In my belief system, God hates a cheater. Well, news UK media regulator Ofcom is leaning on Russia Today (RT) to influence their policies, it just stinks of a fix.
Having just launched their United Kingdom media alternative, Russia Today leadership no doubt expected some hurdles, but accusing the Russian media company of undue bias over the Ukraine situation? If that ain’t calling the kettle black! RT Editor-in-Chief, Margarita Simoyan (below right), notorious for her toughness and saying it like it is, she scolded the UK regulators. Simonyan told RIA Novosti:“Obviously, the accusations of partiality are nothing but an attempt to influence our editorial policy. Every day we see tons of biased materials on the BBC, where the voice of countries and governments running counter to the British position is not heard. No one is about to deprive them [the BBC] of a license.”
Earlier this week Ofcom issued a note accusing RT of one-sided coverage of events in Ukraine. The regulators further threatened sanctions on the Russian TV channel.
Its funny, we heard of no such warnings when BBC played parrot to The Sun and other media back when Malaysian flight #MH17 was lost! Without so much as an eyewitness account or Polaroid of (in fact contrary to eyewitnesses) BBC and the rest of UK media chanted World War III, World War III, World War III over the smoking wreckage of the airliner. Months later, and even the Dutch figure the plane may have been shot down by Kiev, or better yet the CIA. Well, at least “Putin’s Missile” is on a par with the “Obama’s Missile” if fairness is the aim.
THE SUN: Putin’s missile pic.twitter.com/R2o3fsc3Ja #TomorrowsPapersToday #BBCPapers via @hendopolis
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 17, 2014
I’ve covered this Ukraine situation since the onset, and western mainstream media has already damned their reputation to hell. Viewing the comments the whole time, and monitoring social media since before the Sochi Games, the trend is with RT’s stories, not BBC’s or other similar outlets. Let’s face it, these sellouts have been telling us the economy’s better for years, they’ve hidden the truth more than revealing it.
I have one question for the outdoing Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards.
Mr. Richards, if Russia Today is the only media outlet that is biased in the Ukraine situation, where’s the “Odessa” of the Kiev regime? Vladimir Putin personally shooting down MH17 notwithstanding, if British media is spot on, why haven’t we seen Pro-Russian separatist war crimes on the East more prominently? Where are the babies killed in the East by artillery and cluster weapons? If Putin is invading Ukraine every day, why are Russian units not at the border to Poland?
As for Richards and Ofcom in general, the agency itself is suspect when all is said and done. The announcement Richards would step down in December reveals a shakeup that has received little focused scrutiny. The bottom line I guess is, Richards has made a lot of enemies (including Rupert Murdoch) and friends over the years. Most say he is brutally impartial, and the skinny on his departure is he’s out because of his leniency. However, he’s got to find a new home somewhere, and nobody in the Brit media family wants an RT competitor, now do they? Some say Richards will take a prominent position in government, let’s see how that pans out if RT get’s sanctioned!
Okay, that was more than one question, but I’d like a response as to why RT has been singles out so soon over past coverage? If you’ve similar questions you can contact Ofcom via mail at: news@ofcom.org.uk or hammer, uh hum, I mean check them out on Twitter, Facebook, and even Google Plus. Just so you know, this regulatory organization is also supposed to be about fair competition. I am wondering now if cheating is fair these days?