Media in America and Russia
Inmates running the asylum — The firms bankruptcy is much more than the story of a partnership gone wrong
A FEW years back, at an international media conference, a Russian reporter … for the Kremlin-backed television station RT (formerly Russia Today) asked me whether I thought CNN was an American propaganda channel. Given the way CNN and other American networks had practically fallen over each other in their eagerness to cheer on the invasion of Iraq, the question had some merit. Also, the reporter was gorgeous, and her challenging expression suggested that if I answered «no», she would roll her eyes and end the conversation. So I said yes, you could say that CNN sometimes functions as an American propaganda channel, but not because of any direct influence by government officials on its editorial content. It’s just that Americans, reporters and viewers included, are naturally disposed to back their own government in international conflicts, and the network gives the public what it wants.