How The Truth Is Made At Russia Today

POSTED BY: Geezer
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 14, 2024 04:21
VIEWED: 7994
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GEEZER

Sunday, March 16, 2014 6:22 PM

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“It was my first job and I feel embarrassed and ashamed.” An inside look at what it’s like to work at the Kremlin-funded media outlet.

Staci Bivens knew something was seriously wrong when her bosses at Russia Today asked her to put together a story alleging that Germany — Europe’s economic powerhouse — was a failed state.

“It was me and two managers and they had already discussed what they wanted,” Bivens, an American who worked in RT’s Moscow headquarters from 2009 through 2011, said of a meeting she’d had to discuss the segment before a planned reporting trip to Germany. “They called me in and it was really surreal. One of the managers said, ‘The story is that the West is failing, Germany is a failed state.’”

Bivens, who had spent time in Germany, told the managers the story wasn’t true — the term “failed state” is reserved for countries that fail to provide basic government services, like Somalia or Congo, not for economically advanced, industrialized nations like Germany. They insisted. Bivens refused. RT flew a crew to Germany ahead of Bivens, who was flown in later to do a few standups and interviews about racism in Germany. It was the beginning of the end of her RT career.

“At that point I’d been there for a little bit and I’d had enough of the insanity,” Bivens said. She stayed until the end of her contract in 2011 and didn’t make an effort to renew it.

Judging by interviews with seven former and current employees, Bivens’ story is typical. RT, the global English-language news network funded by the Russian government, has come into the spotlight since the Russian invasion of Crimea, which the network has defended tooth-and-nail. The invasion has led to two high-profile rebellions within the ranks: first, an on-air condemnation of the invasion by RT America host Abby Martin, followed days later by the live resignation of another host, Liz Wahl. Martin, who hosts an opinion show, said that Russia’s actions were wrong; Wahl, a news anchor, went one step further, saying that she could not work at a network that found Russia’s actions acceptable.

The public shake-up and skewed coverage of Ukraine has pulled aside RT’s curtain, exposing the network’s propaganda apparatus, which relies on a number of Western reporters and producers. Former and current RT employees from both the Moscow headquarters and its D.C. bureau, which heads a channel called RT America, described to BuzzFeed an atmosphere of censorship and pressure, in which young journalists on their first or second job are lured by the promise of a relatively well-paying position covering news for an international network. Except for Bevins and Wahl, all spoke on the condition of anonymity — some because they didn’t want their name associated with the network or were afraid they would face repercussions in their current jobs.

Soon after joining the network, the current and former employees said, they realized they were not covering news, but producing Russian propaganda. Some employees go in clear-eyed, looking for the experience above all else. Others don’t realize what RT really wants until they’re already there. Still others are chosen for already having displayed views amenable to the Kremlin. Anti-American language is injected into TV scripts by editors, and stories that don’t toe the editorial line regularly get killed.

Bivens, a native of the Chicago suburbs, was freelance producing in Chicago when a friend told her RT was hiring in 2009.

“To be honest… I hadn’t heard of it before,” Bivens said. “I assumed that it was comparable to DW or France 24,” she said, referring to English-language channels based in Berlin and Paris.

The Kremlin had launched RT four years before in an attempt to better project its message on the world stage. Putin said in 2013 of the founding of RT, “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

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JONGSSTRAW

Sunday, March 16, 2014 9:30 PM

I always wondered how MSNBC operates. Thanks!

REAVERFAN

Monday, March 17, 2014 12:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
I always wondered how Faux News, the propaganda wing of the RNC, operates. Thanks!

Fixed it for you.

SIGNYM

Monday, March 17, 2014 12:47 AM

I know of NO reporting that doesn't have a bias. Geezer gets all twisted because RT is biased, but is very very comfortable with the US press bias.

KPO

Monday, March 17, 2014 12:50 AM

You only have to watch RT for five minutes to know it is Russian propaganda.

It's not personal. It's just war.

SIGNYM

Monday, March 17, 2014 1:04 AM

And you only have to watch American television for five minutes (ten, if you're slow) to know that IT'S propaganda.

The trick is to sift truth from spin.

1KIKI

Monday, March 17, 2014 2:48 AM

I always find holes in the news to be interesting.

For example, the US continuously portrayed the Ukrainian protests as broadly representative and peaceful, and measures taken by the government as excessively repressive and harsh (including deaths from gunshots).

But then, by expanding the menu of news sources, I found out that the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (who is now described in the western press as being a 'fugitive' and not a 'refugee') had the support of roughly 50% of the population. So were the demonstrations broadly representative? And, by watching irrefutable video available at RT, I found that the 'peaceful demonstrations' were in fact highly violent with paramilitary snipers firing on and killing unarmed police - and demonstrators.

So, obviously the western press routinely fails to report vital facts. That in itself is a piece of information.

OONJERAH
We are too dumb to live and smart enough to wipe ourselves out.

KPO

Monday, March 17, 2014 3:18 AM

Why would Western press fail to report on anti-Yanukovic snipers killing police? Why would all Western countries' press sing from the same hymn sheet?

What about the rest of the world's press?

It's not personal. It's just war.

1KIKI

Monday, March 17, 2014 3:40 AM

You'd have to ask them. Otherwise all you get is my speculation. I'd be happy to share, but I think you'd dismiss it immediately as a stupid opinion. So, why bother?

But ask yourself - did YOU see videos of paramilitary snipers in western news? And yet, those videos exist. Did YOU see polls of support for Yanukovych? And yet they exist.

If I found them, and they exist, why weren't they in the news?

As an aside, I take it you've never had the experience of noticing a news hole. My first time was listening to the CBC radio reporting US 'advisors' in Angola fighting a long-drawn-out war, while US news had nothing. Literally. I went back and forth looking . My second obvious experience was when the League of Arab States voted to let the US in to the first gulf war. The vote count was reported in the morning, and not again for years, literally, it was reported as a 'majority' forever after. I know, because I went looking for those numbers for a long time. Now THAT was a piece of information that was known, but universally withheld, after the initial oops when it slipped out.

OONJERAH
We are too dumb to live and smart enough to wipe ourselves out.

SIGNYM

Monday, March 17, 2014 4:35 AM

Quote:
Why would Western press fail to report on anti-Yanukovic snipers killing police? Why would all Western countries' press sing from the same hymn sheet?

Is this a real question, or are you being ironic?

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