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Mass Media in Russia and Eastern Europe

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Submitted By airaristotle
Words 932
Pages 4
Ksenija Tihomirova

November 29th, 2015

Professor Alp Tuncaci
Politics of Russia and EE 01:790:381
Article Reaction #2

The article that I chose to respond to for the November reaction paper assignment was published online on the Washington Free Beacon website on November 4th, 2015 and was gathered by Daniel Wiser. Being a relatively new editorial, this piece of writing tends to grasp and touch upon recent events sprouting around Russia and the influence it aspires on the global spectrum. One of these events, a matter to be more precise, is concerning the
Russian mass media and the role it plays in certain parts of the world, specifically the Eastern
Europe; hence the name of the article- “Russia’s Propaganda Creating ‘Separate Reality’ in
Eastern Europe”.
Mass media, as we might have experienced and noticed that already, has a tendency to be biased towards one or another sphere of authority. The aforesaid tabloid, therefore, suggests that Russia’s publicity in the near West (Eastern Europe that is) is not just predisposed to pro-Russian news, but is actually forcing, to a certain extent, all the proRussian activities and procedures to the ethnic Russian minorities living in that area. That being the case, the article argues just how through “the weaponization of information, the
Kremlin uses news and analysis as a means of provoking strong negative emotions, potentially leading to hatred, incitement and, ultimately, the justification of violence”
(Wiser). As to me, this is indeed a very interesting and yet quite inciting statement to make, for I believe that each branch of media has its own set of rules and polices to follow.
Certainly, many of them are coordinated and managed by the politicians; however, claiming

that all Russian mass media have only one goal in mind is, perhaps, too abstractive and could even be considered slightly imbalanced.
Accordingly, having relatives in both Russia and Latvia, I do travel a lot between these two countries and one peculiarity that I have noticed in regards to this matter is that both populations, Latvians and Russians, incline to speak disloyally about the media coverage in their own countries. Thus, Latvians would argue just how unfair and excessive mass media are in their country of residence; and likewise will Russians do, claiming their television to be highly prejudiced. I always found this correspondence to be of a particular significance as it shows us that people do indeed understand that not all media can be trusted.
Although, I must acknowledge the fact that this tendency is a comparatively new as few years ago, when I would pay my family in Moscow a visit, I would notice just how pro-Russian their views and beliefs were; however now they are more open towards various sources of information and are actually disappointed with Russian government. In my trust, the change in their political views could be explained by the growing distrust regarding Russian geopolitics and on-going sanctions/issues between their country and the rest of the world.
That, essentially, raises a concern in their mind as to why issues like this tend to happen and accordingly leads to more profound research from their side; henceforth, the recognition of different sources of information and acceptance of more diverse sequence of views.
As far as Latvia goes, it is certainly true that Baltic States have a high population of ethnic Russian minorities, mostly of who are in their mid-50s and up. That being the case, a lot of them barely know the official language and refuse to learn it due to having little to no need in it. Correspondingly, being born in the Soviet Union they prefer to stick to Russian language and watch Russian TV as it gives them a sense of flashback, i.e. reminds them of certain stages in their lives when they used to live in a wholly united and prosper integration, where Russian was the main language. Moreover, the existing tension between Latvians and

Russians on various levels of operation only escalates the will to preserve and highlight their own culture, ethnicity if I may (refers to both sides). For example, my grandparents, who live with me in Riga, are both Russians and know nothing in Latvian language; therefore, they choose to watch Russian TV. Now as much as I was complaining about the article, some of its major points actually incline to be of an extreme truth, for several Russian TV channels do indeed use high propaganda when addressing ethnic Russian minorities in Eastern Europe.
Specifically, they tend to tackle the most recent matters that include Russia or its activities around the world. In my estimation, mass media do so in order to not loose more supporters from the Europe. Having already lost most part of the Eastern Europe, I believe Russia realizes that they have not so much influence left in there anymore, hence the targeting of
Russian minorities in order to preserve their loyalty. And honestly, to some extent, they do succeed in it as my grandparents and their friends truly believe in almost everything that is depicted on those channels. Latvian television, on the other hand, is more westernized and thus, tends to depict news that will mostly support western part of the world. As for me, this is a great opportunity to watch both news channels and afterwards compare the transmission of the broadcast, having both Russian/Eastern and Latvian/Western point of view.

Works Cited

Wiser, Daniel. "Russia’s Propaganda Creating ‘Separate Reality’ in Eastern Europe." The
Washington Free Beacon. N.p., 4 Nov. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
.

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