RT Celebrates 10 Years on Air

My sincere congratulations to the people behind the project.

You've done great job, you are alive and kicking'em all, and you still have a lot to do in the future.

Watch RT and think different, people!

Good News from RT

RT has announced today their five YouTube channels combined passed over 2 billion views mark.

They celebrate the facts that people watch their content 3 times more often than that of CNN or Euronews, 2.5 times more oftne than Al Jazeera, they enjoy 2,5 million subscribers.

And this is definitely a great success, especialy taking into account that they hit 1 billion views benchmark last year. The RT team has well deserved congratulations, but this is not that I'd like to draw your attention to.

In my opinion, this is a clear sign that the world's audience is sick and tired of the heavily biased TV flood from the 1st world big guys like CNN, BBC, Euronews, etc. People worldwide are just fed up with unilateral propaganda from those who consider the world monopolar (or for some reasons act as if it is). They want to know other points of view. They want to think different.

I am not a child. I know that RT is state funded company, and it surely has a certain level of pro-Russian propaganda. Yet in the world overfilled with russophobia, I don't think it's that bad.

That's just nice that millions people around the globe spend their precious time (and we all know time is money) to discover other existing opinions and viewpoints. Thus, their own, personal opinions become more weighted and well-grounded.

And the level of misunderstanding in the world decreases.

On Freedom of Speech - 2

Last week Margarita Simonyan met Julian Assange. Yep, that very person behind WikiLeaks.

Margarita is not only a beautiful woman and happy mother of two; she, being of ethnically Armenian descent, is a true patriot of Russia and a really smart editor-in-chief of the RT TV, doing an excellent job in her position.

I am not going to translate her full article on their meeting. I just want to draw your attention to one thing she says Assange told her.

He remainded the story of Kurdish TV in Denmark.

It was quite democratic and within the general freedom of speech rule that Denmark gave home to Kurdish TV, to a great dislike of Turkey.

Once Danish Premier-Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen was chosen as a NATO General Secretary to be. And Turkey said they would veto his election. Just because of this Kurdish TV channel.

It was a minor problem in comparison with the necessity of consensus within the NATO. Even Barak Obama asked them to find a creative solution (so that nobody could feel the freedom of speech was in danger). The solution was found, and Rasmussen got a consent from Turkey and became the General Secretary.

Now, when his term is over, as far as I know there is a Kurdish TV in Denmark again. Evidently, until they in Denmark decide to have another politician in the top NATO circle or do anything else that require a consent of Turkey.

Just to finish.

The RT UK has already got nine warnings from Ofcom. They threaten to withdraw the RT's broadcasting license, because RT is biased and do not reflect to an extent this or that point of view. When RT asked why the BBC is not getting such warnings, being quite biased and contended in reflecting certain viewpoints (e.g. teh viewpoint of the Kremlion upon the Ukrainian issues), the response was they did not regulate the BBC. Nice!

What is that if not a perfect sign of hypocrisy? When it comes to really big business (and no tiny little doubt the strengthening NATO or weakening Russia being such), one of the basic liberal values, the freedom of speech can wait.

Is the RT propaganda, funded by the Russian gov't? Definitely so. But so are the BBC World Service, die Deutsche Welle, France 24, funded by their gov'ts. One of the basic values of capitalism of which we suffered the lack in the USSR, is free competition. Yet it seems that in the field of information and media competition is limited. You are free to say anything — until it satisfies the NATO and the USA behind. And they say these were we Russians who lived under a totalitarian regime...

Bye bye, freedom.