The Alyona Show

Alyona Minkovski joined RT as a producer in December 2008 and was given an on-air assignment on Inauguration Day in January 2009. After doing a second pilot show, she was then tapped to become host of RT's first live show. Minkovski has said that she would have done the interview differently with "5 million more questions about him and about WikiLeaks." ==Format==

The Alyona Shows editorial premise was "bringing you the real headlines with none of the mercy". The show began with a segment where Minkovski pointed out news stories under-covered or over-covered by the mainstream media. She wanted to bring her generation, which ignores mainstream reporting and goes online for hard news, back to television. Minkovski has said that the show's sarcastic and satirical tone is aimed at a younger audience. The programs focus on topics like government spying, the Federal Reserve, and America's undeclared wars, as well as media laziness, Washington corruption, Wall Street tomfoolery because, according to Minkovski, "there is a need to open people’s eyes. I think that unfortunately some people don’t always want to hear the truth, and it might not be pretty, but unless you put it in their face and make them hear that truth, there can’t be change. I think that’s the way the country becomes better." The show's main segments feature in-depth discussions on news stories with guests and monologue "rants" by Minkovski expressing her views on current affairs. It ends with a five-minute "Happy Hour" segment for stories "[she doesn't] believe deserve this whole epic showing like on CNN." ==Reception==

Tracy Quan in The Daily Beast described The Alyona Show as "one of RT's most popular vehicles" and wrote that it is one "where girl-power aesthetic meets American liberalism." Jesse Zwick in The New Republic wrote that one journalist told him Minkovski is "probably the best interviewer on cable news." Benjamin R. Freed wrote in the avant-garde culture magazine SOMA that the show was "one of the most refreshing" primetime news and commentary programs. He also wrote that "equal parts Daily Show and cable news arena, The Alyona Show does political talk with razor-sharp wit." Minkovski complained about an interview program that introduced her as "a hard-left, Russian-born, 'blah blah blah' who works for the Russian-funded" (RT), saying it made her sound like "Putin's girl in Washington." She believes such critics are just trying to discredit her but that it only bothers her when they call her "anti-American," because she is not. ==References==