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A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

nytimes.com

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Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

#21

Post by DangerousPie »

The headline sounds very interesting but I was actually quite disappointed by the article itself. It doesn't offer any concrete examples or any attempt to actually validate what this guy is saying. It also doesn't even attempt to compare this to what the media landscape looks like in other countries.

If all that happened was that a "prominent news anchor reviewed the coming events as if they were part of a film script, musing on how best to entertain the audience and questioning who that week’s enemy should be" then this doesn't sound too different from what probably happens in some US news rooms as well.

I have no trouble believing that Russian TV is a propaganda machine and projects like the World Press Freedom Index [1] tend to agree. But this seems like a very weak article to make this point.

[1] http://rsf.org/index2014/en-index2014.php

Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

#22

Post by rational-future »

nothrabannosir wrote: post #15
calibraxis wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with US propaganda (like New York Times) is the US is the far more powerful mafia boss than say Russia. (Just look at militant attacks which reach across the world, not to mention incarceration.) Furthermore, people should be concerned with their own country's criminality, not hypocritically pointing the finger at official enemies like Russia. (As this is a US-dominated forum.)

How much karma do you need on HN to downvote? Because this deserves one. How often are we going to repeat this point? Okay, as slowly and clearly as I can: "Two wrongs don't make a right." Just because the US does bad thing X, doesn't mean we can't talk about another country doing bad thing X. Please, for the love of baby Jesus and his family. Please. Please. I won't even top it off with a "the country's people are n…

So you're saying "Don't talk US, because Russia"?

Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

#23

Post by icebraining »

calibraxis wrote: post #10
efbbbf wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, with Russia's already severe lack of independent media or freedom of speech and the active repression of both, things are certainly looking a lot bleaker than anywhere in the west, including the US.

The problem with US propaganda (like New York Times) is the US is the far more powerful mafia boss than say Russia. (Just look at militant attacks which reach across the world, not to mention incarceration.) Furthermore, people should be concerned with their own country's criminality, not hypocritically pointing the finger at official enemies like Russia. (As this is a US-dominated forum.)

Furthermore, people should be concerned with their own country's criminality, not hypocritically pointing the finger at official enemies like Russia.

It's only hypocritical if you don't also point the finger at your own flaws. Which people in this forum do. A lot.

Besides, not everyone agrees anymore with the notion that they must "have a country". What's my country? I have double nationality, and I live in an union of 28 countries. Lots of us work and live moving from country to country. And I feel more at home with some people here than with the average citizen of my city.

I still hold a soft spot for the place I grew up in, but I don't consider myself tied to it. It's not mine, nor do I belong to it.

EDIT: My ignorance was showing. Thanks, Atropos.

Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

#24

Post by [deleted] »

rational-future wrote: post #22
nothrabannosir wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much karma do you need on HN to downvote? Because this deserves one. How often are we going to repeat this point? Okay, as slowly and clearly as I can: "Two wrongs don't make a right." Just because the US does bad thing X, doesn't mean we can't talk about another country doing bad thing X. Please, for the love of baby Jesus and his family. Please. Please. I won't even top it off with a "the country's people are n…

So you're saying "Don't talk US, because Russia"?

[deleted]

Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

#25

Post by cnp »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #14
bayesianhorse wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, actually it doesn't... This stuff may be going on inside Fox News, and I doubt that. But that would be a single TV channel. In Russia they coordinate among all TV channels and there is no dissenting voice. The superiority of western media over what is available from Russia or similar countries is not in the honesty and quality of any single media outfit, but in the plurality of media voices. In the west, there ar…

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent We in the west are far more brainwashed than we think...

Yeah, so true. Its not like all of our news is being piped through top-level editorial departments of major corporate conglomerations or anything, or this video of dozens of news anchors reading a shared script is real.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PStpvviPgxk

Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

#26

Post by DenisM »

Public indoctrination through control of the media is easily the most pressing problem of our days. Far more important than that of the global warming, for example, simply because it blocks meaningful discussion on the subjects that really matter.

While the public opinion is manipulated both in the US and in Russia, the methods and outcomes are vastly different. For a diligent study of the US media manipulation I highly recommend Chomsky's book "Understanding Power" [2]. You may disagree with his opinions, but they are still worthy of consideration because Chomsky backs up each observation with a verifiable reference, to the point where all of the references combined make an entire separate book of equal volume. If you don't like Chomsky's answers, you will at least appreciate the questions he's trying to tackle.

I haven't read the headline book yet [1], but it has the potential to shed some light on how things are done over in Russia. Between the two works, I hope, one can gain actual knowledge of the methods of the public opinion manipulation. The kind of knowledge to replace both the blind faith in the media and it's twin brother - the entirely counterproductive nihilistic disregard of all news.

[1] "Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible", Peter Pomerantsev http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Is-True-Everything-Possible/dp...

[2] http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Power-Indispensible-Chom...

Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

#28

Post by imissmyjuno »

DangerousPie wrote: post #21

The headline sounds very interesting but I was actually quite disappointed by the article itself. It doesn't offer any concrete examples or any attempt to actually validate what this guy is saying. It also doesn't even attempt to compare this to what the media landscape looks like in other countries. If all that happened was that a "prominent news anchor reviewed the coming events as if they were part of a film scrip…

I find it amusing that an article that's supposed to criticize a controlled media system is itself a thinly veiled advertisement. I guess mass media has issues everywhere you look :)

Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine

#30

Post by michaelry »

bayesianhorse wrote: post #12
thatsjustcrazy wrote: post #4

Gee willickers, I sure am glad nothing like that happens here in the good old US of A.

No, actually it doesn't... This stuff may be going on inside Fox News, and I doubt that. But that would be a single TV channel. In Russia they coordinate among all TV channels and there is no dissenting voice. The superiority of western media over what is available from Russia or similar countries is not in the honesty and quality of any single media outfit, but in the plurality of media voices. In the west, there ar…

In the US, I find it interesting that the major headlines of the day, no matter how insignificant are picked up by all the major news players. The same "stories" are repeated on all every mainstream news outlet. I remember the day that all the new stories had to report how the man was arrested for "eating and driving" as a DUI. Certainly a worthy new story is such a bland world devoid of any actual events that might affect ones life. But that DUI story was parroted on several news sites. Who picks those stories I wonder?
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