RT America
RT Deutsch (formerly) | |
History | |
---|---|
Launched | February 2010citation needed] | [
Closed | March 3, 2022 |
RT America was a U.S.-based news channel headquartered in Washington, D.C. Owned by TV Novosti and operated by production company T&R Productions,[1] it was a part of the RT network, a global multilingual television news network based in Moscow and funded by the Russian government.[2][3][4] The channel said it reached an audience of 85 million people in the United States, but this figure is disputed.[5] It was distributed through select cable providers, over-the-top services, a live stream through its website, and three low-power digital subchannels.[6] Since the channel's closure, viewers who tune into the cable channel or their live stream are being shown a live feed of an RT International broadcast instead.[7]
Among the channel's shows at its closure were .
Incidents centered upon RT America include Breaking the Set host Abby Martin's 2014 statement of her opposition to Russia's intervention in Ukraine,[8] which was followed the next day by anchor Liz Wahl's on-the-air resignation, which she issued on account of her belief that RT was a propaganda machine for President Vladimir Putin.[9] In 2017, David Z. Morris wrote in Fortune that, "according to a[n unnamed] social network analyst interviewed by The [New York] Times, RT is not simply a platform for a right-wing agenda. Rather, it fuels fringe viewpoints across the political spectrum, providing grist for libertarian, far-left, and anti-globalization factions as well."[10] James Kirchick wrote in The Washington Post that the channel was "not a 'news service' in any meaningful sense of the term".[11]
After losing the majority of its cable and satellite coverage following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the channel ceased operations of all live programming on March 3, 2022, with T&R Productions indicating the layoffs of all off- and on-air staff would be permanent.[12]
History
The channel was launched in the United States in February 2010[
In October 2017, after the United States Department of Justice insisted that RT America register as a "foreign agent" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the Russian Justice Ministry declared "foreign agents" several U.S.-government funded media outlets, including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.[14][15] RT America's editor in chief, Margarita Simonyan, said that it would comply with the demand in order to avoid further legal action by the U.S. government,[16] but blasted the move noting that registration also resulted in the TV channel losing its Congressional press credentials,[17] and undermined assertions by the U.S. Department of Justice that FARA registration would not have any effect on the channel's ability to operate in the United States.[15]
Termination
The network was removed from the services offered by
After losing the majority of its cable and satellite coverage, the channel ceased operations of all live programming on March 3, 2022, with T&R Productions indicating the layoffs of all off- and on-air staff would be permanent.[7]
Views and opinions
A 2017 report by the United States Intelligence Community characterized RT as "the Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet" and said that RT America had been set up as an autonomous nonprofit organization to avoid FARA's registration requirement.[20][21]
According to David Z. Morris, writing in
In their investigation of alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. 2016 elections, the U.S. intelligence services stated that they had "high confidence" that RT was involved in a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin. The New York Times reported their findings in 2017 indicating that "the attack was carried out through the targeted use of real information, some open and some hacked, and the creation of false reports, or 'fake news,' broadcast on state-funded news media like RT and its sibling."[23]
James Kirchick wrote in The Washington Post in September 2017 that "RT is not a 'news service' in any meaningful sense of the term. Reputable news services don't employ Illuminati correspondents. RT has no regard whatsoever for basic journalistic values like objectivity or the pursuit of truth."[11] Kirchick was a guest in August 2013 to talk about Chelsea Manning, and used the opportunity to "speak out against the horrific anti-gay legislation" which had recently been approved by President Putin. The clip went viral on social media.[24]
William Broad of The New York Times wrote about the network's coverage of 5G, the mobile phone technology. Broad said the network aired seven programs in 2019 on the subject up to mid-April that year. One of these, entitled A Dangerous 'Experiment on Humanity', Broad commented, linked 5G "signals to brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors and Alzheimer's disease — claims that lack scientific support".[25] According to Broad, the channel focused on Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, a 2016 film by the British anti-vaccine campaigner Andrew Wakefield, to echo the charge by an unnamed black minister in Los Angeles who was seen in a video addressing an audience and, according to Broad, saying that "childhood immunizations had caused autism in 200,000 black children."[26] Domestically, in Russia itself, President Putin is a firm advocate of vaccinations.[27]
An
Former programming
- CrossTalk (2009–2022)
- Keiser Report (2009–2022)
- The Alyona Show (2009–2012)
- The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann (2010–2017)
- Larry King Now (2012–2020) (produced by Ora TV)
- Breaking the Set(2012–2015)
- Politicking with Larry King (2013–2020) (produced by Ora TV)
- Worlds Apart (2013–2022)
- Boom Bust with Bart Chilton (2013–2022)
- Going Underground with Afshin Rattansi (2013–2022)
- Redacted Tonight(2014–2022)
- America's Lawyer with Mike Papantonio (2016–2022)
- On Contact with Chris Hedges (2016–2022)
- News with Ed Schultz (2016–2018)
- The Alex Salmond Show (2017–2022)
- Dennis Miller + One (2020–2022)
Former personalities
- Rick Sanchez Misha Solodovnikov Producer (2018–2022)
- Christy Ai (2019–2022)
- Chris Hedges Mikhail Johnson- Producer/editor (2016–2022)
- Max Keiser (2009–2022)
- Peter Lavelle (2009–2022)
- Stacy Herbert(2009–2022)
- Afshin Rattansi (2013–2022)
- Jesse Ventura (2015–2022)
- Sean Stone (2015–2022)
- Lee Camp (2014–2022)
- Mike Papantonio (2016–2022)[29]
- Alex Salmond (2017–2022)
- Scottie Nell Hughes (2018–2022)
- Dennis Miller (2020–2022)
- Steve Malzberg (2020–2022)
- Ben Swann (2014–2015 and 2018–2022)
- Alyona Minkovski (2010–2012)
- Lauren Lyster (2010–2013)
- Larry King (2013–2020)
- Sophie Shevardnadze (2013–2022)
- Adam Kokesh (2011)
- Liz Wahl (2011–2014)
- Abby Martin (2012–2015)
- Ed Schultz (2016–2018)[30]
- Thom Hartmann (2010–2017)
Incidents
Abby Martin statement
On March 4, 2014, Breaking the Set host
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".[33]
Liz Wahl resignation
The day after Martin's statement, RT America anchor Liz Wahl resigned on air, which she said was due to her belief that RT was a propaganda machine for President Vladimir Putin.[34] She stated:[35][9]
I cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin. I am proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth. And that is why, after this newscast, I am resigning.[9]
Wahl said that what "broke" her was that RT censored a question from her interview with Ron Paul about "Russia's intervention in Ukraine".[citation needed]
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".[36]
In a March 2014 Politico article, Wahl expanded on her resignation statement, saying, "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."[9]
When asked by Brian Stelter, host of CNN's Reliable Sources, about a clip of her interviewing a guest on RT, Wahl responded,
They get these extreme voices on that have this kind of hostile toward the West viewpoints towards the world, very extremist. These are the people that they have on. And when I was on the anchor desk, they would instruct you to egg on these guests and try to get them, you know, rallied up, to really fire off their anti-American talking points. Listen, I'm all about exposing government corruption. I'm all about being critical of the government. But this is different. This is promoting the foreign policy of somebody that has just invaded a country, has invaded the country and is then lying about it, is using the media as a tool to fulfill his foreign policy interests. And RT is part of Putin's propaganda network and it's very, very troubling in the wake of what is going on in Ukraine today.[37]
C-SPAN interruption
On January 12, 2017, during a live
RT stated that while it was testing its systems in preparation for the inauguration of Donald Trump, its signal was "mistakenly routed onto the primary encoder feeding C-SPAN 1's signal to the internet, rather than to an unused backup."[39]
See also
- Sputnik (news agency), RT's sister service which provides radio and web content
- United States cable news
- Voice of America, U.S. federal government's global service
- List of United States over-the-air television networks
- List of United States cable and satellite television networks
Notes
- 2014 Crimean crisis
References
- ^ Kang, Cecelia (March 12, 2022). "What It Was Like to Work for Russian State Television". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ "Question That: RT's Military Mission: Assessing Russia Today's role as an "information weapon"". Atlantic Council, Digital Forensic Research Lab. January 7, 2018 – via Medium.
- ^ Julia Ioffe (September–October 2010). "What Is Russia Today? The Kremlin's propaganda outlet has an identity crisis". Columbia Journalism Review.
- ^ Fisher, Max (June 13, 2013). "In case you weren't clear on Russia Today's relationship to Moscow, Putin clears it up". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
- ^ Erickson, Amanda (January 12, 2017). "If Russia Today is Moscow's propaganda arm, it's not very good at its job". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ List of RT affiliates from rabbitears.info, retrieved January 23, 2022
- ^ a b Barr, Jeremy (March 3, 2022). "RT America goes off the air amid backlash to Kremlin-funded media". Washington Post. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ a b Greg Botelho (March 5, 2014). "State-funded news anchor Abby Martin: 'What Russia did is wrong'". CNN.
- ^ a b c d Wahl, Liz (March 21, 2014). "I Was Putin's Pawn". Politico. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Morris, David Z. (September 17, 2017). "Inside RT, Russia's Kremlin-Controlled Propaganda Network". Fortune.
- ^ a b Kirchick, James (September 20, 2017). "RT wants to spread Moscow's propaganda here. Let's treat it that way". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- ^ Darcy, Oliver (March 3, 2022). "RT America ceases productions and lays off most of its staff". CNN. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ Nikolaus von Twickel, "Russia Today courts viewers with controversy", The Moscow Times, March 23, 2010.
- ^ Life as a 'foreign agent': Inside Russia's crackdown on free speech: Instead of overt brutality, the latest campaign is being waged quietly with a vague legal tool: a law regulating the activities of so-called foreign agents. Matthew Bodner. NBC News. 17 October 2021. Accessed 19 February 2022. Archived.
- ^ a b U.S. Congressional Press Office Strips RT Of Credentials. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 30 November 2017. Accessed 19 February 2022. Archived.
- ^ Stubbs, Jack; Gibson, Ginger (November 13, 2017). "Russia's RT America registers as 'foreign agent' in U.S." Reuters.
- ^ Gold, Hadas. "Congressional press office yanks RT's credentials". CNNMoney. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ Johnson, Ted (March 1, 2022). "DirecTV Drops RT America In Wake Of Russian Invasion Of Ukraine; Ora Media Pauses Production On Dennis Miller, William Shatner Shows". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Group. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ Nickinson, Phil (March 4, 2022). "Dish and Sling TV Also Drop Russia Today Channel". Digitialtrends. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections" (PDF). United States Intelligence Community. January 6, 2017.
- ^ Ewing, Phillip (February 10, 2017). "5 Things On Michael Flynn, Russia and Donald Trump". NPR.
- ^ "'RT America': The One News Outlet for Which Trump Retains an Unexpected Affinity". NPR.org.
- ^ Erlanger, Steven (March 8, 2017). "Russia's RT Network: Is It More BBC or K.G.B.?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- ^ Pompeo, Joe (September 20, 2019). "Russia Goes Viral: How the RT Network Built a U.S. Audience". New York. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
- ^ Broad, William J. (May 12, 2019). "Your 5G Phone Won't Hurt You. But Russia Wants You to Think Otherwise". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 20, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ^ Broad, William J. Putin's War on U.S. Science. [Science Desk]. The New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast). New York, N.Y. 14 April 2020. p.D1. Accessed 29 January 2022.
- ^ Broad, William J. (April 14, 2020). "Putin's Long War Against American Science". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- ^ Wilde, Forrest (March 14, 2022). "How a 27-Year-Old Texan Became the Face of Russia's American TV Network as It Imploded". Texas Monthly. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- ^ RT America (October 13, 2016), 'America's Lawyer': Attorney and radio talk show host Mike Papantonio joins RT America, retrieved July 27, 2018
- ^ RT America (July 5, 2018), Remembering Ed Schultz, retrieved July 27, 2018
- ^ "Ukraine conflict perspectives and Washington's shadow lobbyists". RT. March 4, 2014. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014.
- ^ Graves, Lucia (March 4, 2014) "RT Defends Host Abby Martin, Responds to Accusations of Pro-Putin Propaganda", National Journal; retrieved April 11, 2014
- ^ Greenwald, Glenn (March 4, 2014) "RT Host Abby Martin Condemns Russian Incursion Into Crimea – On RT", The Intercept Retrieved March 21, 2014
- ^ "Russia Today TV presenter Liz Wahl quits on air". BBC News. March 6, 2014.
- ^ RT America (March 5, 2014), RT America's Liz Wahl resigns live on air, retrieved July 28, 2016
- ^ "RT reacts to anchor Liz Wahl quitting on air". RT International. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ Brian Stelter (March 24, 2014). "Putin TV in Chaos". CNN.
- from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (January 19, 2017). "Facebook Restores Kremlin-Funded RT Posting Privileges After Temporary Block". Variety. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
External links
- Official website (last archived version, 4 August 2023)