Transcript HOW PROPAGANDA MACHINE WORKS

ARE TRUTHS IN THE EU STILL TRUE
OUTSIDE THE EU?
Indrė Vareikytė
TRADITIONAL TOOLS
Positive news are associated with Russia, while negative - with the West. All
other sources of information are treated as unreliable.
RT has the most Youtube videos of any news agency on the planet. Now
available to more than 86 million cable subscribers in the United States alone.
Boasts almost 2 million Facebook followers. 1 billion Youtube channel views.
More than 1 million Youtube subscribers. Over 2,000 staffers. Is given more than
$300 million each year by the government.
ANISSA NAOUAI, News Anchor and Senior
International Correspondent for RT: "Russia
Today" airs to a global audience. So it's not
really watched in Russia; it's in English; …
because they [our viewers] know very well, is
that we have nothing to hide. People know
where our funding comes from. We're "Russia
Today." We're funded by the Kremlin.”
AFTER 20 MINUTES OF RUSSIAN MEDIA
AFTER 20 MINUTES OF RUSSIAN MEDIA
AFTER 20 MINUTES OF RUSSIAN MEDIA
AFTER 20 MINUTES OF RUSSIAN MEDIA
AFTER 20 MINUTES OF RUSSIAN MEDIA
AFTER 20 MINUTES OF RUSSIAN MEDIA
AFTER 20 MINUTES OF RUSSIAN MEDIA
NEWS REPORTING…
NEW TOOLS: OLD PRODUCT IN NEW PACKAGING
On an avarage working day the blogger must:
• Post on news articles - 50 times;
• Maintain 6 Facebook accounts
publishing at least 3 posts a day;
• Discuss the news in groups at least twice a
day;
• By the end of the first month, they are
expected to have won 500 subscribers
and get at least five posts on each item a
day;
• On Twitter, the bloggers are expected to
manage 10 accounts with up to 2,000
followers and tweet 50 times a day.
The Internet Research Agency itself, founded last
summer, now employs over 600 people and, is set to
budget for over $10 million in 2014. Half of its
budget is earmarked to be paid in cash.
“Foreign
media
are
currently actively forming
a negative image of the
Russian Federation in the
eyes
of
the
global
community, “Additionally,
the discussions formed by
comments to those articles
are also negative in tone“.
“Like any brand formed
by popular opinion, Russia
has its supporters (‘brand
advocates’)
and
its
opponents. The main
problem is that in the
foreign
internet
community, the ratio of
supporters and opponents
of Russia is about 20/80
respectively.”
HOW PROPAGANDA MACHINE WORKS
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The creation of an image of the mystical ‘they’ or enemies.
Inclusion of religion.
Pollution or saturation of all possible channels of information with own truth.
Projection of bad deeds onto the opponent or application of own faults to
the others.
Rewriting of history or interpretation of historical events in a favorable light.
Propaganda uses confusion or an attack on the opponent which cannot be
refuted by counterarguments.
Propaganda unavoidably employs populism, when the society is told what it
wants to hear.
Finding the scapegoat.
Everything is crowned by purposeful confusion of meanings.
BALTIC STATES: SYSTEMATIC ACTIONS
Russia has a number of advantages for implementing a soft power strategy in its neighbourhood: the
presence of large Russian minorities; a shared history; cultural and linguistic proximity; a larger
economy and energy resources.
Moscow funds cultural programmes based on the idea of a common identity, language and history in
the post-Soviet space, and tries to spread its messages through well-resourced Kremlin-linked media
outlets.
First Baltic Channel (PBK), which re-broadcasts the news from Russia’s state-funded Channel One.
In 2012, the total audience of PBK in the Baltics exceeded 4 million viewers.
Rossotrudnichestvo agency responsible for international development, as a way of promoting Russian
values in recipient countries, to increase its budget from the current 0.03 per cent of Russia’s GDP to
0.1 per cent by 2020.
A 2011 report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), ‘Russian Soft
Power in the 21st Century’, estimated that this so-called Russkiy Mir (the Russian world) outside
Russia consists of roughly 35 million people, mainly concentrated in the post-Soviet space.
TARGETS OF HOSTILE INFO ACTIVITY IN LTU
History of Lithuania
The Lithuanian Armed Forces
NATO
Lithuania's membership in NATO and the EU
Energy sector
LTU – POL relationship
Culture
Sport
Abused ethnic minorities
Lithuania prepares the RUS opposition fighters
Baltic
trail
at
Kiev
Euromaidan
Blood of Euromaidan - on the hands of
Baltic authorities.
“…NATO dwarf armies are “empty
place”, the land forces of the NATO can
be destroyed by 1-2 brigades of Russian
Army…”
…NATO rapid reaction forces are quite
small, and the rest of European armies are
at very low level of readines, there is even
a question if they have any military value at
all…”
The Alliance is actively preparing for
attack on Russia from Baltic countries,
which clearly can be seen in ongoing
exercises
As always, at the forefront of “hawks” Lithuania.
The three Baltic "sisters" are directly
related to the bloody events in the
brotherly
country.
- ... Among dozens of instructors and
agitators also works experts from the
Baltic states, including from Lithuania…
Rioters who died in Kiev, could be killed
by NATO sniper
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
• Almost 95% of Russian media is controlled by the government.
• Some 94% of Russians obtain their information primarily from state television.
• Russian state executes power over mass media, synchronises messages for internal
and external audiences, controls media agenda, narratives and thematic frames.
• In year 2011 Russia spent 1,3 Billion USD on international propaganda - more than
on unemployement.
• The positive things are linked to patriotism and Russia and the negative things are
linked to the west, Ukraine and Euromaidan.
• An illusion that only the state can offer their people safe and reliable information.
• In November 2013, 53% of Russians said they would vote for a different candidate
during the next election. After the annexation of Crimea, 86% now say they would
re-elect Putin.
ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN
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Raising awareness and condemning disinformation
Can disinformation be called journalism?
A single EU TV channel?
Implementation of the European Directive for Audiovisual Media Services
Call for more EU involvement
Internationally recognized rating system for disinformation
The disinformation charter for Media and Bloggers
PROTEST AGAINST DISINFORMATION
Abby Martin, anchor from Russia Today, reads a monolog explaining her own
personal position about Russia meddling with the sovereignty of the Ukrainian
people:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZolXrjGIBJs
Liz Wahl, another news anchor in Russia Today, resigned the next day after the show
with these words:
"And that is why, personally, I cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian
government that whitewashes the actions of Putin”
"And that is why, after this newscast, I'm resigning”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55izx6rbCqg