6

Neo-McCarthyism in the Media: Donald Trump, Larry King and RT

by Kit


Larry King is an old man now, 82, and has been doing interviews for decades, including 25 years doing his nightly show “Larry King Live” on CNN. He has interviewed actors, politicians, athletes, moguls, singers, soldiers and scientists, won countless awards, received half a dozen honorary degrees and done charity work all over the United States.
And now he broadcasts on RT.
This has always been a sticky issue for the MSM, who try so desperately to portray RT as some kind of neo-pravda propaganda mouthpiece, as opposed to a state funded news service akin to the BBC. He is a respected figure in the industry, and by the general public, and to attack him for his presence on RT would only draw attention it. So, for the most part, they don’t mention it.
But now he has interviewed Donald Trump (see above video), and the Clinton campaign’s bizarrely desperate need to paint Trump as some kind of Manchurian Candidate means that Larry King’s and Donald Trump’s presence on RT is now centre-stage in the MSM.
The Guardian, in their “Politics live blog”, describe it thus:

Donald Trump has done a call-in interview for Russian propaganda outlet RT, which used to stand for Russia Today, slamming the US media and criticizing US foreign policy.

Now, most reasonable people would, at this point, say “So what? What difference does it make what TV channel he was on?” But this is a country where RT is literally listed alongside ISIS and Boko Haram as a threat, because they “push a point of view.”
There’s no discussion of the content of the interview, only accusations of “coziness with Russia”, which is alarmingly retrograde language.
They do at least make this concession:

In Trump’s defense, the interview was with eternal TV host Larry King, an old Trump pal and probably not a fifth columnist

Even if this is sarcasm, the very idea that the term “fifth columnist” can now be thrown around simply because somebody appears on Russian TV network is ridiculous. The ramping up of old-style, cold war thought patterns in the news media is continuing apace.
The Trump campaign later attempted to distance itself from the network, claiming they did not know which channel the interview would be aired on. The very fact they felt the need to do this is indicative of the anti-Russian hysteria that is sweeping American media, and Western media in General. It is both absurd, and dangerous.
In an advert for his RT show, Politicking with Larry King said:

I would rather ask questions to people in positions of power, instead of speaking on their behalf.”

Such a position is apparently unacceptable in the mainstream media.


SUPPORT OFFGUARDIAN

If you enjoy OffG's content, please help us make our monthly fund-raising goal and keep the site alive.

For other ways to donate, including direct-transfer bank details click HERE.

Categories: Kit, latest, On Guardian, Russia