STATEMENT FROM RT IN RESPONSE TO PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSION AFTER THERESA MAY’S UPDATE TO PARLIAMENT

It is regrettable to see RT so quickly proposed to be sacrificed as a political pawn, in one fell swoop doing away with any concept of press freedom in the UK. RT serves a valuable role in completing the picture of news for its audience, and it has received multiple awards for its journalism. Such proposals only serve to indicate how much some public figures are willing to turn their backs on their own communities, demonstrating no desire to engage swaths of their constituents through the channels they choose to adopt for their news. This only serves to increase the exact polarization in society that is so frequently lamented. We are proud to have a better record with Ofcom than most other UK broadcasters, and any curtailment of RT will ultimately be to the detriment of the British public. It is they who have been turning to RT for years for coverage of vital, yet neglected, stories and voices, including those of the many MPs and other UK public figures who have been shut out of public discourse by the mainstream media.