Type of site News and opinion Area served The Western world | Available in English, Russian Editor Charles Bausman | |
Created by Simon North, Matthew Allen, Paul Kaiser, Enrico Braun, Richard Brandt, John Helmer, Gilbert Doctorow, Eric Zuesse, Xenia Zinoviev, et al. Slogan(s) They hate us, 'cause they ain't usFake news fightersCitizen journalism with a punchMedia skepticYour daily reality snackTaming the corporate media beastPeople over profitsCrowdfunded media criticismBias bashersRelentless bunk detectorsReality check media | ||
Russia Insider is a news website launched in September 2014, based in Moscow, Russia. Russia Insider reports on political and social affairs and aims to provide an alternative view to the mainstream news about Russia and country-related issues. The website was founded and is driven by its editor Charles Bausman and a number of international volunteer contributors positioning the publication as an independent media source aiming to promote a better understanding of Russia. Its mission is media criticism and reform, underlining the issues of Western media which are seen by the founders as extremely biased, especially on Russia. Many articles are copied, excerpted or translated from other websites, e.g. RBTH, Voltairenet.org, Strategic Culture Foundation, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Consortiumnews, etc., however there are also some original ones.
Contents
History
Russia Insider was started as an online user generated movement by a few volunteer contributors. It is based on the concept of citizen journalism and claims that it represents neither government or corporate interests. It has both English and Russian editions, and the English edition is aimed at Western readers. The publication's main goal is to represent an alternative to how Russia is being portrayed in the Western media.
Funding
In order to maintain its objective to be an independent and transparent news source, Russia Insider is supported by crowdfunding initiative and individual donations. The publication has raised over $120,000 from two crowdfunding campaigns and donations from launch to 2015.
Reception
The website was criticized for its pro-Russian stance, considered to be alongside several highly visible partisan outlets such as RT, Ruptly and Sputnik.