Putin TV Stars Pump for Trump
Russia Today, Putin’s propaganda ‘news’ network, is getting help from familiar American media figures to undermine, well, America.
OLIVIA NUZZI
09.15.16 1:00 AM ET
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Founded eleven years ago Thursday in September of 2005, Russia Today is a Moscow-based, English-language news outlet which is funded by the Kremlin and serves to promote Russian state propaganda, like stories about the West collapsing and the CIA being to blame for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, which according to RT, Russia did not invade.
In 2010, RT branched out to the United States, launching RT America. In a 2014 Buzzfeed investigation, Rosie Gray reported former RT America employees describing “an atmosphere of censorship and pressure” at the network—like orders to report on Germany as a “failed state” despite any evidence that the country fits the criteria. One RT anchor, Liz Wahl, protested by quitting live on air. She later described herself as, “Putin’s pawn.” Casual viewing of the network shows a focus on negative stories about the U.S., from claims that American Olympians received special treatment which allowed them to take drugs to outward mocking of the Democrats’ presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, despite claiming nonpartisanship.
Nevertheless, the network today broadcasts shows hosted by Schultz, a former sportscaster turned right-wing radio host turned liberal bullhorn; King, the longtime host of Larry King Live; and Jesse Ventura, the former wrestler and governor of Minnesota who promotes 9/11 truther conspiracies, among a handful of other less notable names.
Ventura makes sense in a way—RT is a network, after all, with an Illuminati correspondent. Schultz and King, however, are head scratchers. Both men left their major American networks——Schultz, when his MSNBC show was canceled in July 2015; King, when he retired from CNN in 2010——amid sinking ratings and dwindling popularity. But that hardly makes them unique in television, where hosts can come and go with the seasons.
Neither was persona non grata in the U.S. media when they decided to work for what amounts to an arm of the Russian government, legitimizing the network with their presence——King, due to his long history as a reliable and trustworthy interviewer, and Schultz, for his reputation as an emotional, liberal populist who says what’s on his mind.
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/15/putin-tv-stars-pump-for-trump.html
