RT

The great success of any form of propaganda is making the ill-founded, implausible or totally absurd seem eminently reasonable. Climate change: clear scientific evidence about the causes and likely effects over time, but still there is a vocal sceptic community with political influence trying to drive the debate. Immunisation: clear scientific evidence about the effectiveness of vaccines and their side-effects, but again there is a vocal minority that declares they must be heard on grounds of "balance". Often those claiming "There are questions that need to be asked!" are the first to ignore the answers they don't want to hear.

Of course, it doesn't help that sometimes things that are dismissed as conspiracy theories turn out to be entirely valid. See public debate up to 2003 re: Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

We'll look back at all of this in around 10 years and laugh. It's the latest in the cycle of crazy media behaviour. We're already witnessing the imminent death of Facebook. RT et al will feature in 'It was alright in the naughties' a few years from now!