomorrow, a news interview program hosted by Julian Assange. The first guest was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.47 The interview made global headlines because Nasrallah rarely gives interviews to western media.48 Commentators described this as a "coup"4950 or a "scoop".5152 WikiLeaks described the show as "a series of in-depth conversations with key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries from around the world."53 It says that the show is "independently produced and Assange has control”; WikiLeaks offers a “Broadcasters license, only”.32 Anticipating criticism such as "There's Julian Assange, enemy combatant, traitor, getting into bed with the Kremlin and interviewing terrible radicals from around the world," Assange said that RT would allow his guests to say things they "could not say on a mainstream TV network."54 Assange admitted that if Wikileaks had published Russian data, his relationship with RT might not have been so comfortable.48
In August 2012 RT suffered a denial of service attack for several days by a group calling itself “Antileaks.” It was speculated that the group was protesting Julian Assange and/or Russia’s jailing of members of the Pussy Riot group.55
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 the United States President.5657 On November 5, RT broadcast the two candidates 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, DC studio.58
In November 2012 Israeli Defense Force bombs severely damaged the RT office 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 Hamas-affiliated television station.59
State-owned Ria Novosti news agency, which founded RT in 2005, is one of the largest in Russia. Its Chair is Svetlana Mironyuk who has modernised the agency since her appointment in 2003.60 RIA Novosti has stated it helped establish RT but is "neither a sponsor nor a backer of Russia Today."25 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".61
In 2007 RT offices were established in the same building as RIA-Novosti after the Russian Union of Journalists was forced to vacate them.62 In 2012 Anna Kachkayeva, Dean of Media Communications at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, stated that they “share the same roof” because they 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."63
In June 2011 RT responded to the criticisms it is "state-run" by noting the official mission statements and funding of other well-known "state-run" television networks like the British Broadcasting Corporation ("BBC"), France 24, Germany's Deutsche Welle and the United States's Corporation for Public Broadcasting.64 Margarita Simonyan told a reporter that the Kremlin would not dictate content and "Censorship by government in this country is prohibited by the constitution." She explained her job was "to bring the western image of Russia closer to what Russia really is."65
In 2012 when foreign media were commenting on RT sponsoring the Julian Assange programme, RIA Novosti asserted that "It is the co-founder of the Autonomous Non-Profit Organisation (ANO) TV Novosti, launched in December 2005 as Russia Today (RT). Under Russian law, as an autonomous non-profit organisation, RT is fully independent of its founders. Its top management body is the Supervisory Council (Board of Directors). RIA Novosti does not have any representatives on the RT Supervisory Council or any other RT management bodies, and hence does not influence the network’s editorial policy, or its financial and economic operation, directly or indirectly".63
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, News.com.au and WhatReallyHappened.com.66
RT cost $30 million to establish in 200565 and $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.24 Its budget in dollars was approximately $80 million in 2007, $120 million in 2008, $380 million in 2011 and $300 million in 2012.676869 Putin has prohibited funding for Russia Today from being reduced as of October 30, 2012.70
RT broadcast through 30 satellite and 500 cable operators to 550 million people in over 100 countries, 25 percent of all cable subscribers worldwide. In addition to its English-language broadcast, RT also runs Rusiya Al-Yaum, an Arabic language channel, and Actualidad RT, a Spanish-language channel, as well as a documentary channel, RTDoc. RT has 21 bureaus in 16 countries, including Washington, D.C., New York, London, Paris, Delhi, Cairo, Baghdad, Kiev. It employs over 2,000 media professionals worldwide.6
RT consists of its main RT International English language channel, RT America, RT Arabic, Actualidad RT in Spanish, and RT Documentary.
|RT International||The flagship news channel of the RT network, it covers international and regional headlines from a Russian perspective. Based in Moscow with a presence in Washington, New York, London, Paris, Delhi, Cairo, Baghdad, Kiev and other cities.6||English||2005||rt.com|
|Rusiya Al-Yaum||Based in Moscow and broadcast 24/7. Programmes include news, feature programming and documentaries.||Arabic||2007||arabic.rt.com|
|RT Actualidad||Based in Moscow with bureaus in Miami, Los Angeles, Havana and Buenos Aires. Covers headline news, politics, sports, and broadcast specials.71||Spanish||2009||actualidad.rt.com|
|RT America||It focuses on covering the Americas from an international and Russian perspective. Based in RT's Washington, D.C. Bureau.||English||2010||rt.com/usa|
|RT Documentary||24-hour documentary channel. The bulk of its programming is RT-produced documentaries related to Russia.72||English||2011||rtd.rt.com|
The RT website offers a live stream available online to computer or mobile devices. It provides many of its news casts and featured shows via YouTube. RT is transmitted on 22 satellites, covering much of Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and Australasia on a variety of carriers listed at its website.73 In September 2012 RT signed a contract with the Israeli company RRSat to distribute high definition channels to the United States, Latin America and Asia.74
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, News.com.au and WhatReallyHappened.com.66 In October 2012 RT's Rusiya Al-Yaum and Russia Today joined the High Definition network Al Yah Satellite Communications (“YahLive’).75
RT International English language channel and RT America have similar programming with the latter covering more news from the United States. 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.67 RT anchors and correspondents tend to concentrate on controversial world issues such as the financial instability and fiscal crises, financial and banking scandals, corporate impact on the global economy, and demonstrations of protesters. 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.2167
RT’s current feature programs include (with presenters parenthesised):76
- Breaking the set (Abby Martin);77
- CrossTalk and On the Money78 (Peter Lavelle);
- Interview with Sophie (Sophie Shevardnadze);79
- Keiser Report (Max Keiser with Stacy Herbert);80
- Prime Time Russia News;81
- Spotlightdisambiguation needed (Al Gurnov);82
- Technology Update (Brandon Rice);83
- The Big Picturedisambiguation needed (Thom Hartmann);84
- The Truth Seeker85 (Daniel Bushell)86
- Why You Should Care87 (Tim Kirby)88
RT's current listing of “On Air Talent” includes:76
News anchors: Bill Dod, Marina Dzhashi, Andrew Farmer, Kristine Frazao (Washington, DC), Cary Johnston, Abby Martin (Washington DC), Dmitry Medvedenko (Business), Thabang Motsei, Anissa Naouai, Kevin Owen, Yulia Shapovalova, Rory Suchet, Sean Thomas, Matt Trezza, Liz Wahl (Washington DC)
Correspondents: Tesa Arcilla, Tom Barton, Denis Bolotsky, Oksana Boyko, Anastasia Churkina, Gayane Chichakyan, Anya Fedorova (Prime Time), Maria Finoshina, Sara Firth, Lindsay France, Ramon Galindo (Los Angeles), Irina Galushko, Lori Harfenist (New York), Meghan Lopez,8990 Natalia Novikova, Pete Oliver, Darya Pushkova, Egor Piskunov, Marina Portnaya (New York), Paula Slier (Middle East), Laura Smith (London), Priya Sridhar (South Asia), Natalia Shanetskaya
Business presenters: Katie Pilbeam, Madina Kochenova
Sport presenters: Kate Partridge, Michael Kravchenko, Richard Van Poortvliet,
Notable past presenters:Adam Kokesh (Adam vs. the Man), Neave Barker, Jason de la Pêna, Alyona Minkovski (The Alyona Show), Maryam Nemazee, Karen Roberts, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Cenk Uygur, Lauren Lyster (Capital Account)
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 liberal and libertarian academics, intellectuals and writers from organisations like The Nation, Reason magazine, Human Events, Center for American Progress91 and the Cato Institute29 who are critical of United States foreign and civil liberties policies.91 RT also features little known commentators, including anarchists, anti-globalists and left-wing activists.67 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.”23
Notable guests have included: politicians such as Nigel Farage, Nick Griffin and Jeremy Corbyn (United Kingdom), Marine Le Pen (France), Avraham Burg (Israel), Henry Kissinger, Dana Rohrabacher, Lawrence Wilkerson and Alan K. Simpson (United States);,92 think tank intellectuals like Jared Bernstein,29 John Feffer and Lawrence Korb; journalists and writers Jacob Sullum, Pepe Escobar,91 Brian Doherty,9 Chris Hedges and Naomi Wolf; current and former professors Craig Calhoun and Norman Finkelstein; and assorted guests like former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak.93discuss
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..."94 In 2012 Tracy Quan wrote that RT is "a far more interesting network than some care to admit."9 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."51
The Alyona Show starring Alyona Minkovski ran from 2009 to 2012 until Minkovski joined the Huffington Post. Tracy Quan in The Daily Beast described The Alyona Show as "one of RT's most popular vehicles".95 Jesse Zwick in The New Republic wrote that one journalist told him Minkovski is "probably the best interviewer on cable news."91 Benjamin R. Freed wrote in the avant-garde culture magazein SOMA that "The Alyona Show does political talk with razor-sharp wit."96 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".29 Minkovski has complained about being characterized as if she was "Putin’s girl in Washington" or as being "anti-American".96 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." Julia Ioffe in the Columbia Journalism Review asked "Since when does Russia Today defend the policies of any American president? Or the informational needs of the American public, for that matter?"31
From April to August 2011 RT ran a half-hour primetime show "Adam vs. the Man" 9798 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."29 Accuracy in Media criticized Kokesh's appearing on RT, writing RT uses Americans like Kokesh to make propaganda points.99 In a June show Kokesh endorsed support and fundraising for Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign, 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.98
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 like why Nasrallah had not supported Arab revolts against Syrian leaders, when he had supported them in Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, and other countries.48 Allesandra Stanley in the New York Times 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."47 Douglas Lucas in Salon wrote that the RT deal "may just be a profitable way for him to get a gigantic retweet."32 Glenn Greenwald, who has been a guest on RT,100 wrote that RT presenting the Julian Assange show led to "a predictable wave of snide, smug attacks from American media figures".52 Mark Adomanis rebuts some of the "fevered denunciations" against RT and Julian Assange in an article in Forbes.51 A Moscow Times writer noted that RT has received "considerable" criticism in general.27
After the 2005 announcement the station would be launched, the U.S. government-owned Voice of America (VOA)101 interviewed Anton Nosik, chief editor of MosNews.com, who said the creation of Russia Today "smacks of Soviet-style propaganda campaigns."102 A representative of Reporters Without Borders called the newly announced network “another step of the state to control information.”103 In 2009 Luke Harding in The Guardian described Russia Today's advertising campaign in the United Kingdom as an "ambitious attempt to create a new post-Soviet global propaganda empire."33
In 2010 The Independent reported that RT journalists had revealed that coverage of sensitive issues in Russia is allowed, but direct criticism of Vladimir Putin or then President Dmitry Medvedev is not.23 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".104 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.”21
Russians also have been critical of RT. Former KGB officer Konstantin Preobrazhensky criticized RT as "a part of the Russian industry of misinformation and manipulation".105 Andrey Illarionov, former advisor to Vladimir Putin, has labeled the channel as "the best Russian propaganda machine targeted at the outside world. On the other hand, prominent Russian officials such as Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov are strong advocates of RT."67
James Kirchick in The New Republic accused the network of "often virulent anti-Americanism, worshipful portrayal of Russian leaders."106 Ed Lucas wrote in Al Jazeera that the core of RT was "anti-Westernism."107 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."31 Shaun Walker wrote in The Independent that RT "has made a name for itself as a strident critic of US policy."108 Allesandra Stanley in The New York Times wrote that RT is "like the Voice of America, only with more money and a zesty anti-American slant."47 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."29
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.” Thus 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."91
John Feffer, codirector 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."91 American journalist Glenn Greenwald listed the corporate and government owners of prominent western media like NBC, BBC, Voice of America, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Politico and The Washington Post and asked why it was "an intrinsic violation of journalistic integrity to work for a media outlet owned by the Russian government." He also wrote that the real cause of American media hostility toward RT is that "the reporting it does reflects poorly on the U.S. Government, the ultimate sin in the eyes of our 'adversarial' press corps."52
ANO TV-Novosti (RT's parent organization) General director (CEO) Sergey Frolov has stated "Our responsibility is not to be someone's lawyer or prosecutor. It is too stupid to hold information, because then you have to repeat it from others. We do our best to respond swiftly and impartially. Present the facts and not speculate or theorize. Actually, the problem is very simple: If we start to filter news or silent something - people will switch to CNN or BBC."19
In 2010 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 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..."31 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.”109 A 2010 Southern Poverty Law Center report alleged that RT extensively covered the "birther" and the "New World Order" conspiracy theories and interviewed militia organizer Jim Stachowiak and white nationalist Jared Taylor.110 An Al Jazeera article stated that RT has a penchant "for off-beat stories and conspiracy theories."107
Margarita Simonyan has said that "we don't give airtime to public figures who you call extremist any more than CNN and other channels give airtime to people who many in Russia consider extremists".110 She also criticized Western media reports blaming Vladimir Putin for the 1999 apartment bombings in Russia that killed 293 people.112 She told Nikolaus von Twickel of the Moscow Times that RT started to grow once it became provocative and that controversy was vital to the station. She said that RT's task was not to polish Moscow's reputation.25
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.”113 Human Rights Watch said that the RT claim of 2,000 South Ossetian casualties was exaggerated.114115 The Moscow correspondent for The Independent said that Russia Today's had "instructed reporters not to report from Georgian villages within South Ossetia that had been ethnically cleansed."116 Julia Ioffe wrote that an RT journalist whose reporting deviated from "the Kremlin line that Georgians were slaughtering unarmed Ossetians" was reprimanded.31
According to Variety magazine, sources at RT confirmed that correspondent William Dunbar had resigned but rejected allegations of bias. One senior RT journalist told Variety “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.”117
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. One stated that Libyan rebels had little popular support and another criticized Western media as lying about the NATO operations. It held that Broadcasters should note that "when items in their news programmes criticise the policies and actions of individuals, organisations, governments or states, they must not only be presented with due impartiality but also reported with due accuracy."118
According to The Independent, RT covered all the protests that started in December 2011 and lead up to the March 2012 Russian presidential election. However, Margarita Simonyan “tweeted” that protesters should “burn in hell” and RT accused opposition leader Alexei Navalny of having strong and even bigoted Russian nationalist views.119120
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.”121 RT blamed the clashes on “a number of radical protesters.”122 Alexei Navalny, who exposed massive corruption and theft in Kremlin-connected companies, frequently has been covered in a negative fashion on RT,108 including coverage of the search of his home and office during an investigation of the May clashes.123 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.”7
In 2012 Jesse Zwick in The New Republic criticized RT, alleging 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.”91
- September 2006 – The 10th "Golden Tambourine" International Festival for Television programs and films124 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 Festival125 awarded its Grand Prix to RT's Meeting with Nature series.
- September 2007 – Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio126 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 Awards127
- 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 Awards128
- September 2008 – Russia's most prestigious broadcasting award TEFI to Kevin Owen in Best News Anchor category129
- November 2008 – Special Jury Award in the Best Creative Feature category for a Russian Glamour feature story at Media Excellence Awards in London6
- January 2009 – Silver World Medal from the New York Festivals, for Best News Documentary “A city of desolate mothers” 130
- August 2010 – First nomination for an International Emmy Award in News category for its coverage of president Barack Obama's trip to Russia.131
- November 2011 – Martyn Andrews and the weekly "Moscow Out" arts and entertainment show awarded the "ShereMedia Award" for Best Lifestyle Program132
- August 2012 – Second nomination for an International Emmy Award for its coverage of the international Occupy Wall Street movement.133
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Russia Today|
- RT Contact page, RT.com, accessed May 6, 2013.
- English translation of Russian article, infox.ru, Jan 23, 2009.
- RT corporate profile at Rt.com, accessed September 20, 2012.
- Fred Weir, For first interview of new term, Putin puts priority on foreign audience, The Christian Science Monitor, September 7, 2012.
- Nouri Al-Maliki interview on RT website.
- Tracy Quan (2012-07-03). "I Love the Julian Assange Show!". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- Syria's Assad denies civil war, blames the West, Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2012.
- RT Leads Al Jazeera in UK’s Barb Ratings, RT.com press release, July 16, 2012 cites June, 2012 figures from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board which were higher than Al Jazeera's, though those figures may change over time.
- Alexander Yakovenko, Russian digital diplomacy: clicking through, Russia Beyond the Headlines, September 7, 2012 stated that RT is "the third most popular TV news outlet in the UK after BBC and Sky."
- Fred Weir, Russia gives WikiLeaks' Julian Assange a TV platform, The Christian Science Monitor, January 25, 2012.
- Foreign News Channels Drawing U.S. Viewers – IPS. Ipsnews.net. Retrieved on 2011-12-07.
- ‘Russia Today’ Doubles its U.S. Audience, Russia Briefing News, June 7, 2012.
- Julian Evans, Spinning Russia, Foreign Policy, December 1, 2005.
- Andrew Osborn, Russia's 'CNN' wants to tell it like it is, The Age, August 16, 2005.
- "Russia: New International Channel Ready To Begin Broadcasting". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2005-12-09.
- English translation of Russian article, Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, Aug 29, 2007.
- English translation of Russian Interview, broadcasting.ru, Dec 15, 2006.
- RIA Novosti launches a TV channel, Russia Today, RIA Novosti, June 7, 2005.
- Stephen Heyman, A Voice of Mother Russia, in English, The New York Times, 18 May 2008. Author estimates $100 million had been spent on the station as of May, 2008.
- Danny Schechter interview on RT website.
- Shaun Walker, Russia Today, Tomorrow the World, The Independent, 20 September 2010, at Highbeam.
- James Painter, The boom in counter-hegemonic news channels: a case study of TeleSUR, (undated, circa 2006), Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.
- Nikolaus von Twickel, Russia Today courts viewers with controversy, The Moscow Times, March 23, 2010.
- Russia Landmark Events of 2007, RT.com page.
- Zagorodnov, Artem (September 25, 2008). "Today's woman who needs to be heard". The Moscow Times.
- Rowland, Kara (Monday, October 27, 2008). "Russia Today: Youth served". The Washington Times.
- David Weigel, Pravda Will Set You Free; Russia's answer to Fox News and MSNBC., Slate, June 27, 2011.
- Charles King, Clarity in the Caucasus?, Foreign Affairs, October 11, 2009.
- Julia Ioffe,What Is Russia Today?, Columbia Journalism Review, September/October 2010.
- Douglas Lucas, Julian Assange prepares his next move, Salon, February 23, 2012.
- Luke Harding (18-12-09). "Russia Today launches first UK ad blitz". The Guardian (London).
- Ian Burrell, From Russia with news, The Independent, January 16, 2010, from Highbeam.
- RT's Advertising Declared Ad of the Month in UK, RT.com website, March 5, 2010.
- Lawrence Pintak, America's media bubble, Boston Globe, November 19, 2006.
- Josh Rogin, New BBG chief wants more money to combat “enemies” such as China and Russia, Foreign Policy, October 5, 2010.
- Kirit Radia, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton: Al Jazeera is ‘Real News’, U.S. Losing ‘Information War’, ABC, Mar 2, 2011.
- Andy McSmith, Village People, The Independent, March 5, 2011 at Questia.com.
- Ishaan Tharoor, Clinton Applauds Al Jazeera, Rolls Eyes at U.S. Media, Time, March 3, 2011.
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- and the Moscow opposition rallies, RT.com, February 7, 2012.
- New US Ambassador to Russia starts with lies, Pravda, February 2, 2012.
- US ambassador says seeks reset, not revolution in Russia, RT.com website, 25 January 2012.
- 'US not funding Putin's presidential campaign', RT interview with Ambassador Michael McFaul.
- Jennifer Martinez, Pew: Russia Today, The Hill, July 16, 2012; quote: "Russia Today, a news network backed by the Russian government, was the top source for the most viewed news videos on the online video platform. Video clips produced by the young news network accounted for 22 of the nearly 260 news videos tracked in the study."
- Alessandra Stanley, The Prisoner as Talk Show Host; Julian Assange Starts Talk Show on Russian TV, The New York Times, April 17, 2012.
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- Assange chats with terrorist, Agence France-Presse, April 18, 2012.
- Mark Adomanis, Julian Assange's Debut on Russia Today - The Serious People Say it Was Really Bad!, Forbes, April 18, 2012.
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- "New Assange TV Series". wikileaks.org. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
- Raphael Satter, Assange interviews Hezbollah leader in TV premiere, Associated Press via Denver Post, April 17, 2012.
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- RT hosts third party debate #2: Tackling the issues the mainstream ignores, RT.com story and video of debate, November 6, 2012.
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- Russia Today TV to make unique contribution to global information - German expert, Ria Novosti, June 7, 2005.
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- RIA Novosti Does Not Control RT Television – Russian Media Experts, RIA Novosti, February 6, 2012.
- "Is RT state-run?". RT.com. 16 June 2011.
- Beth Knobel "Russian News, English Accent: New Kremlin Show Spins Russia Westward", CBS News, 12 December 2005
- See RT “About” page and RT “Partners” page.
- Marcin Maczka, The Propaganda Machine, New Eastern Europe website, July 9, 2012, originally published in New Eastern Europe: New Europe, Old Problems No. 3 (IV), 2012.
- Stephen Heyman, "A Voice of Mother Russia, in English", New York Times writer estimates $100 million had been spent on the station as of May, 2008.
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- Actualidad QUIÉNES SOMOS (Spanish) RT
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- Spotlight page at RT.com.
- Technology Update page at RT.com.
- The Big Picture page at RT.com.
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- See RT.com interviews at the RT Youtube page: Nigel Farage, Jeremy Corbyn, Marine Le Pen, Avraham Burg,Lawrence Wilkerson, Henry Kissinger, Jesse Ventura, David Stockman, Dana Rohrabacher, Alan Simpson
- See RT.com interviews at the RT youtube page: Chris Hedges, Naomi Wolf, Craig Calhoun, Norman Finkelstein, Jack Abramoff, Steve Wozniak.
- Heidi Brown, Springtime (For Putin) In Russia, Forbes, February 27, 2008.
- Tracy Quan (2012-07-03). "I Love the Julian Assange Show!". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
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- Glenn Greenwald interview on RT website.
- History of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the “the independent entity responsible for all U.S. Government and government-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting.”
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- Reporters Without Borders Don’t Fancy Russia Today Kommersant 21 October 2005
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- R.C. Campausen, KGB TV to Air Show Hosted by Anti-war Marine Vet, Accuracy in Media, January 10, 2011, Accessed 05-04-11.
- Kirchick, James (02-18-09). "Pravda on the Potomac (page 2)". The New Republic.
- Sousa, Ann De (26 Jan 2012). "News channel or propaganda tool?". Al-Jazeera.
- Walker, Shaun (January 26, 2012). "Assange takes chat-show job with state-funded Russian TV". The Independent.
- Airwaves wobbly, The Economist, July 6, 2010
- Sonia Scherr Russian TV Channel Pushes 'Patriot' Conspiracy Theories, Intelligence Report, #139, Fall 2010, Southern Poverty Law Center
- Ron Paul interview on RT, May 5, 2011.
- Robert Mackey, Assange TV, Presented by the Kremlin, The New York Times, April 13, 2012.
- William Dunbar, William Dunbar: They forced me out for telling the truth about Georgia, The Independent, September 20, 2010.
- Death toll in South Ossetia reaches 2,000 Russia Today 10 August 2008
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- Nick Holdsworth, Russia claims media bias; Foreign minister blasts coverage of conflict, Variety, August 12, 2008.
- Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, 10 September 2012, pp 19-35
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- Frozen fury, Gulf Daily News, February 05, 2012; note “Frozen fury” also was RT’s name for a story about a February 2012 protest.
- Barry and Schwirtz, Ellen and Michael (May 6, 2012). "Arrests and Violence at Overflowing Rally in Moscow". NYT.
- Putin reloaded or Putin reformed?, RT.com, 07 May, 2012; edited: 07 May, 2012.
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- А ТЭФИ здесь тихие
- 2009 Television Programming and Promotion Awards
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- Шереметьево “поймал” акул пера за публикации
- Announcement of 2012 International Emmys, International Emmy Award website.
- RT website
- RT's channel on YouTube
- RT (TV network) on Google+
- @RT_com on Twitter
- RT on Facebook
- RT Live Flash stream
- RT Online live streaming - Russia Today