The European Union feels surrounded by Russian media, and is preparing to put in place countermeasures to contain the “misinformation and propaganda” spread by Moscow. A document prepared by the European Parliamentary Research Service lists all the moves that Brussels will make.
It seems that European politicians are taking the issue very seriously. The Ukrainian lesson taught, if it was needed, that investing in high quality information at European level means investing in rights and freedom. In a word, in democracy.
The European Parliamentary Research Service, EPRS, issued a document in which analyzes the infowar initiated by Russia and the basis for countermeasures to be taken. The report, entitled “Russia’s manipulation of information on Ukraine and the EU’s response“, is interesting for two reasons. First because it analyzes one by one all the tools used by the Kremlin to implement the Russian soft power, recognizing a very high degree of success. But also, and above all, because it lists the countermoves that Europe must take.
Russian media win
One thing must be said. The Kremlin is doing a great job, especially outside its national borders. European analysts recognize that, for instance, the channel RT has only earned a “huge worldwide audience.” Russian flagship of international information, which broadcasts in English, Spanish and Arabic, talks to three million Americans, two million Britons and some 600 million viewers worldwide. Its YouTube channel has 1.5 million subscribers. For comparison, the one of CNN has 800,000, while the BBC’s one just 440,000.
RT has a 300 million budget a year, just under BBC News, which will be increased this year by 40% to create channels in French and German. Other than tanks.
On the other side of the barricade, the EPRS points out, only 5% of Russians watch Euronews in their language, and less than 2% follow Deutsche Welle, Radio Liberty and BBC News. The latter stopped broadcasting in Russian in 2011, relegating its channel on the web.
There’s even worse. Russia has its nose even inside Euronews, since when the Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash bought a share of the pan-European channel, also funded by the EU. ” Part ownership of Euronews by Firtash – known for supporting former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his business ties with Russia – could enable him to influence Euronews’ reporting to Ukraine and the rest of Europe”, report says.
The European Action Plan
Europe has an ambitious plan. Already at the of 19 and 20 May meeting, the EU leaders asked the High Representative, Federica Mogherini to draw up an action plan on strategic communication before the June European Council, in order to “counter Russian ongoing disinformation campaigns”. But the initial findings were already presented prior to the May 2015 Riga Summit by the European Endowment for Democracy (EED). The action plan includes the creation of a a pan-regional news hub to exchange news material among leading Russian language media, a regional content production center and a content factory, an excellence in media center for the coordination of audience research and training, focusing on market research, and a multi-donor basket fund to provide long-term support to Russian language media initiatives and their partnerships.
Peter Pomerantsev, one of the authors of the report and an expert on Russian media, said that “Often people do not trust any media, be they Russian, Western or Their Own. We need to rebuild trust in the high quality journalism”.
There is now to be hoped that, while the Kremlin goes on like a tank, Europe does not get lost in too ambitious initiatives. Because, you know, sometimes the best is the enemy of the good.
@daniloeliatweet
The European Union feels surrounded by Russian media, and is preparing to put in place countermeasures to contain the “misinformation and propaganda” spread by Moscow. A document prepared by the European Parliamentary Research Service lists all the moves that Brussels will make.
It seems that European politicians are taking the issue very seriously. The Ukrainian lesson taught, if it was needed, that investing in high quality information at European level means investing in rights and freedom. In a word, in democracy.
