For as long as there have been Communists abroad there have been useful idiots here at home. In the ’30s we had Walter Duranty at the NY Times and today we have a 24/7 news network called RT.

Launched as Russia Today in 2005, RT is run out of Moscow with a studio in Washington DC and satellite offices around the world. It’s distribution is still primarily via the web and to a long list of hotels around the world, but it is making inroads to satellite and cable providers around the world by offering it’s product (including a Spanish language version) for free. So for instance, you can now get RT on Time Warner cable in NY or New Jersey. Here’s why this is a matter of concern.

From the outset it was clear that RT was a propaganda effort controlled completely by the Kremlin. The Kremlin put up more than $30 million to get it started and spend double that to pay a staff of over 100 reporters in just its first year of operation. When it launched in 2005, CBS interviewed former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Fedotov, who explained what RT was about:

The Kremlin’s inside advisors believe professional propaganda might form the splendid and shiny image of modern Russia, without Chechen war…without corruption.

RT attracted some negative attention in 2007 for running a weird ad campaign which attempted to humanize Stalin. But the propaganda arm really swung into action in 2008 when Russia invaded East Ossetia. (You may recall John McCain’s statment at the time “Today, we are all Georgians.”) After RT reporter William Dunbar mentioned on air the fact that Russia had bombed Georgia, the rest of his scheduled appearances that day were canceled. He resigned, telling the Guardian “The real news, the real facts of the matter, didn’t conform to what they were trying to report, and therefore, they wouldn’t let me report it.”

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Last week, Air America announced its official closure and intention to file Chapter 7.  For those who had been following news surrounding the weeping willow of talk radio, this was no surprise.  While making a thin-kid splash with pseudo-celebrities back in 2004, the liberal network had a rocky history, replete with scandal, two bankruptcies and acquisitions.

Last week, Big Journalism’s James Hudnall reminded readers that Air America’s problems are not new.  According to Hudnall, “After a scandal involving misappropriated funds from black school children it promptly filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy two years later. Franken, Rhodes and Garofalo abandoned ship.”  (Come to think of it, perhaps that last part wasn’t so bad after all).

While Air America’s demise is surely a sad day for the precious few  who enjoyed leftist radio programming, there’s no need for liberal lamentations.  The left still dominates Hollywood, the university system and mainstream media, where adherents can find ongoing solace and a sympathetic informational stream – a triangular dominance of sorts.

What is most interesting about Air America’s silence is the clamor coming from angry liberals, particularly those at the painstakingly partisan Media Matters for America.  As can be expected, Media Matters’ Jamison Foser issued a statement that attacks conservative critics entitled, “The Right might want to hold off on gloating over Air America’s demise.” (more…)