RT Anchor Abby Martin Rips American Media, Spars With Piers Morgan

Abby Martin, one of the Russia Today anchors who made waves this week for her condemnation of the Russian invasion of Crimea, appeared on Piers Morgan's Wednesday show for a feisty back-and-forth about the nature of the network she works for.

Martin told Morgan that she was aware of the potential consequences when she said that Russia's military intervention in Ukraine was wrong. She compared it to the situation on American television during the Iraq War.

"I knew going into that that I could put my job on the line considering how the corporate media has fired multiple anchors for simply speaking out against the Iraq war," she said. "So, I did know that, you know, going against the editorial line of my network I could put my job on the line. Fortunately, that hasn't happened yet."

She said she had total editorial independence on RT, and said its pro-Russia line was "no different than every other corporate media station."

"We're talking about six corporations that control 90 percent of what Americans see, hear and read," she said. "The lead-up to the Iraq war, parroting exactly what the establishment said. I mean you could reflect the exact same criticism on all of the corporate media channels."

When Martin said that Morgan was "beholden to advertisers that you cannot criticize," Morgan got a little agitated.

"I'm free to say what the hell I like!" he snapped.