Russia Today

(RT)

   Television station. Launched in 2005, Russia Today is a Russian news channel that broadcasts globally in English and Arabic (the latter is known as Rusiya Al-Yaum). It is sponsored by the state-owned news agency RIA-Novosti. The main objective of the channel is to project Russian official views on international and domestic politics, while providing stories on cultural life in Russia for international audiences. Similar to Al Jazeera English (AJE), France 24, Iran’s Press TV, and Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW-TV), RT is an attempt to provide an alternative perspective on international news on the Anglophone media market dominated by CNN International and the BBC World News. RT’s programming consists of Russian and world news, business and sports programs, feature documentaries, and travel, history, and culture shows. In the Arabic language satellite television marketplace, Rusiya Al-Yaum competes with Al Jazeera (Qatar), al-Hurra (United States), al-Arabiya (United Arab Emirates), and Hizbullah’s al-Manar.

   Russia Today is also the first Russian all-digital channel. It is transmitted on 15 satellites covering Europe, Asia, the Americas, southern Africa, and Australia. The channel is transmitted for free, enabling viewing without a subscription. However, in some countries, such as Great Britain, the channel is available as part of some television packages, which signifies national control over foreign television broadcasters. RT has a significant web presence with news clips and free live streams available from the channel’s homepage as well as on YouTube. The channel has been criticized for applying positive spin to reports about the Putin and Medvyedev governments and aggressively promoting a pro-Kremlin political agenda. Despite such concerns, RT broadcasts are highly professional and sleekly designed, and have won numerous industry awards.