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"Serves lies as truth", American Embassy: This is the journalist who works for Putin

2022-09-06 10:35:53Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
"Serves lies as truth", American Embassy: This is the journalist who
Vladimir Putin

The US Embassy in Tirana has published a DASH article, which states that Margarita Simonyan is one of the main faces of Russian President Vladimir Putin's propaganda and disinformation, both internationally and within Russia.

She is capable of serving up lies as truth – and with a smile.

Margarita Simonyan began her career in the Kremlin-funded and controlled media in 2001 as a journalist for the Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK).

In 2005, she became editor-in-chief of Russia's first state-funded English-language media outlet, RT, formerly known as Russia Today.

She holds her position at RT while simultaneously serving as editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya, editor-in-chief of TV-Novosti and co-founder of the Association for the Development of International Journalism. Despite the many hats she wears, her primary function is as Vladimir Putin's loyal propagandist.

A life of lies

Throughout her career, Simonyan has supported the Kremlin's agenda by spreading disinformation and propaganda. Before becoming RT's editor-in-chief, Simonyan worked in the Kremlin's group of journalists covering President Putin. She became famous after reporting on the 2004 Beslan school terrorist attack in the North Caucasus. The YouTube channel of Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny, who is currently in a maximum security prison after politically motivated convictions, accused Simonyan of deliberate lies. during its broadcasts in Beslan to serve the Kremlin's priorities. Despite Russian authorities knowing the truth, Simonyan failed to mention that the terrorists said they would release the hostages if Russian soldiers left Chechnya, and she underreported the number of hostages.

For years, Simonyan has openly expressed her support for disinformation and propaganda. In a 2012 interview covering RT's work during the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, she stated, "The Ministry of Defense was at war with Georgia, and we waged an information war with the entire Western world." In a 2013 interview, she said, “the weapon of information is, of course, used at critical moments, and war is always a critical moment. And it is war. It's a weapon like any other.” Although Simonyan claims to be a journalist, she openly supported it by overturning the ban on media censorship in the Russian constitution, stating that "no great country can exist without control over information." Despite her disapproval of so-called Western values,

"Serves lies as truth", American Embassy: This is the journalist who

Simonyan solidified her role as a prolific purveyor of Kremlin disinformation as Russia further invaded Ukraine. Before February 2022, like other Kremlin disinformers, she denied that Russia would take military action against Ukraine, claiming that she was "absolutely convinced that Russia will not start a war with Ukraine and it will not happen in no way". Since Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, Simonyan has stepped up her bellicose language, twice indicating that Russia might use nuclear weapons. In June 2022, Simonyan insinuated that the Kremlin wanted global food insecurity when she ended a story with the words, "all our hope is in famine." She claimed that a positive outcome of global hunger would be the lifting of global sanctions against Russia.

Kremlin Disinformation – A Family Affair

Putin's disinformation and propaganda is a profitable business, and not only for Simonyan. In 2020, Navalny and his team published a two-part investigation into the corrupt financial benefits of Simonyan and her family. One of the investigations focused on Simonyan's husband, Tigran Keosayan, who is also in the disinformation and propaganda business. Since 2016, Keosayan has hosted a political comedy television show called "International Saëmil with Tigran Keosayan", which is produced in the style of American late-night television political comedy. Instead of making fun of the government, Keosayan's comedy supports Putin. According to Navalny's investigation, Simonyan is the artistic director of the TV show.

Keosayan uses state-funded resources to film his show and sells it to a state-funded broadcaster at an inflated price. Gold Vision, Keosayan's studio, sells each episode of "International Sawmill" to state-funded NTV for 3.4 million rubles. With an average of 35 episodes per year, NTV pays Gold Vision nearly 120 million rubles (about $2 million). In addition, International Saëmill films its episodes at the Kremlin-funded RT studios, where Margarita Simonyan is the editor-in-chief. About ten full-time RT employees work at International Sawmill every week. Most do not receive payment from Gold Vision studio for their work. According to Navalny's 2020 investigation, in addition to using state funds to produce the TV program,

Canada, the Kingdom and the European Union have sanctioned Simonyan and Keosayan for their distribution of Kremlin disinformation about Russia's war against Ukraine. Kazakhstan has banned Keosayan from the country because of his perceived threats to Kazakhstan's sovereignty.

Being a spokesman for the Kremlin pays well

The Navalny 2020 investigation exposed other streams of corrupt income of the Simonyan-Keosayan family. A specific incident illustrated the complexity of the Simonyan-Keosayan corruption network:

Simonyan and her husband wrote and directed the 2018 film The Crimean Bridge, which aimed to build national pride in a recently built bridge connecting Russia with Russian-occupied Crimea. The film received 100 million rubles from the state-funded organization Cinema Foundation. The film was a Simonyan-Keosayan affair with Keosayan directing the film and Simonyan writing the screenplay. In addition, Keosayan's brother, two daughters, ex-wife, nephew and nephew's wife earned significant sums of money for their participation in the film. In total, the Simonyan-Keosayan family earned 45 million rubles from the film, all drawn from government coffers. This was in stark contrast to the budget for all the actors in the film, which was only 10 million rubles.

Despite Navalny's investigations that exposed the corruption of the Simonyan-Keosayan family, the Russian government has yet to prosecute the couple. It seems that because Simonyan has dedicated her life to spreading disinformation and propaganda in the service of the Kremlin, the Kremlin will continue to support her financially.


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