So, after my last post, I decided to take a look and watch some RT myself. After all I got a Roku now and RT is available to watch on it. So I sat down and watched it like I used to watch CNN and MSNBC when I still trusted them as media outlets.
So, first the good. They have a lot of progressive outlets on RT. I already knew about Lee Camp and Thom Hartmann who I sometimes listen to in terms of podcasts and the like on YouTube, but I also got to watch Ed Schultz, who I used to watch on MSNBC. So a lot of progressives on there, left wing bias on domestic politics.
However, watching Ed Schultz really told me all I need to know about the network from a bias perspective. Ed Schultz, who used to toe the democratic party line on MSNBC, is now pushing the narrative of attacking the democratic attacks on "fake news." Seeing how I watched Lee Camp going on for a half hour about the same thing before that, it is quite clear that RT was pushing a narrative. I got similar vibes from RT that I got from MSNBC or CNN. That there was a bias, a slant, a narrative, and it was pushing propaganda.
Even though I at least in part agree with RT on the whole fake news thing and do agree its an attempt to censor outlets like RT, this doesn't excuse the fact that it was a narrative nevertheless. It is quite clear RT wishes to deflect from the possibility of Russian interference in the election and even if they say similar stuff that me and other Sanders supporters have been saying a lot, we need to remember that like corporate media, this is an outlet owned by certain interests and will not be willing to cross those interests. Seeing Ed Schultz go from dancing for the democratic party and MSNBC's owners to RT's owners and the Russian government really shows how much a narrative and being in someone's service can change a man.
Still, regardless, the similarities are there. And considering the outcry RT gets,how its called a propaganda outlet relentlessly, this is worth discussing. RT is clearly biased, and its words should be taken with a grain of salt and its interests in mind. But its no worse than corporate media outlets, and if RT is sooo bad, and is fake news, and propaganda, and blah blah blah, where does that leave CNN and MSNBC, let alone fox news? Aren't they propaganda outlets? Don't they have narratives? Or should we turn a blind eye to it where its only bad when the dirty evil Russians do it because hooray, tribalism? That's what it is. When other countries push narratives and propaganda, we act like they're so evil and manipulative, but then when powerful American interests do it, it's suddenly okay? If RT is fake news and propaganda, then mainstream outlets are too. And they should be approached with the same skepticism and criticism. Let's do away with double standards and allow both kinds if outlets to thrive in a country based in free speech, while criticizing the biases of both.
Because honestly, RT and mainstream corporate media are two sides of the same coin. They both have narratives, owners, biases, and things they they can't discuss in an objective way. And they should be treated similarly. What the mainstream media fears from a foreign media network in terms of brainwashing and indoctrination is constantly done by our own American media outlets, and people don't even bat an eye. What people see in RT is what I see when I watch CNN, for example. It's ALL propaganda to me. Yes, RT deserves its share of criticism. But it does not deserve censorship. Likewise, mainstream media deserves similar criticism for brainwashing the American public.
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