Witness to fighter pilot's comments after airliner's destruction passes lie detector test.

[reorg]

95. BBC World Service fears losing information war as Russia Today ramps up pressure

BBC World Service fears losing information war as Russia Today ramps up pressure
Former director calls for more cash to fight propaganda saying BBC is being outgunned by Kremlin-backed news channel

... International alarm over the rise of Kremlin-funded news, led by 24-hour news channel Russia Today, has intensified

... As the World Service has pared back, Russia Today has expanded spectacularly. The network, which broadcasts a pro-Kremlin interpretation of world events in English, Spanish, Arabic and Russian, launched a UK-focused channel based in Millbank, central London, recently and plans to launch German and French channels next year.

... The channel boasts of a worldwide reach of 700 million

... "We are being outgunned massively by the Russians and Chinese and that’s something I’ve raised with the BBC. It is frightening the extent to which we are losing the information war."

... Russia Today’s expansion is part of a big investment in soft power. A lot of the eastern states have made bit investments in international broadcasting and that’s their attempt to influence western audiences in the same way the BBC have in the past tried to do that ...

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/21/bbc-world-service-information-war-russia-today


So, the BBC needs to spend even more tax money because ... nobody watches RT?

But the BBC World Sercive (that's just the radio programs alone) already receives way more money (directly from the British Foreign Office): £245 million - than the entire RT operation (including cable tv, social media, web) wordwide next year: £183 million.

In addition, BBC News, which includes the domestic operation but also feeds the international tv channels on cable as well as the web (and negligable social media presence) has a state-financed budget of £350 million. Way to go, Brits, Russia is coming!

http://rt.com/op-edge/216903-rt-guardian-outspending-bbc/



It's official: RT is most watched news network on YouTube with over 2bn views

The BBC World Service, a leading international radio and internet broadcaster providing programmes and content in English and 27 other languages, has a budget of £245 million ($382 million) that is funded from UK TV license fees. RT, with its 24-hour TV and internet coverage in English, Spanish, Arabic and Russian, plus French and German services ready to be rolled out in 2015, will reportedly have a combined budget of 15.38 billion rubles ($271 million as at December 22, 2014) for 2015.

http://rt.com/uk/216559-bbc-rt-budget-horrocks/

RT EXPANDS REACH TO 700 MILLION VIEWERS WORLDWIDE
10.09.2014 14:23
MOSCOW, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 – RT, the Moscow-based multilingual television news network, is now available around the clock to 700 million viewers in more than 100 countries around the globe.

RT family includes the flagship English-language news channel, which just received its third International Emmy nomination, as well as RT Arabic, RT Spanish and RT America news channels, and documentary channel RTDoc in English and Russian.

The network has added more than 40 million viewers to its potential audience in the first half of 2014. Major expansion of RT Spanish in Latin America contributed significantly to this growth.

In Latin America, RT Spanish is now offered by more than 500 cable operators. Presence in the cable grids of Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico was especially increased. In March of 2014 RT Spanish was named the Best Television Channel, Informational Resource and Multimedia Platform by the Mexican Press Club, in what is one of the most prestigious journalism awards in Latin America. RT soon will join Argentina’s national TV grid, thanks to the broadcasting deal that was signed at the end of recent Russian-Argentine talks.

http://rt.com/about-us/press-releases/rt-millions-viewers-worldwide/