From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is the Daily.

Today, Russia's interference in the 2016 election is now undisputed.

What's less clear is the role of the Russian media.

A Times reporter travels to Moscow to tell the story of the information war that Russia is waging against the West.

It's Wednesday, September 13th.

So thank you all for being here with us to witness and to celebrate this wonderful event.

Jim Routenberg, tell me about this party you were at at the United Nations back in January.

So it was middle of January and RT, the Russian Television Network, has been welcomed into the United Nations.

We are incredibly proud to be present here for this wonderful occasion of RT becoming an official member broadcaster of the UN in House TV Network.

There are drinks flowing, there are canopies, little shrimp skewers, and they have people in from Russia, they have the ambassador there.

You know, I think you have an RT, two most famous and most recognizable acronyms in the world.

This is a great big party to say we've made it. So what does that represent for Russia today, getting on this UN television dial?

This is putting them on a sort of footing with BBC, CNN, you know, the big credible networks of global media.

So this is something of a coup.

They are brash, they are aggressive, they are talented, they are in your face, and you know, let's face it, everybody watches them.

Help me understand why this is such a big deal to Russia. So take me back to where all of this started.

Well, in my view, this is sort of like a rematch.

It starts in the 1940s, the late 1940s after the war.

When the US government is trying to fight back against Soviet propaganda,

and that begins really the first great media arms race between the United States and Russia.

Russia today is regarded as a grave threat to our nation, to our freedom, to the peace of the world.

And during this radio war, you have a kind of mismatch because the United States has invented the idea of entertaining radio.

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