WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) -- An American anchor reporting from Russia Today's Washington, D.C. bureau has quit the Kremlin-backed, English-language news station over its coverage of Vladimir Putin's military intervention in Ukraine.
Liz Wahl, who describes herself as a “Filipina-Hungarian-American,” made the startling announcement on live TV Wednesday, telling RT viewers that members of her family had fled Russian persecution in the 1950s. She also said her father is a U.S. veteran and that her partner is a doctor on military bases.
“And that is why personally I cannot be a part of a network funded by the Russian government that white-washes the actions of Putin," Wall said during the broadcast. “I’m proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth and that is why after this newscast I am resigning.”
Wahl's departure follows comments made by RT host Abby Martin, who said Monday that Russia's Crimean intervention was "wrong."
"I can't stress enough how strongly I am against any state intervention in a sovereign nation's affairs," the California native said on air. "What Russia did is wrong."
"When a journalist disagrees with the editorial position of his or her organization, the usual course of action is to address those grievances with the editor, and, if they cannot be resolved, to quit like a professional," RT said Wednesday.
The network said Martin "spoke in the context of her own talk show, to the viewers who have been tuning in for years to hear her opinions on current events," and noted that she had previously voiced opposition to U.S. military intervention (Martin herself noted this in a subsequent appearance).
"But when someone makes a big public show of a personal decision, it is nothing more than a self-promotional stunt," the network added.
Wahl told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday that RT's "promotional stunt" accusations "couldn't be farther from the truth."
She told Cooper that RT had recently aired a "very dangerous" story about neo-Nazis in Ukraine.
[NY Daily News, RT, CNN]
