While the crisis in Ukraine hasn't resulted in on-the-ground war so far, a propaganda war has been raging between Russia and Ukraine. On Wednesday, RT anchor Liz Wahl's job became a casualty of that bloodless conflict, as she announced live, on-air that she could no longer be a part of the Russian state-funded news organization.

From her desk anchoring a show on RT, the state-funded news network formerly known as Russia Today, Wahl ended her show by talking about the "ethical and moral challenges" she faced working at the station. RT is widely considered to be biased towards Russian interests in its coverage and tone.

Wahl, an American citizen who spoke about how her grandparents fled from Soviet forces during the 1958 Hungarian revolution and who noted that she was "lucky to have grown up here, in the United States," then announced that she could no longer be a part of RT's news team.

"And that is why, personally, I cannot be part of a network, funded by the Russian government, that whitewashes the actions of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," said Wahl, live on air at RT. "I'm proud to be an American," Wahl continued, her voice shaking slightly, "and believe in disseminating the truth."

"And that is why, after this newscast, I'm resigning," stated Wahl.


Wahl's on-air resignation comes days after another American RT anchor Abby Martin made an editorial speech on the news channel about the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine and RT's coverage of it.

From a similar perspective, but with a much different outcome, Martin stated, "just because I work here, for RT, doesn't mean I don't have editorial independence."

"And I can't stress enough how strongly I am against any state intervention in a sovereign nation's affairs," said Martin, referring to Russia's incursion into Ukraine's Crimea region. "What Russia did is wrong."

The response from RT and others after the much-publicized Martin editorial was also much different than its response to Wahl's on-air resignation. For example, NSA reporter Glenn Greenwald praised the Martin editorial as an exemplar of RT allowing editorial independence, as opposed to the American television coverage during the build-up to war in Iraq. Greenwald also updated his story saying, "the official RT account on Twitter seems perfectly proud of Martin's statements."


But that's likely because, although Martin has been highly critical of American government and media as well, she didn't quit the station, and her moment in the spotlight affirmed her editorial independence on RT, making the network appear more "fair and balanced." Wahl's resignation was a direct rebuke of that image.

RT, according to CNN, responded to Wahl's resignation speech by saying in a statement, "When a journalist disagrees with the editorial position of his or her organization, the usual course of action is to address those grievances with the editor, and if they cannot be resolved, to quit like a professional."

The Russian news channel described Wahl's resignation as "nothing more than a self-promotional stunt."

In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper after her resignation hit the air, Wahl talked about the "cognitive dissonance" she had been experiencing while working at RT, and told Cooper that, while she feared repercussions, she had decided to speak out after "the propagandist nature of RT came out in full force."

Besides on major television media, a larger propaganda, misinformation, and censorship war has been raging between Ukraine and Russia online, though those confrontations have also not yet led to a wider cyber war.