Position Paper 1 - News and Information

 Russia Today

Russia Today or as its abbreviated RT, is a Russian state-controlled international television network funded by the federal tax budget of the Russian government. RT has been described as a major propaganda outlet for the Russian government and its foreign policy. Academics, fact-checkers, and news reporters (including some current and former RT reporters) have identified RT as a purveyor of disinformation and conspiracy theories. For these reasons I would say that Russia Today does not publish an atmosphere of freedom of speech.

An example of this would be a news article on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. In the article, it goes out of its way to make the US look bad by quoting Putin saying, “The urgent task facing our organization is to pursue a single and coordinated policy based on the assessment of serious risks related to the mounting tensions in Afghanistan following the hasty withdrawal – or more like a downright escape – by US and NATO troops from the country.” This article attacks the actions of the US and NATO and it comes off as if the government of Russia is superior to the free nations mentioned above.

That said, Russia Today does have feature news stories. One example of this is a Beluga whale being born at the Primorsky aquarium at the city of Vladivostok. I've included a video of the news story down below.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)

https://www.rt.com/russia/535120-putin-eurasian-forum-us-escape/

https://www.rt.com/russia/535109-newborn-beluga-primorsky-aquarium/