“There is an information war that is all about whose story wins and no longer about whose army wins,” says Paula Slier, war correspondent and Middle East bureau chief for Russian television station RT, formerly known as Russia Today.

She was speaking during a webinar hosted by the University of Johannesburg on Tuesday, which discussed the importance of media freedom during conflicts in the digital age.

The webinar focused on the implications of the banning of RT by several broadcast media houses.

Slier said the war between Ukraine and Russia exacerbated and accelerated the media and information war that has been going on for some time. She said the blackout of RT to  countries raises questions about  media freedom and propaganda.

“One of the allegations against RT was that it was a propaganda channel. We do not shy away from the fact that we are a Russian government channel. We admit to being that — we are presenting the Russian government’s point of view to an international audience,” Slier said. “What exactly is propaganda, because one person’s propaganda is another person’s truth,” she said.

Slier said the manner in which the banning of RT from broadcasting channels took place, looked like it was a plan in place, and people were just waiting for the right opportunity to do it.

“It's like people were always working towards that and this war just accelerated the information war,” Slier said.

She went on to speak about how there is a need for balanced reporting in war, which she said is not happening because of the banning of RT by broadcasters. 

“It would be useful for people to know what the other side is thinking. I don’t think for one moment that because I work for RT that means I necessarily support the Russian position on this war or that I support the Russian government in this war. I think we need to make a distinction between who we as journalists work for and our personal points of view. 

“I would say it’s not important what I think. I would argue that the point of journalism is to make as much information available as possible so that people can access that information and make up their own minds,” she said.

Touching on allegations that RT is spreading misinformation, Slier said if people accuse RT of misinforming people, it’s not only a slap in the face for RT, but it’s also a slap in the face of audiences because it is presumed the audience can’t tell the difference between valuable information and misinformation.

Representing the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef), Sowetan editor Nwabisa Makunga said the forum had raised concerns about RT being removed from SA’s MultiChoice platform. 

“We believe we need to hear the voice of the Russian government, whatever one may think of it, whatever one’s view may be about what is happening. We did agree that once you begin to take off certain channels simply because you don’t agree with them, it’s absolutely a slippery slope,” she said.

Prof Admire Mare from UJ’s department of communication and media said what we have learnt from the war is that it’s easy to blame one side or the other. He said the banning of Russian TV channels on broadcast channels and other social media platforms showed that companies always chose a side.

He said his main concern, which he said there was less focus on, was the safety of journalists.

“Journalists rely on going on the ground to make sure that the stories are correct. If we don’t have journalists on the ground, the truth becomes a casualty. And the truth in this is particular matter has become the casualty of this particular war,” he said.

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