Logo

C-SPAN Investigating Why Its Broadcast Was Interrupted by a Russian Network

Jan 13, 2017  •  Post A Comment

The public affairs outlet C-SPAN is investigating a bizarre incident in which the Kremlin-backed Russia Today network inexplicably disrupted a C-SPAN broadcast of a House committee hearing for about 10 minutes Thursday, cutting abruptly to RT programming including what appears to be a mock ad targeting the Polish foreign minister.

The New York Post reports that the disruption happened as Rep. Maxine Waters was speaking at a lectern, with the feed suddenly cutting to an ad on RT television for “the magnificent bay San Esperil in #San Escobar.” Waters was speaking during a discussion of the Securities and Exchange Regulatory Accountability Act.

You can see a video of the sudden cut by clicking on the link above to The Post.

The RT ad was apparently mocking Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who on Tuesday mistakenly referred to St. Kitts and Nevis as “San Escobar,” which doesn’t exist, The Post reports.

“Suddenly the ad cut to a logo for RT and a news anchor wearing a suit came on to announce, ‘News just came in. Six people have died and numerous injuries have been reported by local police after a suicide bombing,'” the report adds.

C-SPAN commented on the incident Thursday, saying: “This afternoon the online feed C-SPAN was briefly interrupted by RT programming. We are currently investigating and troubleshooting this occurrence. As RT is one of the networks we routinely monitor we are operating under the assumption that it was an internal routing issue.”

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)