On September 22, 2105 the Altlanticist ran an article
“Western Media Must Fight Russia’s Letha Propaganda More Aggressively” (see: http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/western-media-must-fight-russia-s-lethal-propaganda-more-aggressively
which is also the photo source.)
The thesis of the article is that Russia controls its media
in a way that puts a pro-Russia spin on events that amounts to a “major global
propaganda effort”. Muzzling media is
often a two edged sword. On one hand you can try to silence critics, but on the
other you risk alienating freedom of the press advocates and incur their wrath
on the global stage.
A key point made by the article is: “It is possible that
democratic tools and the standard requirements for balanced journalism are
simply incapable of dealing with virulent state-generated propaganda.”
Does it make sense for the US to harness its influence
assets (meaning State Department Public Diplomacy and MISO) as a means to try
and counter balance Russian efforts?
One could argue that since most media is now digital,
resources in the form of content or funding could be channeled to key digital
media outlets that support US policy and goals and which could help in a
counter Russian propaganda campaign.
Of course since this type of resourcing is not military in
nature, but more in the diplomatic realm, State would have to be in the lead
and MISO could be tasked on a project basis to help generate needed content
and/or to provide monitoring and analysis of Russian propaganda as well as
content recommendations.
This would appear to be a win-win situation because:
1.
MISO personnel could bring needed language
skills.
2.
The work would be valuable training for MISO
personnel.
3.
MISO personnel would be subcontractors to the
Department of State who remains in the lead.
Such media support could be extended to other areas as well
such as ISIS. The name of the game being to counter negative propaganda,
because unanswered propaganda becomes more believable over time without regard to
its lack of truth.
Reader input invited.
1 comment:
Sadly, the moment government money or support ends up in the hands of any media outlet, no matter how big or small, no matter how little "guidance" is offered, it becomes open to being painted with the same brush as Russian-state media. Tough nut to crack, that.
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