RT’s Coverage of the Pandemic and Its Circulation on New Media Platforms

• In Event: Political Affairs Through the Lens of Russian Media

Abstract

The article analyses RT (formerly, Russia Today)’s English language coverage of the pandemic across different stages of the crisis development and compares it with the network’s reporting on other political and entertainment-focused global media events across different media platforms. I discuss features of the Russian state-sponsored network’s coverage of the global crisis and, based on the examined case studies, challenge the common perception of the network purely as a source of Russia-backed misinformation and propaganda. My analysis of online circulation and reception of RT’s pandemic reporting suggests that despite the fact this coverage is Western-centric, its content is popular chiefly among fringe or even controversial groups and individuals in the West, while it is clearly accepted as mainstream by online users based outside the West. While its impact and role in spreading Russia-backed misinformation internationally is seriously questionable, the network does find a niche in the global, hybrid media environment.

Author

• Vitaly Kazakov, The University of Manchester