Category: Media, Internet, Social Media, Television

NEWSWATCH: “Taking the Edge off U.S.-Russia Strategic Relations” – Russia Matters/ Steven Pifer

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Rex Tillerson file photo, adapted from image at readyagain.gov

“Secretary of State Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov have agreed in principle to resume strategic stability talks. The United States and Russia should begin the talks expeditiously, and the first agenda items they should tackle include measures to reduce the risk of accident or miscalculation, preservation of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and extension of the 2010 […]

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JOB OPPORTUNITY: [Bilingual Journalist/ Researcher/ Reporting Assistant Position in Moscow with Washington Post] – Michael Birnbaum/ Washington Post/ facebook

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Opportunities, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Kremlin Aerial View, adapted from .gov source

The Washington Post‘s Michael Birnbaum has posted on facebook about a new opportunity in Moscow with the Washington Post: “… The Washington Post is looking for a highly motivated, resourceful and fast-thinking early-career journalist to fill a position in Moscow as a researcher and reporting assistant. … research, administrative work, and independent reporting and writing. … a passion for news, an obsession […]

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VIDEOS & ARTICLE: Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Known

Cybersecurity, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Science, Technology, Engineering, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Michael Riley, Jordan Robertson – June 13, 2017) [See video “How to See If Russia Meddled With Your Vote”: bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-13/russian-breach-of-39-states-threatens-future-u-s-elections] Russia’s cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump’s election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously […]

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Putin Needs an Intelligentsia that Complains but Knows Its Place, Shevtsova Says

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 7, 2015) Vladimir Putin needs a constantly complaining but one that knows what not to criticize – his person and immediate entourage – and how not to act – by taking part in demonstrations or in politics – so that Russia will appear to be a civilized country and popular anger […]

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Putin’s ‘Magic’ has Disappeared Like Cinderella’s Coach, Golts Says

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Screenshot of Vladimir Putin in Twitter Video of Trailer of Oliver Stone TV Film Regarding Russia

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 6, 2017) Like Cinderella’s coach at the stroke of midnight, Vladimir Putin’s “magic,” his “negative charm, no longer works” as it did in the past, Aleksandr Golts says. Instead, as the recent St. Petersburg Export Forum showed, it has disappeared or more precisely turned into something else entirely (ej.ru/?a=note&id=31172). For most […]

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Talking Heads: How Russia’s Videobloggers are Shaping Public Opinion; As Russians turn from their televisions in favour of YouTube, the Kremlin is struggling to find a primetime slot.

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ola Cichowlas – June 2, 2017) When Sasha Spilberg addressed the Duma on May 22, few Russians under the age of 25 even knew who she was. “My name is Sasha Spilberg and I have over 10 million followers on social media,” the 19-year-old told the Russian parliament as part of a debate on youth […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny Vows to Fight On; As legal obstacles to opposition figure’s presidential run multiply, he says in interview ‘Kremlin will have no choice’ than to let his campaign proceed” – Wall Street Journal/ Nathan Hodge

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Navalny file photo

“… Navalny has mobilized thousands of demonstrators across [Russia] to protest corruption under … Putin. Now he says he is pressing ahead with a quixotic effort to run against his country’s powerful leader in elections next year. … despite … serious legal obstacles …. he was found guilty of embezzlement by a court in Kirov … a verdict he said was politically motivated to […]

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NEWSLINK: “‘Do you know what memes are?’ Billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s lawsuit against opposition leader Alexey Navalny goes to trial” – Meduza

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alisher Usmanov file photo

“On Tuesday, May 30, a Moscow court convened to consider the merits of a defamation lawsuit brought by billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov against opposition politician Alexey Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). Usmanov is demanding that Navalny retract multiple accusations he made in a recent investigation into corruption allegedly involving Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, as well as allegations Navalny has […]

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NEWSLINK: “New book announcement from Brookings: The New Autocracy. Information, Politics, and Policy in Putin’s Russia. Edited by Daniel Treisman. Corruption, fake news, and the ‘informational autocracy’ sustaining Putin in power.” – Brookings Institution

Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

“After fading into the background for many years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia suddenly has emerged as a new threat — at least in the minds of many Westerners. … Under … Putin … Russia is neither a somewhat reduced version of the Soviet Union nor a classic police state. Corruption is prevalent at all levels of government and […]

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NEWSLINK: “Russian Social Media Seen as Threat to Ukraine and to Cybersecurity. Kiev has shut down Russian Facebook-like platforms VKontakte and Odnoklassniki” – Wall Street Journal

Cybersecurity, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

“Ukraine has taken a drastic step in a continuing cyberwar with Russia, its powerful, nuclear-armed neighbor: shutting down Russia’s homegrown versions of Facebook. The Ukrainian government earlier this month blocked Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki, Russian-language social media platforms that are hugely popular across the former Soviet Union, saying they were serving as vehicles for pro-Russian propaganda. …”

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Andrei Liakhov: “Re: 2017-#98-Johnson’s Russia List/ My answer to the ‘prominent Washington expert'”

Cybersecurity, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

Subject: Re: 2017-#98-Johnson’s Russia List Date: Wed, 24 May 2017 20:01:47 +0300 From: Andrei Liakhov <gaffriloff@yahoo.co.uk> My answer to the “prominent Washington expert”: Dear expert, you have not read the report correctly. [“Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”] The January report never stated unequivocally that Russia’s interference is an established fact. At most, to me, as to […]

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Response by prominent Washington expert on Russia to JRL 2017-#95, 18 May 2017 [Re: U.S. #Intelligence, #Russia, #Hacking, U.S. Election]:

Cybersecurity, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Science, Technology, Engineering, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

Response by prominent Washington expert on Russia to JRL 2017-#95, 18 May 2017: “I was surprised to read Prof. Robinson’s analysis on your Russia List. His analysis misses one rather central point, without mention of which everything else that he says instantly loses credibility. It is not leaks — what would the in-party do without leaks to blame? —  that […]

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Despite His Suspicions about the Internet, Putin may Soon Begin to Tweet, Gontmakher Says

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 23, 2017) Vladimir Putin is deeply suspicious of the Internet, viewing it as a source of “disinformation and manipulation,” Ekho Moskvy editor Aleksey Venediktov says ((echo.msk.ru/blog/pressa_echo/1985746-echo/). But he is also a very clever politician who recognizes that there are some things he must adapt himself to, Yevgeny Gontmakher observes. The Internet […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Media prepare for chance that Trump-Russia probe reveals ‘nothing'” – Washington Examiner/ Eddie Scarry

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Donald Trump Waving Before Large Crowd with Trump Signs, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“Some in the news media who have been intensely critical of the Trump administration are now anticipating a potentially anti-climactic end to the investigation into President Trump’s ties to Russia, as even Democratic leaders are admitting they have seen no evidence that Trump colluded with Russia to interfere with the election. … warnings [from Democratic politicians] have prompted some of Trump’s […]

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NEWSLINK: “The Best Western Correspondent in Moscow; A latter-day John Reed who has lived to tell the story” – Economic Principals/ David Warsh

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“Fred Weir, of The Christian Science Monitor, has long seemed to me the most dependable and best-informed North American correspondent in Moscow. His reporting stood out on the agglomeration site Johnson’s Russia List, even before David Johnson offered a collection of fifty of Weir’s dispatches, 1999-2016, as a subscription premium. Last week provided a striking example. The occasion was a […]

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Putin Is Taking Lessons From Trump on How to Win at the Polls

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stepan Kravchenko, Evgenia Pismennaya, Ilya Arkhipov – May 10, 2017) [Text with charts bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-05-10/now-it-s-trump-s-turn-to-show-putin-how-to-win-bigly-at-polls] The Kremlin thinks it knows the secret to Donald Trump’s election victory — and it’s not the kind of hacking you might think. The man Putin hired to deliver the crushing re-election win he’s seeking next March, Sergei Kiriyenko, wants to emulate […]

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Today’s Washington Post headlines and links to Russia

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

Here’s how the Russians might have snuck a recording device into the Oval Office https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/05/11/heres-how-the-russians-might-have-snuck-a-recording-device-into-the-oval-office/?utm_term=.fa1eacd431ad Don’t forget those smiling images of Trump and the Russians The Russians are comfortable with the president’s greed, his dishonesty and his cynicism about the rights of others. Anne Applebaum https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/dont-forget-those-smiling-images-of-trump-and-the-russians/2017/05/11/ea26a204-3651-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html?utm_term=.3976431f4593 Trump is at war with the nation he is supposed to lead He seems […]

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Ukraine Police Scramble To Probe Fresh Claims In Journalist’s Car-Bomb Killing

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – KYIV – May 11, 2017) Ukrainian police investigating the car-bomb killing of a Belarus-born journalist are sifting through a new documentary film’s claims about the unsolved case, including that a current or former Ukrainian security agent was present when the explosive was planted. National police chief Serhiy Knyazev convened the Kyiv meeting on May 11, one […]

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NEWSWATCH: Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?”

Cybersecurity, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

Twitter May 9, 2017 Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?” [live feed of tweet also should embed below; tweet also viewable at: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/861713823505494016] The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

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How does Russian TV propaganda really work? New research shows that Russian state media’s influence is by no means total. Most people are capable of watching television news critically – provided they’re given the opportunity to do so.

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(opendemocracy.net – Maxim Alyukov – May 8, 2017) Maxim Alyukov is a member of PS Lab and a student at the Department of Political Science and Sociology at the European University at St Petersburg. He works on media and political communication, civil society, social movements and conflict in the post-Soviet space. Today, many researchers agree that the influence exerted by […]

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NEWSLINK: “FBI’s Comey: Russia is ‘greatest threat of any nation on Earth’ to U.S. democratic process” – CNBC/ Jacob Pramuk

Cybersecurity, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, Science, Technology, Engineering, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
FBI Headquarters File Photo

“#FBI Director James #Comey told senators Wednesday that #Russia remains involved in American politics, saying he thinks the country poses the ‘greatest threat’ to the U.S. political process of any in the world. During a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham – a foreign policy hawk – asked Comey ‘what kind of threat’ Russia presents ‘to the […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Hardliners urge Kremlin crackdown on social media; Russia has introduced increasingly draconian web laws but some are pushing for more” – Financial Times/ Max Seddon

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

“… success in using social media to mobilise youthful anti-corruption protesters has sparked calls for the Kremlin to step up internet censorship. … [A]t a censorship conference … Oscar-winning film director Nikita Mikhalkov … showed a documentary that accused … Navalny of luring children to violent protests against … Putin. ‘… [Young people] don’t know any history and they won’t until they get a rubber […]

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Behind the Russian mirror; For Russia’s media, social inequality has never been a hot topic. Meet the people behind a new media organisation trying put injustice on Russia’s political agenda.

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(opendemocracy.net – Maxim Edwards – April 15, 2017) Maxim Edwards is Commissioning Editor at oDR. He writes on nationalism, migration, minorities and memory, with a focus on post-Soviet countries. His articles have appeared in Al-Jazeera, Al Monitor, Souciant and the Forward among other publications. Read the latest in our ongoing Unlikely Media series. As part of this series, oDR profiles […]

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NEWSWATCH: “A shortage of women in technology? Not in Russia” – Washington Post/ Gene Marks

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Education, Academia, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Science, Technology, Engineering
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

If you’re part of the #technology industry in the United States, then you’ll no doubt agree it’s a man’s world. TechCrunch reported … on the ‘pipeline problem’ … 18 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees and 26 percent of computing jobs are … held by #women. … [and] five percent of leadership positions in the technology industry …. the share of women in […]

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NEWSWATCH: Transcript of AP interview with Trump (excerpt re: CrowdStrike)

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Science, Technology, Engineering, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

[In an interview with AP, dated April 24, 2017, with an indication that it apparently took place Friday, April 21, 2017, President Donald Trump commented on Democratic National Committee cybersecurity problems and computer contractor CrowdStrike.] TRUMP: They [Democratic National Committee] shouldn’t have allowed it to get out. If they had the proper defensive devices on their internet, you know, equipment, they wouldn’t […]

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NEWSLINK: “A New Organization Is Battling Russia’s Culture of Impunity. To end the attacks on journalists, activists, and writers, Freedom of Speech is standing for the best traditions of Russian civil society.” – The Nation/ Nadezda Azhgikhina

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

“… the declaration of the new association, Freedom of Speech, appeared on the website of Ekho and other media, demanding that the perpetrators of the threats be held responsible and also that there be an end to the culture of impunity in general. …”

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YouTube Removes Video Comparing Kremlin Opponent Navalny To Hitler

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia
Youtube(TM) Logo, adapted from image at oakridge.doe.gov

(RFE/RL– rferl.org – April 22, 2017) YouTube has removed a video likening Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, citing a copyright claim. The slickly produced video, titled Hitler 1945/Navalny 2018, had garnered more than 2 million views after it was posted anonymously on the popular website on April 19. But it was unavailable at its original […]

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Interfax: State Duma sees no need to enquire with authorities about compliance by Voice of America, Radio Liberty, CNN with Russian laws

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Russian State Duma Building file photo

MOSCOW. April 18 (Interfax) – The State Duma committee for information policy, information technologies and communications will not be asking federal authorities to provide information on whether the Russian offices of the Voice of America, Radio Liberty and CNN comply with the Russian elections laws, the Committee has decided to confine itself to a discussion of this issue at an […]

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Ellen Mickiewicz: “New info re RT”

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

Subject: New info re RT Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2017 From: Ellen Mickiewicz <ellen.mickiewicz@gmail.com> Ellen Mickiewicz James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy Studies in the Sanford Institute for Public Policy and Professor of Political Science at Duke University. Maxim Audinet’s piece about RT in Le Monde diplomatique [JRL#65] provides data that are partly right, partly not. Does the corrective […]

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AUDIO: Reconsidering Russia Podcast #6: Fred Weir

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Videos
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Reconsidering Russia Podcast – April 4, 2017) [DJ: Listen to the interview with the best Western journalist in Russia here: mixcloud.com/reconsidering-russia/reconsidering-russia-podcast-6-fred-weir/] [note from JRL web editor: embedded audio also should load below] “Guest: Fred Weir, Moscow Correspondent at The Christian Science Monitor, discusses Russian politics and society, US-Russian relations, the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Nagorno-Karabakh, Ukraine, the American Rust […]

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NEWSLINK: “Propaganda or alternative worldview? RT, Russia’s voice to the world. The international television news channel RT was an attempt to promote Russian influence in the world. How far has it succeeded?” – Le Monde Diplomatique/ Maxime Audinet

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“Russia’s state-owned international news channel, RT (formerly Russia Today), celebrated its tenth birthday in December 2015 with a promotional video that showed Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief, in Soviet uniform, inspecting her staff at their Moscow HQ. …”

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The Story of Vedomosti – A Russian Newspaper’s Struggle for Independence; Does the departure of the paper’s veteran editor pose yet another threat to Russia’s already embattled independent media scene?

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eva Hartog – March 31, 2017) In the newsroom of #Russia’s most respected business newspaper, editors and reporters are in a tense face-off with the paper’s owner Demyan #Kudryavtsev (who also publishes The Moscow Times). He has just announced the name of their new editor-in-chief – an appointment that should reflect the paper’s editorial standards. […]

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NEWSLINK: “The arts thrive in Putin’s Russia – though they play a complex game of censorship; Russia’s art scene prospers in a bizarre critical climate fostered by the Kremlin. We may not know the rules, but we know our place” – The Guardian (UK)/Natalia Antonova

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“… The Russian state’s paradoxical nature becomes especially apparent when considering the country’s thriving arts scene. It is these contradictions of governance, and their peculiar influence on the Russian art world, that aid and abet Putin’s rule, and ultimately, help generate support for the Russian president. So is there censorship? Yes, some people would argue – but it’s not clearly […]

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More On Russia’s Protests

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore, The Morning Vertical – March 28, 2017) … There is no shortage of commentary on nationwide protests in Russia on March 26. Here’s a sampling: In The Atlantic, Julia Ioffe explains the significance of this past weekend’s protest. Leonid Ragozin has a piece in Bloomberg looking at Navalny’s campaign operation in Siberia and what […]

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@McFaul: “This is important. Russia has a serious, sophisticated disinformation strategy. We ignore it at our peril. “

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

[Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, @McFaul at twitter.com/mcfaul, tweets about #Russia and disinformation: embedded tweet should load below; tweet also is available at twitter.com/McFaul/status/843706148733693953] This is important. Russia has a serious, sophisticated disinformation strategy. We ignore it at our peril. https://t.co/eq15A6f6HG — Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 20, 2017

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NEWSLINK: “WEAPONIZING COMEDY” – Irrussianality/Paul Robinson

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Russia & the West
Satellite Dishes

“… The basic conclusion of the report is that in Russia, ‘the entire “official humour industry” … is directly Kremlin-controlled’. Working for the Kremlin, Russian comedians use humour to reduce their compatriots’ stress and make them feel more comfortable and thus more accepting of the political system. They provide audiences with a positive sense of social identity, which is contrasted […]

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NEWSLINK: “Key Democratic Officials Now Warning Base Not to Expect Evidence of Trump/Russia Collusion” – The Intercept/Glenn Greenwald

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“… The principal problem for Democrats is that so many media figures and online charlatans are personally benefiting from feeding the base increasingly unhinged, fact-free conspiracies … there are now millions of partisan soldiers absolutely convinced of a Trump/Russia conspiracy for which, at least as of now, there is no evidence. And they are all waiting for the day, which they […]

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Almost Half of Russians Say They Can’t Distinguish Truth from Lies in Moscow Media

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Satellite Dishes

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, March 15, 2017) Almost half of Russians – 46 percent – say that they often cannot distinguish “false information from truth” in media reports, while a similar percentage – 46 percent say that they can, numbers that are relatively constant across groups of different ages and social classes, according to Aleksey Levinson […]

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Shevtsova on 15 Paradoxes of Putin’s Russia

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, March 11, 2107) Liliya Shevtsova, a Moscow-based analyst for the Brookings Institution, has once again provided a useful guide to some of the terminology that #Russians and analysts of #Russia often use without reflecting on the paradoxical quality of much of it and the ways in which that quality undermines their utility. […]

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NEWSLINK: “U.S. Officials Won’t Say if a New Anti–Russia Propaganda Project Is Targeting Americans The newly created Global Engagement Center’s “focus and intent” is foreign audiences, but officials won’t rule out propagandizing Americans and funding American journalists.” – The Nation/Adam H. Johnson

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Satellite Dishes

“On the day before Christmas Eve last year, President Obama signed the annual National Defense Authorization Act that included, in part, a $160 million revamping of the “Global Engagement Center” to combat what officials claimed was a uptick in Russian propaganda. Originally created in March of last year for anti-ISIL messaging, the Global Engagement Center distributes ‘counter’ propaganda, social media messaging and original journalistic […]

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NEWSLINK: “Fareed Zakaria on the most powerful man in the world” – CNN

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

“… Zakaria’s documentary on … Putin, ‘The Most Powerful Man in the World,’ [airs] … Monday at 9 p.m. ET. … CNN Politics sat down to talk with Zakaria about that enmity and other aspects of Putin’s worldview. An edited version of the conversation follows. …”

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NEWSLINK: “THE DIRTY SECRET BEHIND THE JEFF SESSIONS MESS; It may not be as sinister as it seems” – Vanity Fair/T.A. FRANK

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
American Flag and Partial View of U.S. Capitol Dome, adapted from image at aoc.gov

“… With most Russia-related stories these days, especially ones in The New York Times and The Washington Post, the best initial reaction is heavy skepticism. That way you aren’t surprised when embarrassing editorial disclaimers appear above stories that Russia hacked a Vermont utility or spread ‘fake news’ via dozens of U.S. websites from Drudge to Truthdig … “

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NEWSLINK: “How the News is Reported in Russia” – The School of Russian and Eurasian Studies/Andrei Nesterov

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks
Adapted File Photo of TV Set in Russia with Camera, Camerman, Woman on Set in Background

“According to a 2016 poll by the independent Levada Center, 80% of Russians view television as their primary source of news. The same Levada poll, however, shows that only 41% trust the news as an objective source of information. The broadcasts sampled here are from Russia’s most-watched channels: First Channel and Russia Channel. …”

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NEWSLINK: “Red Scare” [re: New Yorker story] – Economic Principles/David Warsh

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“… a 13,000-word article in The New Yorker…. exemplified all the preconceptions typical of what I have come to think of as reporters of the Generation of ’91. Nothing in the article – Active Measures: What lay behind Russia’s interference in the 2016 election – and what lies ahead? – was quite as punchy as the art that accompanied it. […]

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Moscow Court Overturns Fine for Independent Russian News Outlet RBC

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Igor Sechin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 1, 2017) A Moscow court has overturned the decision to fine independent Russian news outlet RBC for libelling oligarch and Putin ally Igor Sechin. An RBC report published in April 2016 claimed that Sechin, the CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft, had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to block the company’s minority stakeholder from […]

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The Kremlin Reportedly Commissioned a Report on Russian State TV, and the Results Were Oof

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
Kremlin and River

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Kevin Rothrock – February 28, 2017) The Putin administration commissioned an independent expert analysis of Russian network television, according to the news site Znak.com. The study was reportedly prepared in particular for Sergei Kiriyenko, the president’s first deputy chief of staff. Znak.com says a private company was hired to “make sense of the reality depicted […]

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NEWSLINK: “Why We Must Oppose the Kremlin-Baiting Against Trump; The Russia-connected allegations have created an atmosphere of hysteria amounting to McCarthyism” – The Nation/Stephen F. Cohen

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Satellite Dishes

“The bipartisan, nearly full-political-spectrum tsunami of factually unverified allegations that President Trump has been seditiously ‘compromised’ by the Kremlin, with scarcely any nonpartisan pushback from influential political or media sources, is deeply alarming. Begun by the Clinton campaign in mid-2016, and exemplified now by New York Times columnists (who write of a ‘Trump-Putin regime’ in Washington), strident MSNBC hosts, and […]

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President Trump’s Boris Yeltsin Moment

History, Soviet Union, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – February 15, 2017) Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru. President Donald Trump is irritated about the media furor surrounding the departure of his national security adviser. “The real scandal here is that classified information is […]

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