RT anchor who quit on-air slams former employer: 'It's about promoting a Putinist agenda'
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Yesterday, Russia Today anchor Liz Wahl abruptly resigned from her position during her newscast, explaining that she no longer wanted to be employed by a network that "whitewashes the actions of [Vladimir] Putin." Her decision was in response to RT's adamantly pro-Russian coverage of the military invasion of Crimea that has angered other anchors on the Kremlin-funded network.
In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Wahl explained that "the propagandist nature of RT came out in full force" during its coverage of Crimea. "I would hope as a reporter and in life, you should always seek the truth, spread the truth, disseminate the truth," she said. "And what's clear is what's happening right now amid this crisis is that RT is not about the truth. It's about promoting a Putinist agenda."
RT called Wahl's dramatic on-air resignation a "self-promotional stunt."
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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.