William Dunbar, a correspondent for the English-language international TV channel Russia Today, has left the station after his live reports from Georgia were dropped by the station after one in which he mentioned Russian bombing. He said: “I felt that I had no choice but to resign.” He said that he was reporting the facts, but that “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.”
A Russia Today spokeswoman cited a Georgian media report that claimed Dunbar had protested at Russia’s “aggression” against Georgia. She said the channel assumed that was why he quit.
(Source: Media Guardian)
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 01:41
As soon as the confict began, Dunbar got a lucrative job offer from the UK’s SkyNews that badly needed a correspondent in Tbilisi. But in order to accept this offer he had to formally leave Russia Today first.
So Dunbar’s last report for RT was filed on Sat. After that he hastily quit the Russian station and started working for SkyNews with his first report due Mon. morning.
Both PRI and VoA that reported on this story failed to mention that Dunbar simply switched to SkyNews. Even RT seems to be unaware of the true reason for his leaving. Dunbar’s reports on SkyNews do seem to be slanted towars UK viewers’ historic expectations of who the bad guy in the Caucasus is.
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 14:08
Nice try SRG to try to stop the bleeding . . . Russia Today is a propaganda machine and finally someone at the station decided to stand up and say it. It’s not even good propaganda, it’s a joke.
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 15:49
Not sure what the real reason for Dunbar’s departure from RT, but certainly agree with Bakinets’ comment regarding the quality of RT’s reporting and substance of what they are doing. I often wonder what/how these seemingly young and educated mordern people at RT or most of the Russian TV people feel when doing what they are doing knowing full well deep in their hearts that it is complete and utter crap. There is still a very long way to spiritual and mental freedom for many people in Russia.
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 16:32
Ok, guys, I’m not trying to defend RT, just setting the facts straight.
Russia joined fighting on Fri. pm and already on Sun. Dunbar was preparing his first report for SkyNews. I guess if I were him I’d also switch to a better-paying and more respectable SkyNews. But I wouldn’t try to spin the whole story as some kind of highly righteous fight for the freedom of speech…
As you can see, the Western media has its own biases: no one cared to mention that a Brit jumpshiped a no-name Russian channel for a famous UK outlet.
Zarbazan, I know how you feel while watching RT. That’s how Russians feel when they watch CNN International. Pardon the pan but those differences in perception of reality are very real. Just like you, many people in Russia wonder about the state of “mental freedom“ in the Anglo-Saxon countries.
BTW quite a few British journalists left RT back in 2006/07. For instance, RT’s most gorgeous face Amand Burt switched to Iranian Press TV. Sadly, the Iranians require her to cover her head in all her onair apperances
You can search for her vids on YouTube.
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 19:29
RT is not an independent station. It\’s objective is to present the Russian point of view on events and is sponsored by the state-funded Russian news agency RIA-Novosti. When the station began, a lot of western journalists joined it. I can imagine how they must feel now it\’s war and they are not as free as they would be at BBC World or Sky News.
on Aug 15th, 2008 at 00:12
Pieter, CNN/MSNBC/Fox aren’t much more independent than RT. This time I’m not too impressed with BBC World News either. Isn’t it mostly state-funded just like RT? When it comes to reporting this war DW-TV is the best - toned down and objective. My kudos to them!
on Aug 16th, 2008 at 20:00
SRG: I don’t think you ae correct in what you say about William Dunbar. His report which was due to go out on the Saturday was NOT broadcast by RT and he was told that he could not quote any other agencies on his reports. This information was imparted during a live interview on SKY TV. If he was offered a job by Sky TV then why not just resign and go to Sky instead of playing games? And if his reports were pulled after he had already resigned then good riddance. It is interesting to note that RT’s discussion forum has consored all attempts by me to discuss the issue on their forum, which I think shows how sensitive they are about it. And the Times Foreign news editor, who appeared in a brief live interview on RT during which time he was subjected to an ill-mannered savaging by the station’s embittered American Kremlin mouthpiece Peter Lavelle, told me that he understands many other Western journalists have left the station. If anyone wants a lesson in crude, almosr comical, cheap propaganda, they could do worse than tune to RT.
on Aug 17th, 2008 at 03:52
Bannman123, RT is a “niche“ TV channel that seeks to provide an alternative source of information. In reporting on Georgia conflict RT presents a perspective often unavailable in the Western media. On the other hand, CNN, Sky, etc. reflect the US/UK and Georgian point of view while EuroNews, DW, France 24 provide an EU perspective. And then there are Al-Jazeera and Press TV.
Of course, if you disagree with something on any international TV or radio station you can always dismiss it as a propaganda coming from a mouthpiece of Kremlin, White House, Brussels, Tehran, etc.
Dunbar was employed at RT under the Russian Labor Code. The Code provides some degree of protection for both employee and employer. For instance, it doesn’t allow “firing on the spot“and resignations “starting today.“ According to the Code, if Dunbar wanted to quit RT he had to submit a two-week written notice. Considering the situation I don’t think Sky News would wait for him for so long. That’s why he had to “play games“, in your words. When RT called him for a report he was already working for a “competitor.“ And that wasn’t a breach of contract but rather a courageous step of a truth-loving journalist!
It’s a common practice for all media outlets not to discuss their former disgruntled employees. That’s why RT doesn’t want you to start this discussion on their site.
Hope this was helpful.
on Aug 22nd, 2008 at 17:06
I quit Russia Today too because of censorship, but at least i didn’t know what the station was gonna be like (horrible) before I started working there because when I started the station wasn’t even on the air yet. I basically believed the promises that the station would be independent - I was foolish. I was told directly to tell a lie on the air. But Dunbar must have known BEFORE he started that the station is for losers. The Brits who work there, from what I remember, are good but young people without standards who need the money.
on Aug 26th, 2008 at 13:57
Hi,
This is actually William Dunbar, and I’d like to clarify a few things:
I am NOT (unfortunately) employed by Sky News. The day after I resigned I gave an interview with them; after that they asked me to work as a fixer and write some things for their website, I was paid a per diem.
I was NOT employed under the Russian labour code, but the Georgian. I worked for an independent contractor, RTTV Georgia. My contract allowed for immediate termination upon agreement between the parties.
I am very grateful to RT for providing me with huge amounts of experience, and I respect many of the people that work there. Unfortunately, their coverage of the events in Georgia was unacceptable to me. I have outlined this in many interviews since my resignation.
Hopefully I will indeed be able to get a better job, but so far I have not found one.
on Aug 26th, 2008 at 14:02
William,
Thanks very much for taking the trouble to put the record straight. I wish you well in your search for a new job.
on Sep 1st, 2008 at 09:31
William, thanks for your reply. It is a pity that you left the station as I used to enjoy your reports. In spite of censorship RT is an alternative source of information - during this conflict the Western media was censored significantly more than RT..
However I would like to mention the fact that during the initial stage of the illigal war in Iraq the British Government made a very BIG reshuffle in the BBC, the and stifled the voices of independent journalists. Even now there is a ban on showing the results of bombings, they wouldn’t show you a close-up of a dead body.
So I don’t think it came as a surprise that during the military actions the level of censorship at the RT was raised - it was also raised here in the west.
I’m sorry I wouldn’t see you on RT anymore.
Good luck to you in your job search !
on Sep 8th, 2008 at 01:53
Let’s face it CNN was telling downright lies about the war.
I was shocked to see them show pictures of South Ossetia when talking about the Georgian town of Gori. They were often confusing their viewers talking about the Russin army’s invasion and showing pix of Gerogian robust military instead.
We should all be very clear that heavy artillery was used against sleeping kids in S.ossetia. They were literally killed in their beds and reports of these atrocities were ignored by most of the western media. It was thanks to RTTV that i was able to see THE OTHER NEWS.
especially to their XL reports. My heart was bleeding for those mothers who had to bury their sons in the gardens as they feared to venture on tot he streets.
Democratic Georgia?
You cannot watch Russian TV channels there. The only opposition leaning channel Imedia TV was stormed in by Georgian police as it was on air and it was shut down. The people there are brainwashed and their hatred towards russians ( people who they used to live together with for almost a century is being skillfully motivated).
Almsot one million Gergians work in Russia sending money back home to sustain decent living of their families. That’s one fourth of the whole population.
The least thing they want is deterioration of relations with Russians.
There are a plenty of Georgian cousine restaurants across Russia and their actors are starring in Russia’s best films. Cultural ties are extraordinary strong.
The U.S. behind the scene masters are honing their skills at dividing friendly nations against each other - that’s the answer to all the shed tears of people there. Nobady in Russia wants war with Georgia. But Saakashvili left Russia no choice. The scars of war now will take time to seal up.
on Sep 9th, 2008 at 14:32
PR of this article in Portuguese:
http://rutenia.blogspot.com/2008/09/censura-na-tv-russa.html
on Oct 3rd, 2008 at 16:02
so its just about you, huh, and your precious \’vast experience\