Ed Schultz has joined RT, the American cable news channel funded by the Russian government. Schultz most recently worked for MSNBC, but was fired due to low ratings and a channel revamp.
Schultz will anchor News with Ed Schultz at 8:00 PM ET. The program will be a half hour and more dedicated to straight news than commentary. However, Schultz has said that the focus will remain on the working class and labor issues.
In a statement, Schultz said, “The corporate effort to ship jobs overseas threatens the middle class in America and every American should be concerned about that. My show will focus on these crucial issues.”
Schultz also added, “This is the right platform for me to give straight talk and straight news to the American middle class.”
Schultz also dismissed criticism of RT that it is a propaganda mouthpiece for the Kremlin. “This is the problem with news culture today. Big money and corporate interest drown out a lot of voices. RT completes the picture of the events in the US and around the globe, giving viewers access to a range of stories, voices and opinions, and a real opportunity to speak their minds.”
RT Editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said, “With Ed helming a show, we are continuing the tradition of collaborating with top international journalistic talent that engages our audience by providing in-depth coverage, analysis and commentary on important but underreported issues to millions of US viewers.”