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These websites are controlled (directly or indirectly) by the Russian government. They usually don't mention opposition meetings. I think that they don't want a

These websites are controlled (directly or indirectly) by the Russian government. They usually don't mention opposition meetings. I think that they don't want anyone to know even about their existence.

rjf72 8y ago
Can you reference any significant 'opposition' meeting (such as this) that was not covered by RT for less than justifiable reason? E.g. - in this event the organizers prohibited RT from covering the event, which is a pretty decent reason for the lack of coverage!
- woodandsteel 8y ago
  What you say may be correct, but is it your position that these news sites are not Russian government propaganda machines, that they give good, objective coverage of what is right and wrong with the country and its government? And what is your own view of the Russian government?
  - rjf72 8y ago
    First as a little update it turns out they did try to provide English language coverage of the protests, so much as possible [0]. As for your question, I think that's clearly a false dichotomy. I do think the issue of propaganda is important, especially in today's times. So let's consider an incident. Some weeks ago you probably read about Maduro's government, in Venezuela, setting one of the US aid trucks on fire. This was covered extensively. CNN stated that "a CNN team saw incendiary devices from police on the Venezuelan side of the border ignite the trucks" [1] while describing the images of the trucks as sickening and repeating numerous calls for stronger action as a result of such things. If that page should change in the near future, the internet archive [2] is your friend. This was repeated by most other media sources as well. The problem is that it was a lie. The aid truck was undoubtedly set on fire by anti-government forces. This is now being covered by the NYTimes [3] citing "unpublished video" and dutifully pondering 'how we got here'. The Intercept has also done a phenomenal piece on this event, here - showing how it was played out as propaganda and the entities that pushed it hardest. [4] Of course I haven't mentioned RT once yet, so what gives? This [5] gives. That's an article from RT. What you might notice is that they have an embedded video, literally the "unpublished video" from the NYTimes demonstrating that it was an anti-government protester setting the truck on fire. And it was published weeks ago, as soon as the information came to light while most western media continued to simply beat the war drums. ------------- This is also not an isolated incident. I point this out not to claim that RT is amazing. If the roles were reversed and it was a very serious event such as Russia trying to foment a coup in another nation, I certainly would not expect RT to run timely articles indicating that actions being used as propaganda were, in fact, not the fault of the targeted government. You're not going to find any single source that provides "good, objective coverage" when it comes to issues that align with, or run against, their interests. So I find it important to expose yourself to a wide array of media and particularly to sources that are more like to challenge your viewpoints than affirm them. Nietzche might not approve, but in the end we're surrounded by nothing but abysses. [0] - https://www.rt.com/russia/453483-internet-freedom-rally-moscow/ https://www.rt.com/russia/453483-internet-freedom-rally-mosc... [1] - https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/24/americas/venezuela-pompeo-maduro-colombia/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/24/americas/venezuela-pompeo... [2] - https://web.archive.org/web/20190301142504/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/24/americas/venezuela-pompeo-maduro-colombia/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20190301142504/https://edition.c... [3] - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/world/americas/venezuela-aid-fire-video.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/world/americas/venezuela-... [4] - https://theintercept.com/2019/03/10/nyts-expose-on-the-lies-about-burning-humanitarian-trucks-in-venezuela-shows-how-us-govt-and-media-spread-fake-news/ https://theintercept.com/2019/03/10/nyts-expose-on-the-lies-... [5] - https://www.rt.com/news/452326-venezuela-us-aid-truck-protesters/ https://www.rt.com/news/452326-venezuela-us-aid-truck-protes...

rjf72 8y ago

Can you reference any significant 'opposition' meeting (such as this) that was not covered by RT for less than justifiable reason? E.g. - in this event the organizers prohibited RT from covering the event, which is a pretty decent reason for the lack of coverage!

woodandsteel 8y ago
What you say may be correct, but is it your position that these news sites are not Russian government propaganda machines, that they give good, objective coverage of what is right and wrong with the country and its government? And what is your own view of the Russian government?
- rjf72 8y ago
  First as a little update it turns out they did try to provide English language coverage of the protests, so much as possible [0]. As for your question, I think that's clearly a false dichotomy. I do think the issue of propaganda is important, especially in today's times. So let's consider an incident. Some weeks ago you probably read about Maduro's government, in Venezuela, setting one of the US aid trucks on fire. This was covered extensively. CNN stated that "a CNN team saw incendiary devices from police on the Venezuelan side of the border ignite the trucks" [1] while describing the images of the trucks as sickening and repeating numerous calls for stronger action as a result of such things. If that page should change in the near future, the internet archive [2] is your friend. This was repeated by most other media sources as well. The problem is that it was a lie. The aid truck was undoubtedly set on fire by anti-government forces. This is now being covered by the NYTimes [3] citing "unpublished video" and dutifully pondering 'how we got here'. The Intercept has also done a phenomenal piece on this event, here - showing how it was played out as propaganda and the entities that pushed it hardest. [4] Of course I haven't mentioned RT once yet, so what gives? This [5] gives. That's an article from RT. What you might notice is that they have an embedded video, literally the "unpublished video" from the NYTimes demonstrating that it was an anti-government protester setting the truck on fire. And it was published weeks ago, as soon as the information came to light while most western media continued to simply beat the war drums. ------------- This is also not an isolated incident. I point this out not to claim that RT is amazing. If the roles were reversed and it was a very serious event such as Russia trying to foment a coup in another nation, I certainly would not expect RT to run timely articles indicating that actions being used as propaganda were, in fact, not the fault of the targeted government. You're not going to find any single source that provides "good, objective coverage" when it comes to issues that align with, or run against, their interests. So I find it important to expose yourself to a wide array of media and particularly to sources that are more like to challenge your viewpoints than affirm them. Nietzche might not approve, but in the end we're surrounded by nothing but abysses. [0] - https://www.rt.com/russia/453483-internet-freedom-rally-moscow/ https://www.rt.com/russia/453483-internet-freedom-rally-mosc... [1] - https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/24/americas/venezuela-pompeo-maduro-colombia/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/24/americas/venezuela-pompeo... [2] - https://web.archive.org/web/20190301142504/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/24/americas/venezuela-pompeo-maduro-colombia/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20190301142504/https://edition.c... [3] - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/world/americas/venezuela-aid-fire-video.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/world/americas/venezuela-... [4] - https://theintercept.com/2019/03/10/nyts-expose-on-the-lies-about-burning-humanitarian-trucks-in-venezuela-shows-how-us-govt-and-media-spread-fake-news/ https://theintercept.com/2019/03/10/nyts-expose-on-the-lies-... [5] - https://www.rt.com/news/452326-venezuela-us-aid-truck-protesters/ https://www.rt.com/news/452326-venezuela-us-aid-truck-protes...