Methinks Adam Johnson doth protest too much. Nobody says its a crime to go on Russian government funded sites, it's just stupid if you're doing it to win hearts and minds. I have noted some people have taken on paid gigs because they were desperate to get journalist creds anywhere. And all it did was hurt their chances of ever being taken seriously.

Whatever you think of American media, that doesn't take away from the very clear fact that Russian-funded media is mostly garbage, on purpose, blatantly. Get real: the enemy of your supposed enemy is not your friend.

By agreeing to appear on two Sputnik programs, Changa gained something hard to find: a bigger platform to broadcast her political views. But Changa’s association with Sputnik may put her credibility at risk, while furthering Russia’s effort to create chaos in the US.

One could be forgiven for thinking “may put her credibility at risk” sounds more like a threat than a neutral observation: Nice reputation you have here, African-Americans who may be thinking about using Russian-backed media. Be a shame if something happened to it.

The above is from your link. I don't see that as a threat. It seems obvious to me. Some years ago long before 9-11 and before there was much fear of Islamic terrorism I was out on the Lakota reservation. Some Natives were quite excited that some Middle East nations had reached out to them to support their claims for historically indian land. I supported the Native Americans. I was doing sweat lodges, vision quests, and sundances with Lakota elders on Lakota land. I told them I thought these Middle East nations didn't care at all about them or their claims. They were using American Indians and their quasi-independant nation status to embarrass the US government. I told them that while the association might have short term gains in publicity in the long run it would harm them and put their credibility at risk.

It wasn't a threat. It was an observation I thought was fairly obvious.