- Social media: Russophobia from the underground?
- Analysis: Russian regional media protest against disinformation - vol. 2
- Analysis: For Sputnik, it's all about the sanctions
- Response: Celebrating Russian Language Day
- Response: News for journalists who work in Russian language
- Friday musical fun: There's just no money viral music video
|
|
Russophobia from the underground?
Among the topics most widely debated in last week's Russian social media, one stood out from the rest as unusual. It all started with an advertisement poster in London's Underground from Penguin Publishers. A quotation from Ivan Turgenev's 1862 novel Fathers and Sons appeared on the poster, which is one in a series of similar posters with quotations from Penguin's series of classical literary masterpieces. However, a regular storm quickly built up against Penguin among Russian social media users who accused the publishing house of anti-Russian prejudice and deliberate propaganda. The poster text read: “Aristocracy, liberalism, progress, principles … Useless words! A Russian doesn’t need them!”
|
|
Protesters in social media saw the poster as a sign of the "Russophobia," which, according to a pro-Kremlin narrative, characterises Western views on the Russian people, biasing Western public opinion about Russia's policies. RFE/RL's Russian service published a thorough article analysing the story, but also presenting a large selection of reactions in social media. Below we have picked and translated a handful of the quotations that were harvested by RFE/RL as an illustration of the feelings and thoughts the poster provoked. First and foremost, many complained that the absence of explanatory notes on the poster opened ground for misunderstandings:
"Do you really think the average Brit[…] will understand the context in which it was said? Of course not. What matters here is to insert the word "Russian" into the necessary context, thereby adding another drop to the dehumanization of Russians. Do not even bother to indicate the source with a footnote on the poster".
Other commenters focused on the quotation as what they saw as a case of classical intolerance:
"Is that really okay? […] [T]o publicly insult people based on their ethnic background […] This is all disgusting and very sad."
… and another commenter replies:
Yes, this is absolutely okay when it comes to Russia or Russians. If you would utter just one word in a similar context about Jews, Arabs or Muslims as such, you would immediately be wiped off the face of the earth […]
As one can see above, some commenters subscribe to the "Russophobia" narrative. For precisely that reason you will see that we in the Disinformation Review and Disinformation Digest avoid using the phrase "Russian propaganda," giving preference to the term "pro-Kremlin disinformation", and we recommend the use of that term over the term "Russian propaganda". The fact that media loyal to the Kremlin's policies are engaged in a disinformation campaign, should not make Russia as a country or Russians as a nation feel stigmatized.
The story was also covered in detail in this recommendable article by The Guardian.
|
|
|
This image of Pinocchio as a disinformer was designed by grassroot news outlet Lentach and relayed by one of the leaders of the protest campaign Valeriy Bezpyatykh on his Facebook.
|
|
Russian regional media protest against disinformation - vol. 2
In last week's digest we told you about a small notice in a Siberian local newspaper that warned readers about the dangers of consuming news programmes produced by the notorious pro-Kremlin outlet NTV. Now dozens of local and regional newspapers have joined the initiative, which is developing into a coordinated campaign. So far between 20 and 40 members of Russia's Alliance of Independent Regional Publishers (AIRP) have expressed their willingness to join Yakutsk Vecherniy's initiative; the number of participants is expected to reach 100 in the following weeks, Valeriy Bespyatykh, one of the organizers of the action, said Wednesday in a news broadcast on TV Rain.
Participants of the campaign agreed to follow the Siberian newspaper's example of adding a small disclaimer to their TV pages next to NTV's programme, indicating that the channel "under the guise of journalism" disseminates "distorted information and propaganda". Participants were also asked to upload a photo-evidence on Facebook.
|
|
|
While the campaign's primary aim is to express sympathy with Yakutsk Vecherniy, which became a target of the Kremlin's smear campaign in early March, it also indicates growing frustration among independent media with the increasingly aggressive attacks of pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets. As Bespyatykh explains, "NTV has simply ignored complaints submitted by Russia's Press Council, and it is very likely to escape justice in court as well. We cannot leave NTV unpunished."
|
|
For Sputnik, it's all about the sanctions
Sputnik remains strongly focused on the issue of the EU's sanctions towards Russia. Be it a body of articles about Putin's visits abroad (e.g. Greece - see our previous newsletter) or in their coverage of President Juncker's expected visit to St. Petersburg, Sputnik always includes lines about the EU's restrictive measures, and the overall message is clear: Sputnik sees signs of "thaw" and Russia should expect the sanctions to be lifted.
When delivering this message, Sputnik always makes sure to refer to Western media as a way of adding a counterweight of credibility to their messages, knowing well that Sputnik will always be read with a grain of salt by those who are aware of Sputnik's specific role as international mouthpiece for the Kremlin. For example, in an article about President Juncker's expected visit to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum under the headline An End of Dialogue in the Dark?, Sputnik quotes Reuters and Le Figaro to hint at a thaw in relations between Russia and the EU.
The narrative that sanctions will soon be lifted is not new to Sputnik. For example, Russia's Ambassador to the EU told Sputnik already in February that "I think that at some point, I hope that already in the summer, they [the sanctions] will simply no longer be in force." It cannot come as a surprise that Sputnik and Russian diplomats support a narrative about how something that is in Russia's interest will soon to actually happen. However, as a side effect, this strategy also builds up expectations that can lead to disappointment when the prophecies are not fulfilled. This in turn can create frustration and anger towards the EU, and the question is if it is precisely that side effect which is in fact intended.
|
|
Celebrating Russian Language Day
On the occasion of the UN Russian Language Day on 6 June, the East Stratcom Task Force produced a pictoquote showing the famous Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky and a quotation from his novel Brothers Karamazov and tweeted it from the EU Mythbusters Twitter account. The quotation says: “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
|
|
|
The International Russian Language Day was also marked by the central EEAS Twitter account with this tweet in Russian and in English that flagged the Russian language website about EU's foreign policy, which is edited by the East Stratcom Task Force.
|
|
|
Last week East Stratcom also published this video, which in the Russian language explains the steps countries have to take in order to be taken into consideration for visa free travel to the Schengen countries. The video featured in an article published by Russia's largest online news outlet, RBC, and has so far been watched more than 6,000 times on Youtube (watch the same video in English via this link).
|
|
News for journalists who work in Russian language
The East Stratcom Task Force also used the Russian Language Day to launch a new weekly update of important EU foreign policy news in Russian, specifically targeting journalists who work in the Russian language. The newsletter also creates awareness about the EEAS's Russian language website that is managed by the Task Force; the Russian versions of the Disinformation Review and the Disinformation Digest; and the @EUvsDisinfo Twitter account. We encourage you to recommend the new weekly updates (and occasional flash updates) to Russian language journalists who can sign up using this link.
|
|
|
|
