Russia Today (aka RT), the English language outlet funded by the Russian government, like all the tendrils that link Russia to the wider world, is being targeted for sanctions.
Foxtel and SBS have suspended it from their services, and the British broadcast regulator OfCom is looking into a flurry of complaints against it since Russia invaded Ukraine. I spent the day watching RT America to find out what brought about this response.
First the obvious stuff. It is transparently a propaganda outlet and the “news” is just as you’d expect — talking points of Russian political and military leadership, unquestioningly repeated. There are images of grateful Ukrainians waving at Russian tanks, or children clambering on them like playground equipment. The homes of “good, happy” families in Donbass destroyed but for one suspiciously intact family photo or children’s book. The veracity of the “deNazification” premise of the invasion is not debated. And it is all delivered with the same patina of straight, serious news.
Much of the commentary has a tang of put-upon self-pity, which also animates a lot of Trump-adjacent conservatism, and I can’t believe that’s got nothing to do with the sympathy between the two groups. Vladimir Putin has, for most of his time in power, fostered a sense of humiliation and grievance in the Russian people — national glory sacrificed to foreign influence. No wonder Trump calls him a genius.
Still it’s strange hearing rants about the “US and its allies” from ALDI Fox News types, the same indistinguishable line-up of blonde women and shouty men in suits who would have been cheering US troops converging on Baghdad a few years back.
But in many ways the experience is no weirder than watching Rachel Maddow’s seventh pregnant pause while she investigated minor legal details of Watergate when Trump was in power. And it’s certainly no weirder or more ragged than Sky after dark or Tucker Carlson. Hell, the 24-hour news format is just plain weird, and I was consuming it in the way you’re not supposed to: all at once, hour after hour, those seven or so ads on an endless loop.
Almost every ad is entirely about how you can’t trust “corporate media”, mixed with a promise to tell you the truth. They are disorienting, assaulting to the senses and, in a way, surreally poetic, like phrases translated from English into several other languages and back again. “It sometimes seems that we are like mice squeaking against the avalanche,” intones Chris Hedges, a former journalist for The New York Times. “But squeak we must.”
Many of the talking heads make for a grim Google search. Take Omar Navarro, interviewed on the daily broadcast News Views Hughes. The guy is a serially failed candidate for Maxine Waters’ district, not to mention the recipient of two restraining orders from ex-partners, the violation of which helped land him in jail for six months. He also seems barely able to put a sentence together. None of which disqualifies him from being interviewed about US “freedom convoys”. They like COVID scepticism at RT.
In the interest of fairness I suppose we have to say that through its alien filter, RT makes visible many of the same mechanisms at play in mass media everywhere; there’s no small irony in any company owned by News Corp ditching a news service for misinformation.
Decent propaganda homes in on well-founded scepticism in its audience: when one panel mocks the racism of Western media’s incredulity that a country outside the Middle East is at war, it has a point. And no one can look at coverage of (to pick just the biggest disasters) climate change and the war in Iraq and not conclude something is broken in how important subjects are explained to us.
Of course the corollary — that RT is telling the truth — doesn’t exactly track. Take comedian Lee Camp’s RT program Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp. Camp, with his beard, long hair and all-black suit (no tie, naturally) is like Bill Hicks and Jon Stewart were meshed together by that machine from The Fly. His extremely righteous style, taking on the corporate elites, very 1990s, is committed and sincere — dated as his “just telling it like it is” delivery is, his work on US wages or access to abortion is hard to quarrel with. Of course, it faintly undercuts your “fearless truth teller” vibe when you’re taking pay cheques from Putin to talk about other countries’ records on LGBTIQA+ issues. There is one reference to the war in Ukraine in the episode I saw, and it was so utterly mild as to be genuinely incomprehensible.
And this is where RT America gets really weird: its non-news content. It’s given William Shatner a science show. Actually I Don’t Understand, where Shatner conducts a genial and faintly baffled interview with a scientist about their latest breakthrough was the most pleasurable viewing I had all day. Later, in the middle of something much heavier, I saw a promo for the show; the former Captain Kirk narrows his eyes, looks at the camera and says “I’m William Shatner, and … I … Don’t … Understand?” in that halting rhythm of his, and I missed him terribly.
Strangest of all, though, is Dennis Miller Plus One. Once the presenter of Saturday Night Live‘s news-bulletin parody “Weekend Update”, stand-up comedian Miller (badly in need of a pay cheque… or perhaps the “patriotism” that fuelled his vocal support for the war in Iraq is fading), looking like he’s exerting a lot of effort trying stop his face escaping through his mouth, talks to mono-monikered muso Breland, who had a hit in 2020 with his country/hip-hop crossover “My Truck”. Miller talks like… well, how a faintly addled white stand-up who peaked in the ’80s thinks Black people talk. “Was it a groove?” he asks of a recent show, and describes DeFord Bailey as “one switched-on brother”. Breland seems like a lovely guy.
RT America is every 24-hour news channel you’ve ever watched remembered in a fever dream. Uncanny and off and slightly cheaper, some parallel world where Miller and Shatner are still big stars. And, most eerily, a world where you can talk about Russian foreign policy… and barely ever mention Putin.
This is one of the poorest critiques I have ever read. It was cherry-picked from start to finish. Why didn’t you watch Peter Lavelle’s “Cross Talk” or Afshin Rattansi’s “Going Underground” or “Renegade Inc” with Ross Ashcroft and the many other programmes on RT. hosted by award winning journalists.
But no, much easier to use ad hominem attacks and take comments out of context such as the one about Chris Hedges “It sometimes seems that we are like mice squeaking against the avalanche,” intones Chris Hedges, a former journalist for The New York Times. “But squeak we must.”
You failed to mention that he is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist.
If you want to talk about propaganda how about looking at your own. The headline is a classic example.”Charlie Lewis didn’t turn off Russia Today, the ‘news outlet’ funded by Putin’s government, for 24 hours. The results were eye-popping.”
“Vladimir Putin has, for most of his time in power, fostered a sense of humiliation and grievance in the Russian people — national glory sacrificed to foreign influence. No wonder Trump calls him a genius.”
How did you come up with this nonsense ?
Crikey is supposed to offer an alternative view and should encourage investigative journalism. This is not it.
It may interest you to know that RT has extensively covered the injustice dealt out to Julian Assange for being an honest journalist. No other network has done that. You might find a template there for an honest article on propaganda.
Might be time you checked out Crikey’s Assange coverage John. Sheesh.
Sorry Ma vie en vert,
I did not know that Crikey was a network.
Charlie must be suicidal after watching Fox News for a day.
You have to love when one side is classed as Propaganda and the other is not. Both sides spread Propaganda from their respective cultures and governments and there is always two sides to every story. The West says “Russia bad, USA good” while Russia says “Russia good, USA bad”. The actual truth is “Russia bad, USA bad” but the West refuses to accept our own failures. Free Speech means that you have to tolerate views that you don’t agree with (especially if there is a grain of truth in them that makes you uncomfortable). To ban RT and classify it as Propaganda without banning all MSM as Propaganda tends to indicate there is actual truth in what is being broadcast by RT but that it makes us uncomfortable. The EU banning RT and Foxtel ceasing transmission of RT treats adults as unable to discern what is truth rather than what they want us to believe. Yet again another sign of failure in so-called “open and transparent” liberal Democracy.
Not sure what you’re trying to say, but good try Comrade.
It’s a failure of “liberal democracy” and Free SPEECH and just a symbol of our inability to admit our own failings. You can insert “Comrade” you know where too BTW.
No need to shout. Or stoop to personal abuse.
Whatever “Comrade”.
His chip upgrade didn’t take and has reverted to factory setting.
About the level of IT knowledge I would expect from you – Nil.
Deliberately or not you miss the point: RT is funded by the government of the Russian Federation, its directors are appointed by and answerable to, the government of the Russian Federation, there is not the slightest pretence of editorial independence. It is a 21st century model of Joseph Goebbels’ Reichministrie of Propaganda of the 1930’s/40’s. Any comparison with even a Newscorp organisation like Fox, which is subject to the rules of independence and balance of the country’s in which it operates is both ignorant, false and misleading.
Tim
Are you willing to watch Sky News for 24 Hours? Its a Capitalist independent media outlet with no political axe to grind so it must be unbiased.
BBC, DW etc are all State Owned and if you think they are “independent” you are deluded. There is no such thing as Independent Media as they are ALL subject to Editorial control by the Owners who control the purse strings. Newscorp? Independent? ROTFLMAO!
As opposed to our State friendly media.
Yes, we’re going to get a lot of this from now on, but it’s usually the last line that exposes what it’s purpose is and from where and from whom it is coming from. We are now in the repeat phase of the 1920-1930’s anti democracy rhetoric which of course led to the rise of Nazism and authoritarian dictatorship govt’s. Too many can’t see the connection, because to them it is ancient history and surely we won’t repeat it. That some of it’s leading lights appear to have established a large governmental foothold right here in Australia is our most existential crisis challenge.
Authoritarian Dictatorship has been a part of the West for centuries. It’s called the Monarchy. Democratic has nothing to do with it. Just ask collaery, Witness K, Assange and Snowdon.
Comrade. Well stupid Russia is as communist today as Rome is a theocracy. Nothing like an anglo bottom feeders opinion.
There is an official narrative, especially in the west. Normally low level, pushing the “we are good (nominated enemy is bad) at a slow tick over, sneaking into the sub conscious of most of the populace without being too overt. Most people pay no attention to what is happening in the world…until something happens! Then the official narrative kicks in. The main stream media then kick into full drama mode – the agenda is set and people are “encouraged” what to think, what the “reality” is and who the villains and heroes are, with the “news” tailored to that end. Reality, more and more, flies out the window.
Having followed this area of the world for many decades, I knew what was inevitably going to happen, and that there would be a “western” backlash and Psyops – there always is…..west always good, everyone else, especially Russia, bad! The sheer intensity of the west’s blind fury, at a country daring to do what it says (the wests normal state is bluff and bluster) has caught many people by surprise. The sheer ignorance of most people, including western pundits and governments, of the issues contained and happening here, with the west going on a foot shooting rampage over this incursion, is really eye opening.
RT is not a reliable source – it may be Russian State funded, but the Russians are crap at propaganda and RT is almost as bad as the Daily Mail, in an Eastern European way……
Absolutely RT is crap at it but they have a right to say it. What are we afraid of?
Framing the shut-off of RT as an anti-“free speech” action misses (or misstates) the point: it’s a sanctions action. Russia is being shut out of the global community, and while you’re on the naughty chair, you don’t get to push your “news” channel same as you don’t get to trade in tangible goods.
Sanctions? You mean economic coercion in Australia speak don’t you? BTW. The EU and US are not the Global Community. They are “the West” not the World. Africa, Asia, Middle East and South America are not getting involved.
so, what do you think would have been an appropriate response to the attack on Ukraine?
The same response that the West so gallantly put in place against the US, UK and Australia for the illegal invasions of both IRAQ and Afghanistan. In other words, nothing.
One rule for Western aggression and another for everyone else obviously.
The same severe sanctions we applied to those who invaded Iraq Libya Syria and Palestine, who are destroying Yemen and selling the Saudis weapons and who ripped Kosovo from Serbia. Get it?
It’s certainly good that RT do “have a right to say” what they say without being arrested, assassinated or poisoned with a nerve agent.
You mean the one from Porton Down used on the triple agent in Salisbury about to turn?
Who, along with his ‘daughter’, now have new secret IDs and a much more pleasant house in the Home counties?
Here we just arrest them, hold secret trials, hold them without charge etc etc. Don’t believe me? Ask Collaery, Witness K and Assange.
Perhaps you’re deliberately ignoring the continuous stream of “this is not an invasion force” “we are not going to invade” statements, even made while Putin was pre-recording the invasion speech?
There is no truth to be found here.
A bit like the “it’s not an Invasion, it’s a humanitarian intervention” spiel used by NATO when they attacked Serbia eh? Of course Russia would deny it was going to invade. I suspect at the time they were hoping for a diplomatic solution (the best) but planning for the worst. Neither the West nor Russia are “on the side of the angels” and it is naive to believe that they are. All media is a mixture of Propaganda and enough truth to make it believable (and yes Western Media is included in that).
“ they were hoping for a diplomatic ” really. That takes the cake for wilful naivety.
They were hoping, but knew they’d never get it, because the psychos running the US, as usual, thought they were bluffing…
Just butting in. Strangely I am unusual as I am opposed to War. Yes I believed that, and was hoping that a peaceful solution would be found. But the West continued to goad Russia. As I have said before – very much like the schoolyard bully. No sign of conciliation.
I was appalled when one commentator stated with glee in the comments that he was correct all along – much like some of the comments here.
I have grave concerns that some people can show excited exhilaration at the prospect of innocent civilians being killed in conflict because their comments were correct.
It helps me understand that we need to learn about truth telling from our indigenous Australians.
When Pitjantjatjara peoples speak of truth, they understand they are engaged in efforts to convince others of the rightness of their tradition. They recognise what mainstream white society usually forgets: that truth and trust are twins.
Many Australians are overwhelmed by their own cognitive dissonance.
If you want Factual News, NOT OPINION, tune into Al Jazeera !
I already do. Reminds me of how journalists used to be in Australia. Just the facts, no opinions.
And whose opinion decides which facts get published?
That’s the point. They just report it. No slant either way.
Given that its studios were bombed during GWII, guess.
There is one major difference. In the west you can speak out, that is unless you are speaking out against a trump or his like and make it too obvious then some nutter ill try to run you down or even shoot you (forgotten them?). In Russia you are likely ton be up locked away or you disappear or get gunned down anyway . You can’t escape the reality that for all the faults of the west it’s mostly the right wing gun toting nutters who support Putin and who are most likely to attack you and gun you dwon especially if you are not ‘white’, whatever that means.
There is one obvious solution, make your own country better, get rid of scumo and his mates, clean up the ALP, stand up to the UAP and push back to try to get transparency and accountabiliy rather than fascist, corporate enslavement which seems to be where we are headed although, in some senses, Russia beat us to it.
Here speaking up, if it is an unpopular viewpoint, results in Cancel Culture coming to the fore amongst other things such as social media persecution, legal action against you by Pollie’s etc.
… In Russia you are likely ton be up locked away or you disappear or get gunned down anyway . or locked up incommunicado like Assange in the British Lubyanka?
You have a weird illusion of the West. In reality, the Pollie’s sue you for slander, you will suddenly be subject to an ATO Audit or you will be harassed on “Social Media” (the scourge of Society) at the bare minimum. There are also a myriad of things under “National Security” that they can do to shut you up. Just the legal fees around this would break most people.
Exactly, whistle-blowers have no survival chance in this country.
Given the mass of USA denigrations hurled at Russia by the USA mainstream media-news portals for the past 8-10 years, is it any wonder that Russia seeks to use its RT to reach the people of America that do not project the hatred of America towards Russia.
Youtube, in particular, hosts its sites that demonstrate the superiority of all America’s new military weapons, when that cannot possibly be true.
Then one has to scramble through all the USA manufactured propaganda on Youtube; in my experience, I now know beforehand the names of the Youtube sites that rant about the mighty USA, even though the USA is bankrupt, as well as the most murderous country on our planet earth, one can tally up the millions slaughtered from 1950 forward through the Vietnam war, then the contra dealings in Nicaragua.
How about Afghanistan and the CIA running the massively expanded opium poppy production, followed by the manufacturer into heroin and exported across the World using USA military transport planes?
America’s heroin addicts had increased by 300% when this had been going on.
How about the commencement of the USA Arab Spring illegal invasions, then the resultant civilian slaughter that had preceded the European Refugee Crisis that had suddenly confronted many European countries?.
Spend a few moments in tallying up all the USA initiated illegal invasions and military assaults engaged in since the 1950s. Only then can one better understand the reality of the non-mighty US of A.
Know your facts before publishing hugely biased western nation supportive articles such as this one concerning Ukraine.
Remember the gas stolen by Ukraine and sold off elsewhere? This is currently happening through Germany, now selling for five times the price being paid to Russia for their country’s gas?
Will this comment be refused its publication? only one way to find out, please post my comment.
It probably feels good to get that off your chest, William B, but next time just spare us the reading time and type “USA, Boo!”
At least he articulates his views rather than using 2 sets of 3 letters. You might try reading his comments and learning something.
“Will this comment be refused its publication?” “the mass of USA denigrations hurled at Russia” Charming language, comrade!
Whatever “Comrade”
but true….onky….not in your reality…..
I’m reminded of the CIA funding the Contras from drug money, a story told in Jello Biaffra’s musical assault “Full Metal Jackoff”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJMP0FEz51U
The first major wave of US heroin addicts were grunts returning from Vietnam, in various stages of disrepair, often via AirAmerica.
See Alfred W McCoy ‘Politics of Heroin in SE Asia‘ (1972)
A significant fraction (about 85%) of production for the “opioid crisis” of recent fame came from Tasmania, not Afghanistan.
In the UK Ofcom may be moot; the satellite feed originates in Luxembourg whose government has ordered it to be taken down in line with the EU sanctions, and YouTube have blocked RT’s feed on the platform.