Yeah, no. https://medium.com/dfrlab/question-that-rts-military-mission...

> RT’s parent company, TV-Novosti, is registered as a state-owned Autonomous Non-commercial Organization (ANO) with the Russian Ministry of Justice. According to TV-Novosti’s official filings with the Ministry, it is almost entirely funded by the state budget, with the exact figure ranging annually between 99.5% and 99.9%.

So if it was instead registered as a private company, with, say, Medvedev as CEO, it would be fine?

That would depend entirely on the specific details, including that 99% funding number. If you wanna allege specifics about NPR beyond "they once hired someone who used to work for the government", go for it.

So here's where we disagree: to me, any institution led by Medvedev won't be independent; funding formalities don't matter at all.

Also, once again: there's a fundamental difference between "used to work" and "was a CEO".

I'd be very skeptical of Medvedev, yes. The burden of proof for his independence would be... high.

Do I think Lansing is anything comparable? No.