RT IN FINAL OF MONTE CARLO TV FESTIVAL

MOSCOW, MAY 17, 2011 – RT has made it to the final of the Monte Carlo Television Festival where it is competing with SKY NEWS, CNN INTERNATIONAL.

RT’s “DOMODEDOVO live” coverage, representing the channel’s 24-hour reporting of the Domodedovo airport terror attack, has been nominated for the Golden Nymph in the category “Best 24-Hour News Programme”. RT began its 24-hour breaking news coverage as soon as the blast hit Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on January 24, 2011. RT correspondents supplied the updates from the blast site, as well as from the train station serving the airport where witnesses and survivors were taken to, and from the hospitals which admitted the injured. In covering this tragedy RT served as the main source of information for the world’s media. RT’s footage was aired by dozens of international news channels including FOX News, CNN, Bloomberg, Sky News, and the Associated Press. Also nominated for this award, aside from SKY News and CNN International, are Canada’s CBC, Spain’s TVE, and Poland’s TVN. CNN’s and SKY News’ nominated entries are clips from the coverage of protests in Egypt and the resignation of the country’s president Hosni Mubarak. The jury includes many influential names in the world of TV broadcasting. RT’s Head of News, Irakly Gachechiladze has been given the honour of presiding over the jury of the Monte Carlo Television Festival in the “Short News” category at this year’s festival. “Short News” unites two categories, Best TV News Items and Best 24-Hour News Programs. This is the second time Iralky is representing RT at the Monte Carlo Festival, but this year he’s the only jury member from Russia. The Monte Carlo Television Festival was established in 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco and since then has become the world’s largest forum for TV films, shows, news reports, and news programmes. Last year the festival celebrated its 50th anniversary. The top prize in the festival is a gold copy of the "Salmacis" Nymph statuette by the sculptor Francois Joseph Bosio, commonly known as the Golden Nymph. The original copy is kept in the Louvre Museum.