RT: 20 years of questioning more
‘The RT logo is my weapon,’ says Joelle Maroun, an RT Arabic correspondent. For the journalists at one of the largest news channels in the world, this is not just a job, but their entire life. For all these years, they have been offering an alternative perspective on world events and reporting on what mainstream media overlook. RT is watched by over 900 million viewers in more than 100 countries worldwide. The outlet premiered to an international audience in 2005. Today, it broadcasts and shows documentaries in English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, and Russian.
RT Arabic began broadcasting in 2007. Its correspondents film reports across the Middle East – in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. This often means working in hot spots, while risking their own lives. Maria Finoshina, head of the Middle East bureau, has been covering events in Israel for the last three years. She has worked for RT almost since the channel’s founding and has been covering military conflicts since the Arab Spring of 2011. ‘It became the spring of my career,’ Maria says. Sargon Hadaya and Roman Kosarev became targets themselves after reporting from Syria, when calls for their assassination appeared on militant websites along with their photos.
One of the key chapters in the channel’s history was its coverage of the 2008 Georgian-Ossetian conflict. ‘It changed our channel. And the news delivery too. Forever,’ says correspondent Egor Piskunov. ‘I saw just how much the news can be distorted.’ Back then, CNN used RT footage showing the bombing of Ossetian Tskhinvali but claimed it was the bombing of Georgian Gori.
RT in Spanish began operations in 2009. Today, it is the most popular international news channel in Latin America, including Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Guatemala, Chile, and other countries. The presidents of Bolivia, Venezuela, and Cuba have been within the studio walls.
In 2011, the RT Documentary channel was launched. Its filmmakers relate stories about people, their lives, and traditions from every corner of the globe. Since the beginning of the Special Military Operation, reporters have also been traveling to Donbass. War correspondent Olga Kiriy has repeatedly come under fire while filming: ‘When you are at the epicenter of events, you perceive everything somewhat more calmly. The fear comes later.’ The ‘RT.Doc: The Time of Our Heroes’ film festival was first staged in 2023 and has already been held in more than 65 Russian regions and 30 nations worldwide, including NATO countries, not to mention in maestro Emir Kusturica’s film village.
In 2023, the RT en Français channel was launched in Moscow after RT France was shut down in Paris due to Western sanctions. The new format also gave life to broadcasting in African countries and, later, to the launch of the RT Africa project.
In 2024, RT began speaking Chinese, when RT China joined the channel family. Its videos have garnered over two billion views on Chinese social media!
That same year, the RT Balkan channel opened – today, it is RT’s only bureau in Europe.
The channel has featured programs by many well-known and outstanding journalists and public figures. Shows on RT have been hosted by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, legendary presenter Larry King, Emmy-nominated Chris Hedges, football coach José Mourinho, Indian actor Anupam Kher, and many others. Today, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, the head of the Indian Parliament’s external affairs committee, Shashi Tharoor, and the outstanding Kenyan anti-colonialist professor Patrick Lumumba can be seen on air.
In December of 2025, RT India began broadcasting, launched by President Vladimir Putin and RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.
Watch “RT: 20 years of questioning more” on RTD website and on RT’s live feed. The time of the broadcast is available on RT’s schedule page.