Liz Wahl


Liz Wahl is an American journalist. She was a correspondent for the Russian government-sponsored RT television network from 2011 to 2014 but gained notice by leaving the network following a harshly critical on-air resignation that went viral.

Early life

Wahl was born at Subic Naval Base in the Philippines to a Filipina mother and an American father of Hungarian descent. She was raised in Connecticut. She graduated from Fairfield University. Her paternal grandparents were refugees from Hungary, who fled the on-coming Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Uprising. Wahl cited her grandparents' experience as a factor in her public denunciation of RT and the network's coverage of Russian military intervention in Ukraine.

RT America

Wahl worked at the United States branch of RT for over two years.
Wahl and colleague Abby Martin began criticizing RT’s coverage of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation on the air on March 3, 2014. On March 5, 2014, Wahl went off script and resigned her job during her live segment while denouncing her employer RT.
RT America responded by calling Liz Wahl's actions "Nothing more than a self-promotional stunt." The video of Wahl's resignation immediately went viral on the internet, with millions of hits on YouTube. She appeared on three major American cable news outlets – CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC – was also invited to appear on The View, and the shows of Anderson Cooper, and Stephen Colbert for additional interviews.
Barbara Walters initially voiced criticism of Wahl, saying she should not be treated like a hero, but Walters has since recanted and praised Wahl's efforts.
Politico published Wahl's tell-all firsthand story where she detailed her early career, how she was recruited to RT, her frustrations working for the Russian-funded network. Wahl's contact, James Kirchick, admitted to having foreknowledge of her resignation but denied suggestions that he had orchestrated the event, stating that Wahl did what she did out of her own volition and that she initially reached out to him months earlier following his own on-air protest on the network against anti-gay legislation in Russia. Wahl told David Weigel writing for Slate that her detractors were behaving as though her contact with Kirchick was part of a conspiracy. It began following his unexpected criticism of Russia's anti-gay laws during his appearance on RT.

Post-RT career

Since 2015, Wahl has been a correspondent for Newsy. where she reported in-depth reports and documentaries about digital disinformation, foreign interference in democratic elections, and the rise of political extremism. Wahl has been invited to speak internationally on media literacy, safeguarding democratic elections and building cyber resilience.
In January 2019, Wahl announced her candidacy in the 2020 election for the United States House of Representatives in. She will run as a Democrat.