May 7, 2012
The Rise of Russia Today (RT Television)
The Russia Today network, now simply known as "RT", has become a global multilingual television news network, reaching 430 million people in over 100 countries. It was founded in 2005 by the government-owned RIA Novosti. RT has 21 bureaus in 16 countries, with "presences" in Washington DC, New York, London, Paris, Delhi, Cairo, Baghdad, Kiev, and other cities. It employs over 2,000 media professionals worldwide.
RT is only available to 50 million people in the United States via satellite network. That is enough to make it the second most-watched foreign news channel in the United States, after BBC News. RT has made huge strides in the Internet video market. By March 2012, its YouTube videos have received almost 700 million views.
I have become a regular watcher of a few RT programs that make it to YouTube. One example is Max Keiser, a financial commentator living in Paris who has a program that focuses on the fallout from U.S. banking scandals. Capital Account is another program that features stories about the debt crisis.
It amazes to realize that we have reached the point that a network out of Moscow has a better grasp of the issues facing our nation than ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox news. Last week, RT had a story on how the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had sneakily passed CISPA--a bill that would require the sharing of information between the government and private online companies to stop possible cyber security threats. Even though CISPA had the potential to steamroll civil liberties, the major news media in America treated it like a page-three news story.
I have no delusions about RT's motivation for critiquing the U.S. By airing our dirty laundry, it makes Mother Russia look better by comparison. It doesn't matter if a friend or foe is sharing the truth. The sad fact is that a growing group of Americans are having to turn to the news outlet of our traditional adversary to find news that our domestic media would rather suppress.
You are not going to find any truth when it comes to RT coverage of news in Russia. Every RT reporter knows there's a code of silence over how Vladimir Putin used fraud to reestablish himself as the ruler of the Russian Federation. Since he controls the majority of the media in Russia, every reporter knows how foolish it would be to get on Putin's bad side.
America may have won the Cold War but we are clearly behind in the propaganda war. The Voice of America started during World War II as means to counter Nazi propaganda. It reached its zenith with the broadcast of Radio Free Europe. Over the past several years, VOA has been in steady decline. VOA still has a weekly audience of 123 million, but this number is spread very thinly over the whole globe.
There is not much of a message to the VOA broadcasts. The network has become so liberalized that all it broadcasts is just a bland rehashing of news anyone can find on a dozen other services. While RT is influencing the attitude of the global community with its coverage of current news events, we're broadcasting jazz music to Central America.
One area where RT is seeing its greatest growth is in the Middle East. According to some estimates, the network's Arabic channel is beating Al Jazeera in some markets. the Al Jazeera channel does not have the funding that RT enjoys, and it has been tainted by past friendly coverage given to radical Islamic groups.
It is a very significant redevelopment for Russia to have a direct voice to Arab nations. During the days of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, most Muslims viewed the USSR as a godless adversary that was ranked right behind Israel and the U.S. Today, Russia has become friends with several key players in the Middle East.
I find it interesting that many of the nations Russia is the most chummy with are the ones cited by Bible prophecy as followers of Gog in the coming Ezekiel 38 and 39 attack against Israel. The connection that has my greatest attention is the Moscow-Damascus alliance. While most nations have backed away from Syria for its brutal suppression of protesters, Russia has maintained the view that the Syrian leadership can do no wrong.
Right now, there is no official state antagonism between Israel and Russia. After all, Russia is a member of the Quartet on the Middle East--nations involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For now, the only bump in their relationship is the fact that Russia always seem to be the one arming Israel's foes. As we get closer to the tribulation hour, I would look for RT to become a leading source of hostility against the Jewish state. In the days before the Gog invasion, RT might put some of Hitler's best propagandists to shame.
"And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee" (Ezekiel 38:1-6).
Todd