Kremlin-backed Russia Today launches British news channel

[NewWorldRecord]

Kremlin-backed Russia Today launches British news channel

The 24-hour station, bankrolled by the Kremlin, is the first overseas news operator to specifically target viewers in the UK

PUBLISHED : Monday, 03 November, 2014, 8:48pm
UPDATED : Monday, 03 November, 2014, 8:48pm

The Guardian

RT's UK channel will be scrutinised by critics. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The battle for the hearts and minds of the global television news audience has entered a new phase with the launch of a dedicated British version of the Kremlin-backed 24-hour news channel RT.

It is the first time an overseas news operator has launched a service specifically targeted at British viewers. Last week's launch will be followed tomorrow by the unveiling of Qatar-funded al-Jazeera's glittering new studios in central London.

They are the latest salvos in a soft power onslaught in which RT, al-Jazeera, China's state-funded CCTV and the BBC World Service, alongside its commercially funded sister television channel BBC World News, are among some of the most prominent players.

RT, bankrolled by Vladimir Putin to the tune of £250 million (HK$3.1 billion) a year and criticised as a propaganda mouthpiece for the Russian government, is likely to find its output under intense scrutiny.

The international version of RT, short for Russia Today, is already facing six separate investigations by media regulator Ofcom, including one over its coverage of the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Richard Sambrook, former director of global news at the BBC, said: "Editorially its line is clearly one that is being driven by the Kremlin agenda.

"It's a surprising move to focus resources on the UK. It's not a commercial proposition; therefore the main purpose must be to gain influence. It's about soft power for the Kremlin."

Both RT, in preparation for its British launch, and the English language service of al-Jazeera, funded by the Qatari government, have been on big recruitment drives in Britain in the last 12 months.

This is in contrast to the World Service, which has seen its budget cut and faces further uncertainty after its funding was switched from the government to the BBC's licence fee in April.

The World Service's outgoing director, Peter Horrocks, said: "The World Service is an antidote to extremism and sensationalism, which is a lot of [what] RT presents. There is an even stronger role for the BBC to play.

"The BBC does not present news from a British point of view or perspective - telling it straight paradoxically is what boosts Britain's reputation globally."

Horrocks said al-Jazeera, which launched in the US last year, had become "much more of a player".

The channel beat the BBC and Sky News to win the news channel of the year prize at the Royal Television Society television journalism awards two years ago.

Salah Negm, the director of news for al-Jazeera's English channel, said: "Al-Jazeera gives a voice to the voiceless and the under-reported stories of the world. It puts the human story at the heart of its reporting. We have the same objective as the BBC - to be honest and neutral."

RT's UK channel will be made up of five hours of programmes a day broadcast from its new studios in Milbank, with the rest of the schedule filled by content from its international channel.

Its output is likely to be closely monitored by critics.

Mark Wallace, the executive editor of the Conservative Home blog, made a Twitter appeal to "fellow Westminster bods" not to appear on the channel. "There is no upside in helping the Kremlin spread its propaganda," he said.

Another government-funded news channel, Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster's English language outlet, was closed down in Britain two years ago, after its licence was revoked by Ofcom for persistent breaches of broadcasting regulations.