A London-based correspondent for state-owned TV network Russia Today resigned Friday to protest the network’s coverage of a Malaysia Airlines plane that was shot down over Eastern Ukraine.
Reporter Sara Firth told The Press Gazette, a British publication covering journalism news, that RT’s coverage of the crash of MH17 was “the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.”
Firth declared that she was “for the truth” in a tweet announcing her resignation. She had also written a series of tweets before the announcement that outlined her problems with RT’s coverage:
I resigned from RT today. I have huge respect for many in the team, but I’m for the truth. pic.twitter.com/mZ1g0R7N0D
— Sara Firth (@Sara__Firth) July 18, 2014
@Polly_Boiko @ukTanos Lies hun. We do work for Putin. We are asked on a daily basis if not to totally ignore then to obscure the truth
— Sara Firth (@Sara__Firth) July 18, 2014
@cathyraats @Polly_Boiko honestly we’re not. We’re taking a paycheck and for that we have to always obey.
— Sara Firth (@Sara__Firth) July 18, 2014
RT style guide Rule 1: It is ALWAYS *Ukraine’s fault (*add name as applicable)
— Sara Firth (@Sara__Firth) July 18, 2014
An America-based RT anchor, Liz Wahl, resigned on-air in March amid the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea region. Wahl said she no longer wished to work for a network that “whitewashes the actions of Putin.”