RT’s upcoming German-language broadcast from Moscow ‘already subject to info warfare’ – Russian Foreign Ministry
The Russian Foreign Ministry is awaiting explanations from Berlin following a reported top-secret meeting with Luxembourg officials over a broadcasting license for RT’s planned German-language TV channel.
The media outlet is attempting to secure the license in Luxembourg for a TV channel under the provisional name RT auf Deutsch. The signal would be coming from a studio in Moscow, with existing sister company RT DE Productions GmbH, which is based in Berlin, providing talk shows, exclusive interviews, and news reports.
Meanwhile, the plan to expand the news coverage is facing a pushback from the media in Germany. For instance, newspaper Der Tagesspiegel alleged in June that RT was waging a smear campaign against Annalena Baerbock, the candidate for the German chancellorship from the Green party. Tagesspiegel claimed Baerbock’s critical views on the policies of the Russian Federation had angered President Vladimir Putin.
While not singling out this particular report, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, on Thursday lambasted media attacks against the outlet, saying the German media is essentially behaving “beyond any professional ethic line.” She recalled RT being labelled ‘‘Kremlin’s mouthpiece” as well as a “weapon of propaganda.”
“It’s not even a negative [coverage]… It’s an outright information war that has been declared to the Russian channel by the German media.”
According to the spokeswoman, among those taking part in the campaign are outlets like Spiegel and Focus, as well as tabloid Bild. The latter is notorious for its Russia-bashing publications.
On top of the media pressure, RT seems to be facing a serious pushback from “state services” in Germany.
“Isn’t it time to just stop? Isn’t it time to get back to the high values, which Berlin has been preaching to the world when it comes to free speech,” Zakharova remarked.
RT DE Productions GmbH has for some time been facing intense pressure in its hosting country, with German banks, for example, refusing to service it, or drastically changing their terms for the worse.
In mid-June RT applied for a broadcasting license in Luxembourg, in accordance with EU rules on foreign media. However, that same month the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the issue had been discussed by German and Luxembourg officials via a secure link.The report begs further questions about Berlin’s involvement and Russia would like to hear some explanation, Zakharova said.
“We found it strange and regretful seeing how the fundamental right of the German people to disseminate and consume information is being violated,” she remarked.
The Russian government earlier said that attempts to obstruct the work of RT-affiliated media outlets in Germany were perceived as hostile by Moscow. German journalists working in Russia may face “tough reciprocal measures” because of it, the Foreign Ministry warned.
RT is set to launch its German-speaking TV channel in December this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment