Earlier this year I was on vacation in Kerala, India.
Over rice and curry and Kingfisher longnecks I got to talking to a Russian bloke.
He was ex-military and the conversation drifted to recent geopolitical events involving Russia and the West.
He was adamant that the Russian media was reporting facts and that Western media were distorting them.
He said an overwhelming amount of Russians believed the same thing.
I told him that Reporters Without Borders ranked Russia quite low on a press freedom index.
He replied: “And where are they from?”
I wonder what he would make of the recent doping allegations in the Russian Olympic teams.
Likely it would be a conspiracy cooked up by the U.S.
Good bloke, shouted me a few beers.
Tynan, I’d have to agree with the Russian. The West especially America have since and maybe before the Cold War have made Russia (former USSR) look worse (sorry about the use of this word couldn’t think of another word at the time) than what they really are. These wrong images projected, helped promote and justify what the government wanted to do if war broke out. Propaganda – be it to prop up their own country or to tear down another country is used by more than likely ever country around the world.