Kerry's Propaganda War on Russia's RT

[Purveyor]

Monday, 05 May 2014 10:01 By Ray McGovern, Consortium News | News Analysis

When specialists with a good sense of history insist that war with Russia is “not unthinkable” precipitated by events in Ukraine, one should take careful note. The “not unthinkable” quote is from pre-eminent American historian of Russia, Stephen F. Cohen, who recently appeared with John J. Mearsheimer, historian of U.S. foreign policy, on RT’s Crosstalk.

That Cohen and Mearsheimer are professors should not be held against them. They typify the best; they are not of the ivory-tower type. And, on Ukraine, they are a far cry from the ersatz-professors, the former U.S. officials and the blathering pundits dominating TV and newspapers, including the New York Times which is supposedly pledged to provide “all the news that’s fit to print.”

The Cohen/Mearsheimer commentary provided much-needed historical perspective for what is going on in Ukraine. And the possibility of a war between nuclear-armed U.S. and Russia over Ukraine is unsettling. But watch the Crosstalk program; it will help you understand why Secretary of State John Kerry has launched his own personal vendetta against RT, which is funded by the Russian government but offers important on-the-ground reporting and diverse opinions on a wide variety of topics.

Ironically, Kerry was warned three years ago by his predecessor of the steady strides being made by RT – as well as Al-Jazeera and CCTV (the new English-language programming set up by China). At a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with then-Sen. Kerry in the chair, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lamented that the U.S. is “losing the information war,” and added that she finds watching RT “quite instructive.”

more...

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/23494-kerrys-propaganda-war-on-russias-rt

[joeybee12]

1. unrec

[okaawhatever]

5. Agreed. More bullshit from the America haters. nt

[Purveyor]

6. lol

[Cha]

7. Have you seen this? "Pro-Kremlin journalists win medals for 'objective' coverage of Crimea"

Vladimir Putin gave 'Order of Service to the Fatherland' medals to 300 journalists known for Kremlin-friendly coverage

snip//

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, secretly gave prestigious awards to pro-Kremlin journalists for their "objective coverage" of the events leading up to the March annexation of Crimea, it has emerged.

Putin awarded medals of the "Order of Service to the Fatherland" to 300 journalists including several editors, directors and television hosts known for their Kremlin-friendly coverage in an executive order signed on 22 April that was not made public. After the well respected newspaper Vedomosti first published details of the awards on Monday, presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the order had been signed but declined to provide details.

Boris Korchevnikov, a host on the state-owned television channel Rossiya 1, told the Guardian that he had received the award but refused to discuss it further.

The awards indicated the Kremlin's approval of Russian media outlets that have told a dramatically different version of the Ukraine crisis than that shown by western media, regularly referring to the new Kiev government as a junta led by ultranationalists and fascists.

more to the story..
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/05/vladimir-putin-pro-kremlin-journalists-medals-objective-crimea?CMP=ema_546

[okaawhatever]

8. Oh good Lord. I'll have to look up who posted that. What a joke. nt

[Cha]

11. I posted it.. just now. I saw on another site days ago..

[Demeter]

2. The US govt. is losing the Information Suppression War, for which we all give thanks

It's not losing the propaganda war yet, unfortunately, although the halo is badly tarnished and it's slid down to be more of a neck tourniquet....

[tritsofme]

3. Rumor has it Kerry will appear on RT for an interview

In 24 business hours.

[ProSense]

4. Is there

It is easy to blame “Russian propaganda” for just about everything, including the public distrust of the endless propaganda pouring forth from Official Washington and its “fawning corporate media.” But people tire of the constant spin from U.S. officials and the one-sided coverage by the U.S. mainstream press. I may be naïve about this, but I think people really do prefer the truth.

<...>

President Barack Obama needs to have a counseling session with Kerry, who could not resist the temptation to run with the spurious story on new registration requirements for Jews in pro-Russian eastern Ukraine. Nor could he pass up the chance to be able, finally, to adduce “proof” of Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine by citing photos front-paged by the New York Times, with the photos and story very quickly debunked and retracted. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “NYT Retracts Russian Photo Scoop.”]

And he wonders why the U.S. is continuing to lose what Hillary Clinton called the “information war?” As for “state-sponsored,” is that not an apt description for what has become of the mainstream U.S. media, given the eagerness of career-minded “journalists” to accept U.S. government handouts as a way to prove their “patriotism” and to shield themselves from accusations that they are pawns of Russian “propaganda”?

Full disclosure: I am a regular guest on RT and an occasional interviewee on Al-Jazeera and CCTV-America. Have I ever been given “guidance” as to what would be acceptable for me to say? No. Am I free to speak on live broadcasts as critically of President Vladimir Putin as of President Barack Obama? Yes. Lately, have I been more critical of Obama and the mischief-making Kerry people than of their Russian counterparts? Yes.

...no end to the RT/Putin apologia coming from Consortium News?

Russia's Putin Calls the Internet a 'CIA Project'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024864684

Kerry: The Internet Iron Curtain
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024892529

Guardian has deleted almost 500 comments from pro-Russia trolls
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024917142

[Cha]

10. And, then there's this.. "Pro-Kremlin journalists win medals for 'objective' coverage of Crimea"

Vladimir Putin gave 'Order of Service to the Fatherland' medals to 300 journalists known for Kremlin-friendly coverage

snip//

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, secretly gave prestigious awards to pro-Kremlin journalists for their "objective coverage" of the events leading up to the March annexation of Crimea, it has emerged.

Putin awarded medals of the "Order of Service to the Fatherland" to 300 journalists including several editors, directors and television hosts known for their Kremlin-friendly coverage in an executive order signed on 22 April that was not made public. After the well respected newspaper Vedomosti first published details of the awards on Monday, presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the order had been signed but declined to provide details.

Boris Korchevnikov, a host on the state-owned television channel Rossiya 1, told the Guardian that he had received the award but refused to discuss it further.

The awards indicated the Kremlin's approval of Russian media outlets that have told a dramatically different version of the Ukraine crisis than that shown by western media, regularly referring to the new Kiev government as a junta led by ultranationalists and fascists.

more to the story..
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/05/vladimir-putin-pro-kremlin-journalists-medals-objective-crimea?CMP=ema_546

No, there's no end to the bait and click hate on America.. fuck them.

[geek tragedy]

9. rt.com is run by a dictatorship to mold the minds

of the gullible and swooning fans of Vladimir Putin's brand of authoritarian nationalism and knee-jerk anti-Americans and conspiracy loons.

So of course Ray McGovern approves.