Anchors Away: Russian TV hosts speak out against own network, one quits while on-air

With a global news cycle currently dominated by unrest in Ukraine, and the corresponding Russian involvement, this week has seen a pair of television personalities steal a bit of the headlines themselves.

The first such journalist is Abby Martin, host of "Breaking the Set" on Russia Today America (RT), a network funded by the Russian government. Distressed by her company's blind support of Russian military action in Ukraine, Martin concluded her program on Monday with an impassioned denouncement of the presence of Russian troops in the Ukranian peninsula of Crimea, land that was controlled by the Soviet Union until its breakup in 1991.

"Military intervention is never the answer," Martin stated on RT. "And I will not sit here and apologize (for) and defend military aggression."

In telling Piers Morgan that her program offers editorial freedom, and that she's experienced support from her network since the incident, Martin suggested that other media outlets aren't allowed the same leeway:

"You guys are beholden to advertisers, that you can not criticize. That's why I work for a station that I can criticize," said Martin, before Morgan quickly took issue with such a claim.

"Well, hang on, hang on, hang on. I'm free to say whatever the hell I like. No one's ever told me I can't criticize advertisers or corporate entities," he boasted. "That conversation has never happened in the three years I've been on air at CNN."

Martin surmised that perhaps others aren't nearly as fortunate.

"Piers, fair enough. But I think a lot of people deal with self-censorship across the media spectrum."

Showing an ability to poke fun at his own situation, Morgan offered a rather comical quip:

"Well I certainly don't. That's probably one of my problems," he said, with a coy smile.

Meanwhile, on the heels of Martin's outspoken commentary, on Wednesday, colleague Liz Wahl joined her fellow RT host in speaking out. Referring to her network as one that is "promoting a Putinist agenda", Wahl spoke of her own personal moral and ethical dilemmas. And then, in a shocking move, she abruptly resigned while still on the air.

Joining "Piers Morgan Live" Wednesday night, Wahl elaborated on that decision:

"I believe in the truth, trying to seek the truth and disseminating the truth," she said. "What's become very clear, especially in the face of this crisis in Crimea, is that the objective of RT has been to promote Putinist propoganda, to promote the conflict as [Vladamir] Putin wants us to see it. And to bash the U.S., and to make us look like we're the bad guys."

Stay with CNN on television and on-line for the latest on the situation in Ukraine, and for the next edition of "Piers Morgan Live," watch CNN every night at 9.
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