RT is not your babushka’s Soviet-style propaganda; it broadcasts sophisticated conspiracy theories and “anti-establishment” attitudes to push a virulently anti-American and illiberal agenda. The network relies on a pool of talking heads, including 9/11 truthers, anti-Semites and other assorted extremists, who espouse the sort of views found where the far left and the far right converge. It has amassed more YouTube hits than any other global news channel.
Resting in my Stockholm hotel room after a tour of the Swedish royal family’s residence, Drottningholm Palace, the idea of appearing on Russian state television to talk about the sentencing of leaker Pfc. Bradley Manning — the topic of the panel onto which I had been invited — was the furthest thing from my mind. Obsessive and one-sided coverage of the Manning case is typical of RT, as with any story that can be used to paint the United States in a negative light. What’s more, I had sworn off appearing on RT or any news channel funded by an authoritarian government, after Iran’s English-language broadcaster deceived me by posing as a Danish network to book me on a panel about the 2008 vice-presidential debate. …
The following day, I set out to look for some gay-pride paraphernalia — ideally a rainbow flag I could hide until my moment on live TV. Hours scouring downtown Stockholm turned up nothing. Then, in a bargain bin at a vintage-clothing store, I spotted a pair of rainbow suspenders.
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