"We are witnessing the funeral of the mainstream media of the west. The discredit which does surround the western media system is growing day after day, due to the fact that their lies are becoming, day after day, more evident to many people," Chiesa, a former member of the European Parliament, a former Moscow correspondent for L’Unita and La Stampa newspapers, and an author of several books on Russia including "Putinophobia," said.
According to Chiesa, western mainstream media outlets are not only engaging in anti-Russia propaganda, but also systematic "falsification of the reality, and of the deep reasons of the world crisis, which are all internal to the western world."
Chiesa’s words came after the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution on countering Russian media outlets, such as the Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster. As many as 304 voted in favor the document, 179 voted against and 208 abstained. With a total of 691 officials taking part in the vote, less than half supported the resolution.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, when commenting on the adoption of the resolution, congratulated RT and Sputnik journalists for effective work and stressed that this resolution indicated apparent degradation of the concept of democracy in the Western society. Putin also expressed hope that common sense would prevail and that there would be no actual restrictions against the Russian media.
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organization, which said it would not give interviews to the Russian media group Rossiya Segodnya, is violating a code of ethics, Italian journalist Giulietto Chiesa told Sputnik.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution on countering Russian media outlets, such as the Sputnik news agency, which is a part of Rossiya Segodnya, and the RT broadcaster. Sputnik contacted RSF for the organization’s comments on the document, only to be told that the organization had taken a decision to no longer give interviews to Rossiya Segodnya.
“They are banally violating the deontological code of ethics,” Chiesa, a former member of the European Parliament, a Moscow correspondent for L’Unita and La Stampa newspapers, and an author of several books on Russia including “Putinophobia,” said.
Sputnik news agency's Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, commenting on RSF refusal to give out interviews, told Sputnik that the organization was no longer pretending to protect all journalists.
As many as 304 EU parliamentarians voted in favor the document, 179 voted against and 208 abstained. With a total of 691 officials taking part in the vote, less than half supported the resolution, which draws parallel between Russian strategic communication and the propaganda disseminated by the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, when commenting on the adoption of the resolution, congratulated RT and Sputnik journalists for effective work and stressed that this resolution indicated apparent degradation of the concept of democracy in the Western society. Putin also expressed hope that common sense would prevail and that there would be no actual restrictions against the Russian media.
