MOSCOW, MAY 20, 2021 – RT America (Т&R Productions) has been named as a finalist at one of the most prestigious international television competitions – the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. The channel’s nightly news show, hosted by Emmy and Peabody Award winner Rick Sanchez, has been nominated for its coverage of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
‘News with Rick Sanchez’ made it to the finals in the News Coverage category for its reporting about the protests in Armenia after it signed a truce agreement with Azerbaijan. RT is competing against Al Jazeera English, France Televisions and others in the same category.
“News is too important to pre-produce or cut corners, which is why as one of the few outlets based in the US that covers global news around the clock; we never shut down our studios – not even for a single day during the pandemic! And that allowed us to go live with breaking news containing actual video and context, as we did on November 10 when angry protesters stormed the Armenian parliament,” said Rick Sanchez.
RT has claimed victory at Monte-Carlo Television Festival before, beating CNN, Al Jazeera, and Sky News. In 2013, the network won the top prize for its coverage of the Chelyabinsk meteor; and in 2014, RT made the finals with its report from Ukraine during the Unity Day protests that took place on January 22. In 2015, it was again in the Monte-Carlo Television Festival finals with a news program about the Victory Day shooting in Mariupol when many civilians were killed and wounded. RT’s State Duma election coverage was named as a finalist in 2017. And in 2018, the channel was nominated for its reporting about the humanitarian crisis in Mosul. RT’s coverage of the Yellow Vest movement in France was selected as a finalist for the Golden Nymph in 2019.
The Monte Carlo Television Festival was established in 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco and since then has become the world’s largest forum for TV films, shows, news reports, and news programing. The festival’s top prize is a gold copy of the ‘Salmacis’ Nymph statuette, commonly known as the Golden Nymph. The original statue is preserved in the Louvre Museum.