Peter Lavelle
Peter J. Lavelle is host of CrossTalk, a television program of the Russia-based, publicly funded[1] English language satellite channel RT. Lavelle, from California and now based in Moscow,[2] is the network's key political commentator.[3] Prior to CrossTalk, Peter Lavelle hosted at RT's “IMHO” In My Humble Opinion and “In Context.” Both programs were a quarter of an hour long and aired on weekends. At one point in time, "In Context" ran as a half-hour program covering current events with Lavelle's opinions.
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[edit] Biography
Lavelle did his doctoral studies in European history from the University of California, Davis (1992–1995) and a Fulbright scholar doing research in Poland (1993–1995). He has been living in Eastern Europe and Russia for over 25 years.[citation needed] Before becoming a television commentator and television host, Peter Lavelle wrote and was published in mainly minor publications.[citation needed] He has worked for or contributed to Asia Times Online, The Moscow Times, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, National Public Radio (NPR), United Press International, In The National Interest, The Moscow News and the American monthly journal Current History.[4] Lavelle was also the author of "Untimely Thoughts", an electronic newsletter.[2]
[edit] Controversy
In February 2010 Lavelle claimed on the show that "the people that perpetrated 9/11 were not even fundamentalists at all".[5] In addition, he has labelled those who called Vladimir Putin's regime as authoritarian as a "hasty and dangerous exaggeration."[6]
In an August 2010 online interview, Peter Lavelle characterized his journalism as "dissent" in an American tradition that is being forsaken in the land of its birth. He denies allegations of Kremlin spin-doctoring, saying Russia Today's main aim is to "ask our audience one basic thing: Question More."[7]
In response to the US Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors Walter Isaacson's claims that his organization needs to fight its "enemies", defined as Iran's Press TV, China's CCTV, and Russia's Russia Today, Peter Lavelle said that he "doesn't have anything to do with journalism". Instead, Lavelle said that he is a promoter of a "media war" designed to push "the US foreign policy agenda" onto a world that is increasingly skeptical about it. Lavelle attributes this to him "not moving on from the Cold War", coupled with concerns about media funding cuts in a time of economic uncertainty .[8] Hillary Clinton also stated that "We (USA) are losing the Information War against our enemies." The USA is at war with Iran, China and Russia without their knowledge.
[edit] References
- ^ http://rt.com/usa/news/rt-government-broadcasting-radio/
- ^ a b "Pravda.ru Interview: Some “Untimely Thoughts” from an Outsider Looking in". Center for Defense Information. http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/7256-10.cfm. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
- ^ Peter Lavelle's profile at Russia Today
- ^ Peter Lavelle Biography Retrieved on February 23, 2009
- ^ "Russia Today, Putin and the 9/11 nutters". The Daily Telegraph (London). 2010-02-15. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/douglasmurray/100026122/russia-today-putin-and-the-911-nutters/. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
- ^ Futurebrief.com
- ^ "Interview with Peter Lavelle (Russia Today)". Sublime Oblivion. http://www.sublimeoblivion.com/2010/08/09/interview-peter-lavelle/. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ "RT as Public Enemy? Top US media boss ready to fight 'enemies'". Russia Today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIzx14AsK2s. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
