Western media is even MORE propagandistic than RT.com, to be honest.
I watched a lot of RT when I was trying to learn about the Syria crisis. It was TRULY staggering how the stories that Western media used in an "Assad BAD! Putin BAD!" sort of way, suddenly looked a whole lot different when the entire actual story, with all important points included (as told by RT and not Western media) was told. Really showed the carefully considered "framing of facts" used by our own media outlets to further their agenda, all whilst having the cheek to act like they are any better!
Also, since the state pays for RT.com, you kind of expect them to go with a Russian perspective. What excuse do our own media outlets have for sticking the the govt's agenda so hard? I mean, they will have stories on "mistakes" by the government or politicians, which you won't get Russian politicians doing on RT, but they go all-in when it comes to the REALLY big lies (usually related to wars or revolutions somewhere) and absolutely refuse to do anything less than whitewash things to make us entitled Westerners look "angelic".
It doesn't even need Russia or RT to show how poisonous our medias are, I was suspicious long before RT appeared. For a very basic example, look at how much scare-mongering there is. Soon as it gets to winter; "MASSIVE SNOW STORMS AHEAD, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE!". Then it gets to summer; "HOTTEST TEMPERATURES EVER RECORDED EXPERTS ARE PREDICTING! DROUGHTS AND HEATSTROKE, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE!". They do BOTH of these, EVERY year!
And at Christmas, listening to the radio in the car, it's all nice and Christmas-y, then the announcer has to go and say in a depressing tone; "....and after the break. We'll be bringing you the story of Amanda and how her husband and child were killed by a drunk driver last year". Absolute bollocks, nobody WANTS to hear that shit. And it's not gonna make a drunk driver stop his behaviour either, these people KNOW what they do is wrong and dangerous, but they make the decision to do it anyway. A sap on the radio will make no difference!
You have to wonder why a small percentage of people are now fans of RT. Did people suddenly become Russia fans for some inexplicable reason? Or were they also dubious of their media and ready for a different viewpoint? RT is also a bit more upbeat and less depressing than the stuff we're used to, which probably also attracts viewers.
Long and short of it? If the media doesn't want to be told to fuck off and doesn't want us to look elsewhere, then tell us some WORTHY stuff, not just shite that we can either see through (or Google check quite easily) or simply don't want to hear (scaremongering about every thing). They, like politicians, are meant to serve US, not control or attempt to brainwash us.
Whichever Western media conglomerate started the current "Fake news!" soundbite, which we were all meant to ONLY use when talking about Russia (then later on, Trump), certainly got their just desserts when millions of pissed off Western citizens used the "fake news" soundbite AGAINST those who were pushing hardest to make it a "thing"!