“During these past years, our government tried to strangle independent media,” said a former correspondent at Russia’s state-run TV outlet, Channel One. Zhanna Agalakova, the outlet’s former Paris correspondent, confirmed she quit this month.
Channel One is the same outlet that saw a surprise, on-air protest last week when journalist Marina Ovsyannikova stood onscreen and unfurled a sign that said, “no war” and “don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.”
Two other longtime journalists for rival network NTV, Lilia Gildeyeva and Vadim Glusker have also recently quit, reports the BBC.
Agalakova said today her motivations were much the same as Ovsyannikova’s.
“I left Channel One precisely because the war started,” Agalakova told reporters at a Paris news conference. “When I spoke to my bosses, I said I cannot do this work any more.”
According to Reuters, the journalist said the Russian population has been “zombified” by propaganda.
“We reached the point that, in the media, we only see one point of view, one story: from the Kremlin. And we only see one person: Our leader,” she said.
You can watch a portion of her statement below.
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