THE owner of a Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT has breached UK broadcasting codes 15 times in the last six years.
The station is funded by the Russian Government and is controlled by TV-Novosti, which has three Ofcom licenses, two for RT and one for RT Europe.
But according to Ofcom, TV-Novosti has committed 15 breaches since May 2012, eight of which related to due impartiality.
The eight transgressions related to programmes about Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Turkey and Nato between 2011 and 2016.
Two of the 2014 breaches were judged to have been of such a “serious nature” that the licence holder was directed to broadcast a summary of Ofcom’s decisions.
One related to a programme called ‘Genocide of Eastern Europe’ broadcast on RT Europe in July 2014.
The show concerned the actions of the Ukrainian Government towards the population of eastern Ukraine and compared the Government’s behaviour to Hitler and Nazi Germany.
However, only one reference to the Ukrainian Government’s viewpoint was broadcast - for approximately six seconds.
The ruling stated: “Ofcom concluded that the programme was a current affairs programme which dealt with matters of political controversy, and TV Novosti’s failure to maintain due impartiality represented a serious breach of the Broadcasting Code.”
Another related to a programme entitled “Media ‘Staged’ Syria Chem Attack”, which alleged that a “massive public investigation” had found that the BBC had faked footage of a chemical weapons attack in Syria.
The regulator stated: “Ofcom noted that reference to a 'massive public investigation' in fact described allegations made by a member of the public, to which the BBC had made detailed responses, and some online articles which had not been investigated. This was not explained in the programme.
“We therefore considered that the statement that there had been a 'massive public investigation' which had made 'some extremely disturbing findings' was materially misleading to RT’s audiences.”
According to Ofcom, 15 breaches since 2012 is “not an unusually high number” and TV Novosti's overall compliance record has “not been materially out of line with other broadcasters”.
However, since the double poisonings in Salisbury, Ofcom said it had “observed” a “significant increase” in the number of programmes broadcast that “warrant investigation”.
In March, the regulator opened seven new investigations into the due impartiality of RT news and current affairs programmes.
One of the probes related to “audience tweets” in the Alex Salmond Show, which Ofcom provisionally found were not from audience members.
TV Novosti’s description of RT, which was set up 2005, is that it “covers stories overlooked by the mainstream media provides alternative perspectives on current affairs, and acquaints international audiences with a Russian viewpoint on major global events”.
According to Ofcom, RT has an audience of 3,400 viewers at “any given point during the day” and an average weekly reach of 1.06 per cent of adults (540,000).
CONSPIRACY THEORIES CIRCULATED BY RT
2012: RT reports claims that President Obama’s long-form birth certificate is "fraudulent"
2012: RT quotes a Tea Party activist who claims Obama was previously married to a Pakistani man
2014: RT claims that a “massive public investigation” found the BBC faked footage of a chemical weapons attack in Syria
2014: An RT presenter speculates that the independence referendum result may have been rigged and expressed surprise at the "North Korean" levels of turnout
2018: RT quotes former Russian security service director Nikolay Kovalev on the Salisbury poisonings - "It looks like British secret services are complicit in it"
2018: RT jokes about the poisonings - “It’s been a huge novi-cockup”
2018: An RT report claims that the White Helmets, a first responders group that is aiding victims in Syria, have alleged “links” to Al Qaeda
2018: An RT report claims that the polonium used to kill Alexander Litvinenko was in the UK before the Russians accused of murdering him arrived in the UK
2018: In the same report, “Moscow” cites a “German probe” pointing to the late Boris Berezovsky for the death of Litvinenko
No date: Russian Government-backed rebels stand accused of downing a Malaysia Airlines jet over Ukraine, but RT has consistently cast doubt on the claims
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