WaPo - How Ed Schultz transformed from MSNBC lefty to the American face of Moscow media [View all]

[TomCADem]

The story of Ed Schultz selling out to notable in two respects. First, his hiring by Russia Today reflects a comprehensive propaganda strategy by the Russians to influence not only Republicans, most notably Donald Trump, but to also try to influence the left and undermine Democrats who are not seen as friendly to Russia. Second, it seems that everyone has price, and in the case of Ed Schultz, he is now on the Russia Today payroll carrying water for Donald Trump and Putin. It is not just matter of watching out for right wing corporate media, but you can very well have media targeting the left that is heavily controlled by foreign actors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/how-ed-schultz-transformed-from-msnbc-lefty-to-the-american-face-of-moscow-media/2016/12/20/320713f4-c322-11e6-8422-eac61c0ef74d_story.html?utm_term=.87f88a2a9925

Ed Schultz used to be the bombastic lefty host of a syndicated radio show and daily MSNBC program. He befriended Hillary Clinton, called Donald Trump “a racist” for his birther views, and once beseeched God to take Dick Cheney “to the promised land.”

In 2014, he ripped Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s “nasty” human rights record. He also torched American conservatives for siding with the Russian president as a counter to President Obama. “Putie is their new hero,” sneered Schultz. But the times have changed. And so has Ed Schultz.

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Schultz now hosts RT America’s signature evening newscast, “News With Ed Schultz,” produced in a studio located three blocks from the White House. Schultz is the American face — ruddy, beefy, with a megaphone voice — of a Moscow-based media organization that reports the news a little differently than CNN or NBC.

“Good evening, friends,” Schultz boomed on his program one recent evening before swiftly segueing into “the alleged hacking” of the presidential election by Russia. Schultz skipped the latest details, such as President Obama’s views on the matter or the consensus among American intelligence agencies about the extent of Russian meddling. Instead he went straight to Ed Schultz’s view of the matter: “This has become a lifeline for Clinton supporters in an effort to reverse the outcome of the election. . . . In the meantime, the story has entered the arena of outrageous.”