Russia Today (RT.com) Is Russia's Propaganda Channel - "Truth is not the mission at RT"

I just had to log on when I saw this thread, more and more does it seem that ATS is becoming just another MSM tool.
We can have multiple threads a month proving major new outlets twisting/altering footage to support a certain agendas ( such as fox, cnn ) but sure let's talk about RT.

@SO : Where's you professionalism?, your neutral stance?, you should refrain making biased threads. ( Remember that poll you did about Putin ).

Everyday passes and a new scandal comes to light how your government rips away every single bit of "freedom' you have left, how they want to control your every thought, yet you would call those MSM biased?

Your voice carry's a lot of weight around here, for the people who can't think for themselves, so at least acknowledge your power and use it wisely.

Your moderators have to stay neutral, I can only imagine the same would apply to you.

Well, i'm out again.

a reply to: Cantbebothered

The concern is that RT has weaponized the news. It is not merely false information, it is propaganda intended to impede the "West's" ability to respond to Russian military aggression.

A question then:

Since RT is a state sponsored propaganda site then why doesn't ATS just ban it as a valid source?

Other non reputable sites have been disallowed why not RT?

originally posted by: DJW001


No, the difference is overwhelming. If the state controlled the media, Richard Nixon might still be President! There is a Constitutional justification for an independent press. The media may be biased, but they remain independent of the government.

The BBC are state funded.
The UK public have to have a TV license and the money goes directly to the Government and then it's spent on programming and news.

Everyone in the UK who watches or records TV programmes at the same as they are shown on TV needs to be covered by a TV licence. This includes TVs, computers, mobile phones, games consoles, digital boxes and DVD/VHS recorders. The Government sets the level of the licence fee. In January 2007 the licence fee was agreed for a six-year period with the amount being approved each year by Parliament. More recently the Government decided to freeze the licence fee at its 2010 level of £145.50 until the end of the current BBC Charter period in 2016.

Also US news outlets have been paid by Bahrain to NOT run stories because Bahrain is America's ally in the region

(this is the first link I came to which seems to have the story I refer to)

www.globalresearch.ca...

There are countless similar incidents and instances of these types of things happening.


I use my brain when reading the news and I check facts and research things.
If RT or CNN or BBC say something happened or something is true... I'll look at as many news sources as possible.
RT have had many great interviews and guests on discussing topics that are usually overlooked by "Western Media" and yes... They probably "allow" these guests on to make the West look bad. But does that make everything said by the guests untrue? Does this somehow mean because RT is propaganda that every singe thing on their station is untrue??

No... it doesn't... it means they're allowing these things on to piss of the US and UK and their allies.

As they always say... don't shoot the messenger.
Of course they're biased... they claim that they had no troops in Crimea when they clearly did... on all of their domestic stories, they are so biased it's not even funny, but then I don't watch their regular news bulletins and so on... I watch the guests and interviews they do with people I like.

Same goes for BBC... I never watch their 6 or 10pm news... ever, but I do watch interviews and technology shows or sports shows.

That's the point.

ANYBODY on ATS should.... I repeat SHOULD be able to discern and think critically about the news and information they are reading and receiving.
If they can't then they have no business being on a site like this.

The last thing that should ever happen is the site owner repeatedly telling people not to watch or trust RT and keep making out that they are unique in their lies and spin.
When they are not. They may be more blatant and stupid about it, but it goes on at every single news outlet in the world... even more so in the USA.

originally posted by: Bassago
A question then:

Since RT is a state sponsored propaganda site then why doesn't ATS just ban it as a valid source?

Other non reputable sites have been disallowed why not RT?

It may be a case of giving them enough rope to hang themselves. How can Putin announce that he is ordering his troops away from the border after weeks of claiming they were not there?

RT is just a tool for Putin just like all the paid opinion editors Russian goverment have in their paylists. I wouldn´t consider RT evil source because its propaganda is quite obvious if you can connect the dots, im more concerned about these "invinsible" opinion editors who work in other sectors like jurisdiction, university staff etc and do it for extra cash.

originally posted by: OpenMindedRealist

All of the replies agree -- unbiased media sources are few and far between.

Have you never heard of the internet?

a reply to: Bassago

Banning RT, or VOA, or BBC, or NPR, or ______ becomes an unsavory slippery slope of arbitrary decision making. We have banned a short-list of sources that have been proven to focus on fabricated hoaxes (mostly in the UFO area), and we'll keep it limited to that.

It's more important to be aware of the motivations of all sources, individually, than to limit sources we collectively agree on (which would result in a very short list).

originally posted by: SkepticOverlord

originally posted by: sligtlyskeptical
I am disappointed that an owner of this site would post such a political message

This has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with the affinity the "conspiracy theory community" online has toward RT.com through confirmation bias.

I totally disagree that RT has the confirmation basis that you allude to. I think much of peoples' thinking in the Ukraine matter is more a result of the debunked information the West has put out, rather than anything RT has put out. For pete's sake, the US media practically hung Putin after the plane crash only to have the US to come out later to say if it was the separatists, than it was likely accidental. 80% of Americans believe that Putin did it. And the West doesn't spread propaganda? Get real! The West provided the funds to overthrow the legitimate Ukraine government or none of this occurs in the first place. So ultimately every drop of blood spilled in Ukraine has the origins from the West.

I wish I could just gobble up the whole story of the West. Unfortunately this site has taught me to look a little deeper.

originally posted by: SkepticOverlord
Russia Today, or as many know it, RT.COM, is the state-funding propaganda machine from the Kremlin's Ministry of Mass Media, with direct oversight from Putin. Through a relatively well conceived strategic plan, RT.com has covered news and issues that resonate well with a disenfranchised US millennial audience, as well as a broader US segment who identify better with global viewpoints than they do with provincial viewpoints. This strategy has resulted in a strong audience affinity, and a great many people never realized RussiaToday/RT.com is state-run propaganda from Russia.

An iconic quote from the movie, Red October: "Russians never even go to the [bathroom] without a plan," is a real-world sentiment from the days of the cold war. Russia Today and the US-centric focus of RT.com is part of a long-term plan to shape opinion through lies and twisted facts, in preparation for this moment in history -- new Russian imperialism and expansion.

For years, Russia's RT network has sought to establish itself as a mainstream global news provider. But since the start of the crisis in Ukraine, RT's coverage has been blasted as one-sided propaganda, even by some of its own correspondents. We speak with current and former RT staffers to get a sense of what life is like inside the state-funded network.

I know RT is full of propaganda and that it's insanely biased to sway opinion about their Russian overlords, however, I still find it an important news source. I filter every MSN but the one thing our own news agency won't do is report on things that might damage our own government, unless it's it's the Dem's p!ssing on the Pub's or the Pub's p1ssing in the Dem's. The one thing RT will do is report an news that is absolutely damming to our government. Again, you have to filter it and research on your own, but it at least gives you an insight into what our MSN won't touch.

originally posted by: sligtlyskeptical
I totally disagree that RT has the confirmation basis that you allude to.

I was referring more to the past 3+ years of coverage, and spin, that has been coming from Russia Today. Which coincides with the rebranding from Russia Today to RT specifically to focus on the US audience.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

It's more important to be aware of the motivations of all sources, individually, than to limit sources we collectively agree on (which would result in a very short list).

Fair enough. I feel like a poor dirt farmer sifting through miles of barren dirt looking for a turnip when it comes to finding truth in any of the MSM news sources or outlets.

a reply to: blupblup

ANYBODY on ATS should.... I repeat SHOULD be able to discern and think critically about the news and information they are reading and receiving.
If they can't then they have no business being on a site like this.

You do not make the rules here. No test is administered. This is ATS, not Mensa.

The last thing that should ever happen is the site owner repeatedly telling people not to watch or trust RT and keep making out that they are unique in their lies and spin.

Again, you do not make the rules here. The Site Owner does what he wants. As for RT being unique: yes, all media outlets are biased in their own way. RT is being used as a weapon by the Russian government.

When they are not. They may be more blatant and stupid about it, but it goes on at every sing news outlet in the world... even more so in the USA.

Why do you think the USA, which has numerous competing news outlets willing to expose one another to win market share, is more prone to lying than elsewhere?

originally posted by: DJW001

You do not make the rules here. No test is administered. This is ATS, not Mensa.

It wasn't a request or a rule... merely an observation.
ATS was a place where people went to talk about alternative issues & cut through the spin and lies of "official" theories and stories and the official government line.

Now we're being told which MSM outlets we should and shouldn't view.

I'll rephrase what I said:

If people cannot discern and evaluate the news and info they get, and they believe everything because it's printed/typed out somewhere, then ATS wouldn't have been the place for them a few years ago.
Now... meh... go nuts!!

Again, you do not make the rules here. The Site Owner does what he wants. As for RT being unique: yes, all media outlets are biased in their own way. RT is being used as a weapon by the Russian government.

And?

Why do you think the USA, which has numerous competing news outlets willing to expose one another to win market share, is more prone to lying than elsewhere?

Owned by a few corporations...

www.freepress.net...

www.rumormillnews.com...




*Anyway, I'm off to read another Demon thread or Obama Birth Certificate thread.... Ooooo Gotta get my fill*

originally posted by: Bassago
a reply to: SkepticOverlord

It's more important to be aware of the motivations of all sources, individually, than to limit sources we collectively agree on (which would result in a very short list).

Fair enough. I feel like a poor dirt farmer sifting through miles of barren dirt looking for a turnip when it comes to finding truth in any of the MSM news sources or outlets.

The only thing I can suggest is be skeptical at whats being reported. Take the so called "facts" from each source and find what each have in common with each other. The remaining portion is generally the garbage tptb what you to think is news but we all know it's the propaganda for the easily influenced..

originally posted by: blupblup

ATS was a place where people went to talk about alternative issues & cut through the spin and lies of "official" theories and stories and the official government line.

Still is, now questioning the official Russian Government line as well.

originally posted by: blupblup
Now we're being told which MSM outlets we should and shouldn't view.

Wait. You're saying a recently published video exposing the manipulation of news by a state run agency, because that state run agency owns and operates a news network, isn't valid information to share and discuss on ATS?

Really? That seems to be the tonality of your responses here.

If I ran across a similar exposé about CNN, FoxNews, or any other outlet, I'd certainly bring it up. But I do admit I have a special focus on Russia Today's rebranding as RT to run deceptive confirmation bias on the western online conspiracy-minded audience. We all should.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

The effectiveness of it is just another symptom to a curable disease. Curing that disease would create a double-edged sword, though.

You can't have your vodka and drink it too.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord


No I'm saying that you've now made dozens of posts and threads saying the same thing over and over.
We get it...RT = Bad.
You mention BBC and FOX and others in the same breath as RT but never really criticise, just the same old same old.


Anyway... no worries - Carry on.

I said what I needed to say in the post up there

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I found I get Russia Today on my Satellite Tv. I've given them a few hours recently to get a sense of what they are beyond the hand picked segments distributed for one reason or another across the internet.

How many others have sat and let RT News channel play in the background to listen? It was a source that left me wondering how I should take them before this. Now I can't stomach to give them the time to even evaluate a story they run.

I have never seen a "news" broadcast like RT. They are different by the unabashed Russia-centric reporting. That is combined with an inferiority complex to openly lash out and ridicule other reporting from around the world. The 'us and them' feel of the whole channel and effort is impossible to look past for my eyes. I saw very little of that in the internet videos, for what it is worth. It runs through much of their news channel programming in a variety of ways.