PressEthic

Russian satellite TV is now available 24 hours a day. Russia Today went on the air recently with the aim of presenting news from a Russian viewpoint. However, Russian Today's website states in more or less words that their target market is global professionals. So will it be another Al Jazeera? In some ways, yes. Like Al Jazeera, and other networks like the BBC, and PBS, the channel will receive state funding. In the case of Russia, the efficacy of its news broadcasts is still up for debate. How effective will such a channel be when it comes to dissecting statements made by officials in government? In general, people want raw news so they can arrive at their own conclusions. In fact, according to ABC, many critics spoke out against Russia Today during experimental broadcasts. Granted, many people also want news that plays into their nationalism. That's why Fox News is so successful. But there is a weariness of government sponsored products. There is more of a danger when the state is disseminating propaganda than when pundits are blasting their opinions on a news program.

Russia isn't the only country that is pursuing such an endeavor in recent times. Earlier this year, President Chavez promoted Telesur, a Venezuelan backed network supposedly modeled after Al Jazeera. That went live on Halloween.

It is still early in the game to determine how successful Russia Today will be. The best indicator of it's effort to deliver unbiased news will be how it handles it's coverage of the violence in Chechnya. And mind you, there are several examples of noteworthy goverement sponsored networks in the world. Given that all media, public or private can be corrupted by state money, we should give the new network a chance to prove itself.