Media monitoring report conducted in 2015 by a Slovak monitoring group MEMO 98, Internews Ukraine and Yerevan Press Club (YPC) of Armenia finds that Russian viewers of television news and current affairs are being told that their country has been targeted by the United States in a ‘western plot’ to bring their country to its knees. Russian TV channels also accuse the US offomenting the war with Ukraine, while the role of the EU has been downplayed, says the report.
Some of the conclusions of the monitoring report are:
- Talk shows and news programs on the main television channels on which Russians rely for their information about events at home and abroad uniformly criticize the Ukrainian government and armed forces while supporting the actions of the Russian authorities.
- Russians are also repeatedly told that the economic difficulties caused by sanctions and the low oil price are temporary and that ‘they can take it’ in a tone reminiscent of World War II.
- Programs on World War II are a key element of the campaign to encourage Russians to support the government of President Vladimir Putin in a crisis situation which is presented as serious as the threat posed to the Soviet Union by the Nazi Germany 70 years ago.
Monitoring Report: Messages of Russian TV
