Everybody's Russian.

RUSSIA.

I don't know what it is about Russia that I love so much. I love the literature, I love the language, I'm fascinated by the culture and the history.

As a 21st century media consumer, I've realized that it is possible to get the news from as close to the 'horse's mouth' as you may want, and as such I've been trying to get my Russian news from Russian news websites. This has brought me to two VERY different places on the internet.

RT, as run by non-profit, state-owned RIA Novosti (Russian International News Agency) and found at the simplist of web addresses rt.com
and, Pravda. (recommended in English for those who speak, ya know English: english.pravda.ru Pravda's history, according to wikipedia, includes being the mouthpiece of the Soviet Communist Party, and currently compared to a tabloid.

Checking out the two websites, you can see the clear difference between them. RT is more respectable, and, dare I say it, more pro-Westerners and pro-America. Not entirely of course..they criticize us far more than American news sources, and expose or phrase stories in a way that seems critical of American policy. All in all though, they are respectable, well written articles with (assumed) verification, etc.

However Pravda is another matter entirely. To describe it as tabloid-like is the least of their concerns. I am willing to bet that all of their articles are originally in another language, and their translator does not have a mastery of English. On top of that, the articles are not exactly objective. This is not to imply that speaking out against the Western world makes them 'wrong', but it is the certainty with which the writers state their opinions on so-called 'news stories'. For example; a recent article on feminism explained that American women only have rights because the American men want them to and allow it.

Well, that and an article about The Art of Sex Talk. Pravda offers the anti-thesis of whatever stance the mainstream American media is taking. This is not bad of course, but they could benefit from a bit more professionalism and standards.