Russia Today: Vladimir Putin's Weapon In 'The War of Images'

dryriver sends in a story at Der Spiegel Online about news network Russia Today, and how it is becoming a powerful propaganda tool for Vladimir Putin to use against Western audiences. Quoting: "Since 2005, the Russian government has increased the channel's annual budget more than tenfold, from $30 million (€22.6 million) to over $300 million. Russia Today's budget covers the salaries of 2,500 employees and contractors worldwide, 100 in Washington alone. And the channel has no budget cuts to fear now that Putin has issued a decree forbidding his finance minister from taking any such steps. The Moscow leadership views the funds going to the channel as money 'well invested,' says Natalya Timakova, the press attaché to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. 'In addition, Russia Today is — and I hope the Germans will forgive me for this remark — significantly more modern than Deutsche Welle, for example, and it also has more money.' ... Russia Today sees itself as a champion of a global audience critical of the West. But it is also meant to amplify the self-doubts of Europeans and Americans who have been forced by recent events to wonder if their own countries — like Russia and China — are corrupt and in the grip of a pervasive intelligence apparatus. In any case, the station has a rare knack for propaganda. ... To spice up the news, directors sometimes use Hollywood-like special effects, such as a computer-animated tank that looks like it is rolling over the newscaster's feet or Israeli fighter jets that fly a virtual loop through the studio before dropping their bombs over a map of Syria."

Comments

Actual reporters

[Animats]

Russia Today has an edge simply because it has a big reporting staff. This is unusual in the US today. Only the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post have serious world reporting staffs any more.

RT is biased, but it's no worse than Fox News. The embarrassing thing for Americans is that RT doesn't have to make up bad stuff about the US. They just put the bad stuff at the top of their pages.

Re:Snowden is clearly in good hands

[Anonymous Coward]

Snowden did not run straight to Russia. He went to HK first, then to Russia with the intent of transiting to another destination. His passport was revoked and he was stranded with the additional threats of having any plane he might board to get out of Russia being detained and him rendered back to the USA.

There is no evidence that he provided any intel to Russia. Considering that he is essentially boxed in, he has no choice but to ask for asylum from Russia. I am sure that Snowden is quite aware of the irony of his situation, but it wasn't by his design or intent.

Please cease commenting on Snowden until you can get the basic facts about his situation straight.

Re:Snowden is clearly in good hands

[0111 1110]

I actually think US news sources are more like Pravda. Every single one is nothing more than an arm of the US government. The only way to get any news that is even remotely objective and not wildly pro-government biased is to seek foreign news sources like Al Jazeera, RT, or the BBC. So it's a Pot meet Kettle kind of situation. I actually think RT.com, at least the American section, is quite a bit less biased than any US source of news.

Also the fact that you are spreading lies and calling Snowden a traitor probably means that you get your paycheck from the US government. I think you are a bit too obvious though. Haven't you guys ever heard of subtlety? If you want to serve your masters well it would be better to town down some of the more obvious defector/traitor verbiage. You can't be an effective cyber warrior if it is obvious to everyone that that is what you are.