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Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

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Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#21

Post by mseebach »

JBiserkov wrote: post #8
runn1ng wrote: post #5

At first I was surprised, that he aired the show on Russia Today (heavily pro-Putin and anti-US TV station, that is the first to report on any occupy protest, but is very quiet about anti-Putin protests) and that the first person he interviewed was Narsallah, leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, the next few episodes are quite nuanced, so that's fine. I am still quite unsure what to think about him being on Russi…

> There is apparently a rule that says it’s perfectly OK for a journalist to work for a media outlet owned and controlled by a weapons manufacturer (GE/NBC/MSNBC), or by the U.S. and British governments (BBC/Stars & Stripes/Voice of America), or by Rupert Murdoch and Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal (Wall St. Journal/Fox News), or by a banking corporation with long-standing ties to right-wing governments (Politico),…

The problem with that analysis: "US media isn't perfect" ==> "Any media outlet that isn't perfect is as good as the US media". The key indictment of US media is that they all disagreed with him on the Iraq war, at least in the beginning.

What's missing from the analysis is degrees of imperfection. RT will tout the Kremlin line even to the point of being comical. Even if Assange's show doesn't contribute to this, he still serves to legitimise the rest of the channel. He is extremely naive if he doesn't think he's going to be a cog in RT and Putin spinning itself and Russia as a home to disenfranchised and persecuted western intellectuals - while conveniently not mentioning the fact that disenfranchised Russian intellectuals, especially of the journalist variety, have a nasty habit of dying young - which is very unlike their western counterparts.

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#22

Post by mseebach »

redcircle wrote: post #7
runn1ng wrote: post #5

At first I was surprised, that he aired the show on Russia Today (heavily pro-Putin and anti-US TV station, that is the first to report on any occupy protest, but is very quiet about anti-Putin protests) and that the first person he interviewed was Narsallah, leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, the next few episodes are quite nuanced, so that's fine. I am still quite unsure what to think about him being on Russi…

The mainstream press in America is very pro America. They don't air lots of news pieces that would paint a critical picture of the US. Is it any surprise that Assange's show is not aired by the mainstream press? How is RT's slant towards Russia any different from CNN's pro-America stance?

Being consistently pro-America is not, by a long shot, the same as being an uncritical vehicle for government propaganda.

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#23

Post by lars »

ldehaan wrote: post #6

I am curious what other people think of the rt.com channel. It is a Russian funded news organization and I have heard that it is just a propaganda tool, but a lot of the news seems very legit especially the coverage of all things our mass media ignores or hides. I used to watch it slot but found myself increasingly aware of even more crap I didn't know or government was doing. I found myself wondering if it is just a…

I can't speak about RT, but there is definitely a truth to American news simply being bad. Some friends who moved to the US for a period described it as being "a country without news".

A pretty clear example of this was the time leading up to the latest invasion of Iraq. At the time, a majority of Americans seemed to literally believe that Iraq was a threat to the US. I remember a survey at the time saying that the majority of the population in every other country in the world was opposed to the invasion. The US was going to war based on the claim that Iraq was a threat to US, which most commentators in my end of the world doubted. A different picture was apparently presented to US audiences.

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#24

Post by gyardley »

JBiserkov wrote: post #8
runn1ng wrote: post #5

At first I was surprised, that he aired the show on Russia Today (heavily pro-Putin and anti-US TV station, that is the first to report on any occupy protest, but is very quiet about anti-Putin protests) and that the first person he interviewed was Narsallah, leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, the next few episodes are quite nuanced, so that's fine. I am still quite unsure what to think about him being on Russi…

> There is apparently a rule that says it’s perfectly OK for a journalist to work for a media outlet owned and controlled by a weapons manufacturer (GE/NBC/MSNBC), or by the U.S. and British governments (BBC/Stars & Stripes/Voice of America), or by Rupert Murdoch and Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal (Wall St. Journal/Fox News), or by a banking corporation with long-standing ties to right-wing governments (Politico),…

When it comes to news organizations, it's not the presence of an organization-wide viewpoint that's objectionable - every organization has a viewpoint. The content of that viewpoint is what's being objected to.

You might feel that the viewpoint of RT is no less objectionable than the viewpoints of the other news organizations you mention. Others disagree.

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#25

Post by jewbacca »

digitalengineer wrote: post #11
ldehaan wrote: post #6

I am curious what other people think of the rt.com channel. It is a Russian funded news organization and I have heard that it is just a propaganda tool, but a lot of the news seems very legit especially the coverage of all things our mass media ignores or hides. I used to watch it slot but found myself increasingly aware of even more crap I didn't know or government was doing. I found myself wondering if it is just a…

Watching RT every now and than certainly gives you another perspective on the news. Yeah, they're Russia-funded, but s what? They don't make the news, they just use a different filter. Check out their America channel as well: http://www.youtube.com/rtamerica

I generally trust their reporting on most topics outside the CIS. But I watched an RT stream the day of last year's Domodedovo Airport bombing: for every single new expert or witness they brought in, every other question out of the anchor's mouth was "How very comforting is it to the entire Russian people to hear from the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev so soon?"

It is hard not to believe the popular charges against RT after this.

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#26

Post by nextparadigms »

ldehaan wrote: post #6

I am curious what other people think of the rt.com channel. It is a Russian funded news organization and I have heard that it is just a propaganda tool, but a lot of the news seems very legit especially the coverage of all things our mass media ignores or hides. I used to watch it slot but found myself increasingly aware of even more crap I didn't know or government was doing. I found myself wondering if it is just a…

That's exactly why I disagree with US banning Twitter accounts that "spread propaganda", even if I have no interest in them myself. But imagine US being at war with UK, and then banning any communication from UK because they are "spreading anti-US propaganda" about the war.

But I'd much rather see what both sides have to say about the war then just believe the US lies or half-truths. Perspective is good. People should be able to tell if it was the US that caused the war or UK, and how it all came to be.

Now, the US-UK war scenario may be very unlikely, but you can replace UK with any Middle East country, and I believe the same is true.

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#27

Post by cheesefunnel »

ldehaan wrote: post #6

I am curious what other people think of the rt.com channel. It is a Russian funded news organization and I have heard that it is just a propaganda tool, but a lot of the news seems very legit especially the coverage of all things our mass media ignores or hides. I used to watch it slot but found myself increasingly aware of even more crap I didn't know or government was doing. I found myself wondering if it is just a…

When I first saw RT I thought 'this could be interesting', however after watching it for a few days it became obvious that it is hilariously bias. Every time I turn it over they are busy flogging the OWS dead horse as if it's some virtuous world-wide freedom movement whilst maintaining an almost total silence on the anti-Putin protests. Their moralizing on Afghanistan is also pretty hypocritical, they must think we have short memories. Hilariously it's also produced in the US. Wouldn't it be good to have an unbiased news channel?

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#28

Post by jewbacca »

jlgreco wrote: post #14
ldehaan wrote: post #6

I am curious what other people think of the rt.com channel. It is a Russian funded news organization and I have heard that it is just a propaganda tool, but a lot of the news seems very legit especially the coverage of all things our mass media ignores or hides. I used to watch it slot but found myself increasingly aware of even more crap I didn't know or government was doing. I found myself wondering if it is just a…

"funded news organization and I have heard that it is just a propaganda tool, but a lot of the news seems very legit especially the coverage of all things our mass media ignores or hides." This has also been my experience with Al Jazeera English. This sort of thing makes me wonder what other sorts of things are not as portrayed to us in the 'free' world.

I still think largely well of AJE, and check it almost every day mostly for its editorial emphasis on major African and Asian political events that even the BBC tends to bury. But their reporting on some topics that I know well enough to read critically (some scare pieces they did on Anonymous, prior to the Arab Spring, come to mind[0]) can be awful, and stink of the same sloppy bias it is the popular perception that Al Jazeera is superior for being free of. It was disillusioning to read.

I know such stories are probably handled by a different bureau, and that pretty much every major news organization is bad at understanding/presenting the internet (especially as of several years ago). But it makes me wonder what else might be off in their coverage of topics I don't know as well.

-----

[0] Sorry, I cannot readily find a link, so this is just my personal libel for now.

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#29

Post by ticks »

ldehaan wrote: post #6

I am curious what other people think of the rt.com channel. It is a Russian funded news organization and I have heard that it is just a propaganda tool, but a lot of the news seems very legit especially the coverage of all things our mass media ignores or hides. I used to watch it slot but found myself increasingly aware of even more crap I didn't know or government was doing. I found myself wondering if it is just a…

All news channels are skewed one way or another, RT is no different. I suggest that it's a step up from CCTV though. Either way, if you plan to watch a rolling news channel, watch as many different ones as you can.

Re: Julian Assange Talk Show on RT channel

#30

Post by [deleted] »

redcircle wrote: post #17
runn1ng wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say what you want, there is still a real democracy in US and people are not put to jail for being against the government.

But that real democracy won't air Assange's show. Btw, our real democracy harasses people who are critical of the US gov. E.g., see David House.

[deleted]
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