The Times gets off to a strong start in its RT story with the line \u201cA Kremlin-controlled TV station seized on the Grenfell Tower fire to try to foment \u2018class war\u2019 in Britain.<\/em>\u201d It\u2019s a scary accusation,\u00a0albeit an inaccurate one. RT only aims to foment class war in the early spring. A quick glance around the office shows you\u2019re more likely to find staff fermenting grapes than fomenting class war.<\/p>\n But RT has become so helpful for The Times in filling its pages it should be sending over a cheque for advertising revenue. Make it out to a Mr V. V. Putin.<\/p>\n When a story goes in this strong, it\u2019s hardly surprising that reality and facts cower in the burning glow of feigned indignation. The use of the word \u2018seized\u2019 is interesting. You could replace it with, for example \u2018reported on.\u2019 Hard to say what RT UK as a news organization was supposed to report in the wake of such a massive story. Perhaps The Times\u2019 newsdesk can check RT\u2019s stories before they go out, to make sure none of Rupert Murdoch\u2019s minions are offended.<\/p>\n READ MORE: The worst of Times: Establishment paper keeps up attack on RT over London tube ads<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The paper usefully quotes \u201cclass war,\u201d<\/em> but it\u2019s not really obvious where that quote is from. Top investigative reporter Dominic Kennedy wasn\u2019t in the mood to make that clear. The word \u2018foment\u2019 is not part of a quote – that is The Times\u2019 own little addition. So essentially it appears RT is accused of putting the words \u2018class\u2019 and \u2018war\u2019 together… and saying them out loud!!!<\/p>\n If RT is trying to \u201cfoment class war<\/em>\u201d with its coverage of Grenfell (I asked around, and it\u2019s not) you have to wonder what kind of war The Times is trying to \u2018foment\u2019 with its unending, sensationalist and misleading coverage of anything linked to the word Russia.<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n The article goes on: \u201cAn RT reporter said: \u2018\u00a310 million was spent on cosmetic changes to the outside of the building to make it look better for rich residents who live near by.\u2019 In fact the \u00a310 million figure was the cost of the entire refurbishment between 2014 and 2016, not just the cladding.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n If this did happen, and it probably did because we have to trust that The Times has studied the hell out of the coverage in order to squeeze out any accusation it can, could it be that the RT reporter made a mistake? Or is it really more likely Vladimir Putin is micro-managing RT UK\u2019s coverage of the Grenfell Tower disaster from a comfortable chair in the Kremlin? When it comes to reports accusing RT or Russia, there are no mistakes. There is no human error. There are no humans. There is only \u2018fomenting.\u2019<\/p>\n You\u2019ll notice the story is more concerned with a misquoted figure rather than the more serious suggestion that people perished because of cladding added to improve the view for the wealthy.<\/p>\n Then the article gets really personal. \u201cAfshin Rattansi, one of the channel\u2019s presenters, asked if \u2018state-backed neglect, corruption and cuts to services had led to social cleansing at Grenfell.<\/em>\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Someone asked a question. A question! The same question more or less everyone in Britain across the media was asking in the aftermath of the Grenfell disaster. Including some commentators in publications as well-respected as… oh\u2026 the Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n But generally, The Times doesn\u2019t like those questions about people less fortunate than its average reader, and its coverage of Grenfell 6 months on has more than a hint of class activism itself, although it\u2019s\u00a0probably fighting for the class of people living in the other parts of Kensington and Chelsea beyond Grenfell. You\u2019ll find them in the big houses that come equipped with gardens, nannies and sprinkler systems.<\/p>\n \u201cActivist groups,<\/em>\u201d \u201da volunteer network for victims,<\/em>\u201d \u201ca woman who accused the local council of having blood on its hands<\/em>,\u201d are all attacked by The Times alongside RT, every one of them assigned their own little conspiracy theory, while being accused of being conspiracy theorists.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n These are groups working for the good of people caught up in a humanitarian disaster, but of course they don\u2019t deserve your trust like The Times deserves it. Because this is the newspaper of the establishment don\u2019t you know!<\/p>\n
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