Julian Assange Launches TV Talk Show

What’s the Latest Development?

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has launched his TV interview show by airing a conversation with Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader whose party forms part of Lebanon’s government but which is also considered a terrorist organization by the US and Israel. Using modern but basic communication tools, the two wanted men—Sweden is seeking Assange’s extradition from England—discussed the future of Israel, which Nasrallah calls an illegal state, and Syria, where Hezbollah has refrained from dissuading its leader, President Bashar al-Assad, from attacking civilian populations. 

What’s the Big Idea?

Most reviews of Assange’s new show, called “The World Tomorrow”, have criticized the network on which it is broadcast, Russian Television. The station was established by the Russian government in 2005 to carry Moscow’s view of world affairs into the English, Spanish and Arab-speaking worlds. For his part, Assange has been candid about why he chose RT, saying that the network has more American viewers than Al Jazeera and, perhaps more importantly, no other networks would have him. Assange believes he will be able to attract high profile interviewees because he, the interviewer, is far away under house arrest. 

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