Russia Today: Vladimir Putin's Weapon In 'The War of Images' 254
dryriver sends in a story at Der Spiegel Online about news network Russia Today, and how it is becoming a powerful propaganda tool for Vladimir Putin to use against Western audiences. Quoting:
"Since 2005, the Russian government has increased the channel's annual budget more than tenfold, from $30 million (€22.6 million) to over $300 million. Russia Today's budget covers the salaries of 2,500 employees and contractors worldwide, 100 in Washington alone. And the channel has no budget cuts to fear now that Putin has issued a decree forbidding his finance minister from taking any such steps. The Moscow leadership views the funds going to the channel as money 'well invested,' says Natalya Timakova, the press attaché to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. 'In addition, Russia Today is — and I hope the Germans will forgive me for this remark — significantly more modern than Deutsche Welle, for example, and it also has more money.' ... Russia Today sees itself as a champion of a global audience critical of the West. But it is also meant to amplify the self-doubts of Europeans and Americans who have been forced by recent events to wonder if their own countries — like Russia and China — are corrupt and in the grip of a pervasive intelligence apparatus. In any case, the station has a rare knack for propaganda. ... To spice up the news, directors sometimes use Hollywood-like special effects, such as a computer-animated tank that looks like it is rolling over the newscaster's feet or Israeli fighter jets that fly a virtual loop through the studio before dropping their bombs over a map of Syria."
Actual reporters (Score:5, Interesting)
Russia Today has an edge simply because it has a big reporting staff. This is unusual in the US today. Only the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post have serious world reporting staffs any more.
RT is biased, but it's no worse than Fox News. The embarrassing thing for Americans is that RT doesn't have to make up bad stuff about the US. They just put the bad stuff at the top of their pages.
Russia World (Score:5, Interesting)
The modern Russian media is if anything worse than the old Pravda was. If you've recently had the pleasure of trying to have a political discussion with a Russian national, you'll notice quickly that they basically live in an entirely different universe than everyone else. Seriously, day-long Fox News viewers are well-grounded in reality compared to these folks.
In the Russian universe, the driving force behind everything is the USA. Literally everything, even stuff your typical American would claim to neither know nor give a shit about. The entire Arab Spring was started and driven by outside USA agitators. All those protestors you see on TV? All fakes (or paid US agents). They'll do the same in Russia too, given half the chance. You see, NGO's are also all CIA organizations acting to overthrow governments. Thus attacking NGO's is a patriot's duty.
It'll be fun when they start trying to seriously peddle this stuff in the West. I'd laugh it off as clearly unbelievable, but I used to do that with the 700 Club when it started on TV too. Some people bought it, and that made it important, no matter how clearly silly it all was.
For that reason I'd actually advocate taking in some Russian media, just so their behavior will start to make some sense to you. Syrians, wonder why Russia works so hard to keep your local tyrant in power? The answer's there. Americans, wonder what Russians seem to have against anything at all your country publicly seems to want? The answer's there too.
Re:Snowden is clearly in good hands (Score:5, Interesting)
I actually think US news sources are more like Pravda. Every single one is nothing more than an arm of the US government. The only way to get any news that is even remotely objective and not wildly pro-government biased is to seek foreign news sources like Al Jazeera, RT, or the BBC. So it's a Pot meet Kettle kind of situation. I actually think RT.com, at least the American section, is quite a bit less biased than any US source of news.
Also the fact that you are spreading lies and calling Snowden a traitor probably means that you get your paycheck from the US government. I think you are a bit too obvious though. Haven't you guys ever heard of subtlety? If you want to serve your masters well it would be better to town down some of the more obvious defector/traitor verbiage. You can't be an effective cyber warrior if it is obvious to everyone that that is what you are.
Re:Snowden is clearly in good hands (Score:5, Interesting)
I actually think US news sources are more like Pravda. Every single one is nothing more than an arm of the US government. The only way to get any news that is even remotely objective and not wildly pro-government biased is to seek foreign news sources like Al Jazeera, RT, or the BBC. So it's a Pot meet Kettle kind of situation. I actually think RT.com, at least the American section, is quite a bit less biased than any US source of news.
You must be joking. I'm an Australian and we sometimes get RT on the local community channel, along with Deutsche Weller, Al Jazeera and in the past, Voice of America. Basically they will take any programming that's cheap and will help to fill the airtime.
Russia Today is a straight out propaganda channel. It's the opposite side of Fox News' coin. If anyone at all has a negative opinion on the US, they will immediately be dragged before RT's cameras and invited to repeat it. I'd like to see the editorial staff of RT and Fox News be placed in a caged death match fight, then shoot the survivors.
Strangely I thought the pieces from Voice of America were fairly balanced and neutral, although many of them were just life-style interest pieces. The most balanced foreign news seems to come from DW and Al Jazeera.
One of the funniest things I saw on RT was a studio interview with the body guard of Viktor Bout, the notorious Russian arms dealer who was captured by US authorities in a sting operation in Thailand in 2008. Bout thought he was selling Igla anti-aircraft missiles and MI-24 Hind helicopters to FARC guerrillas, with delivery thrown in for an extra $5 million. So this body guard, who was a HUGE thug with no neck, sat perched on the edge of a studio chair recounting how it was all a mistake and they were just in Thailand for a harmless holiday. Bwahahahaha . . . hilarious.
It reminded me of an ancient Benny Hill routine where he was recounting how he and his mates had just been out on the town for a little innocent fun — in Soho at 3 am in the morning