WASHINGTON, May 29 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – Larry King, the legendary US television talk show host, 25-year veteran of cable news and self-professed fan of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is coming to Kremlin-funded English-language Russian news channel RT, the network announced Wednesday along with digital network Ora TV, in a move likely to raise more than a few eyebrows in the United States.
“I have always been passionate about government and issues that impact the public, and I’m thrilled at the opportunity to talk politics with some of the most influential people in Washington and around the country,” King said in a statement.
Beginning next month on RT America, “Politics with Larry King” will air weekly and “Larry King Now” will air four times a week, Mondays through Thursdays. Both shows will also be streamed online at Hulu.com and Ora.tv, which was founded by King and began producing “Larry King Now” last year.
“We are thrilled to work with Larry King, who is a true media legend,” said Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor-in-chief, in a statement.
“Whether a president or an activist or a rock star was sitting across from him, Larry King never shied away from asking the tough questions, which makes him a terrific fit for our network,” she added.
View a promotional video for “Larry King Now,” launching on RT next month:
King has been an American radio and television host for more than 50 years, including a quarter-century with CNN where he was known for landing big name guests, a riveting interview style and his quirky suspenders.
But the move is attracting attention in part because of RT’s reputation for being anti-American. Also known as Russia Today, it launched in 2005 as part of an effort in Moscow to improve Russia’s global image.
“RT does some good work, but it’s important, you must always keep in mind, in the front of your brain, that it receives funding from the Russian government. You have to as a viewer take everything with a grain of salt,” said Steve Rendall, senior analyst with the media watch group Fair & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), in an interview with RIA Novosti.
RT was the focus of a 2010 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a non-profit civil rights organization that investigates hate groups in the United States.
The report said RT “has devoted considerable airtime not only to coverage that makes Russia look good, but to coverage that makes the United States look bad.” It found RT reported on conspiracy theories with “zeal,” and “frequently quotes US extremists as authorities on world events or interviews them at length without asking anything more than softball questions.”
In a statement to the SPLC, which was included in its report, Simonyan dismissed the criticism and said RT’s editorial policy is “open and balanced.”
Asked about King’s surprising move, “I suspect anybody's first reaction to this news is ‘WHAT???’” said Al Tompkins, an author, former journalist and senior faculty member at The Poynter Institute, a Florida-based non-profit school for journalism and research, in comments to RIA Novosti.
“But sample RT's offerings and you will find the channel often speaks of America in first-person as in ‘our freedom.’ The content of what I have seen in their online site is not radically different from what you can find on many American-based news websites. In other words it is not a non-stop rant against Americans,” he added.
RT has a bureau of 70 people in Washington, including some former staffers from CNN and NBC News, and is available to 630 million viewers worldwide, according to its website.
“It’s a very good, very good English channel, very well done, covered the news very well, I was very impressed,” said King in a 2011 interview with RT. In the same interview he gushed so much about his admiration for Putin that international news organization Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty asked, “Does Larry King have a man crush on Russia's once and future president?”
King has interviewed Putin twice, once after the August 2000 explosion on the Russian nuclear submarine “Kursk” in the Barents Sea, when all 118 sailors and officers aboard died.
“What happened to the Kursk?” King asked on CNN, to which Putin paused, gave a tight smile and famously answered, “It sank.”
“I loved his answer… that wonderful pause he took,” King told RT, adding, “I find him engaging, I liked him right away.”
That’s not unusual, said Rendall.
“I would say Larry King gushes about just about everybody he has on his show, it’s very rare for him to do a tough interview,” said Rendall. “When you look at Larry King’s history, you can’t help but have concerns. You can’t prove that he was hired because he’s been soft on Putin, but you sure have to wonder.”
RIA Novosti is also funded by the Russian government.
