We are all familiar with the terms ‘conspiracy theorist’ and ‘apologist’ used by the establishment and media to smear independent journalists, experts and other commentators. For some time this has been particularly evident in the debates we see over the Middle East wars and Russia. It’s common knowledge that people who use these terms can’t argue rationally so resort to smears.
by Kit Just a few days ago RTAmerica was forced to register as a foreign agent in the United States. Using this designation as justification, Twitter and Facebook have now banned RT and Sputnik from advertising on their services. This is all over alleged Russian “interference” in the 2016 Presidential Election, for which there is still not a single piece of clear evidence. This is the United States of America, where freedom of the press is literally one of the founding principles of the nation. They celebrate their freedom every time they’re forced to stand through their national anthem. What would the press reaction have been if Russia had forced the BBC, for example, to register as a foreign agent? In fact, how many American or European media outlets have ever been forced to register as foreign agents in “autocratic” Russia where Putin has allegedly “shut down the free press”? Zero. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has operated in Russia and Eastern Europe for nearly 70 years. It’s an American destabilization programme. That’s not a “conspiracy …
Late on Monday the 19th, was reported by Russia’s Sputnik: “In areas where Russian aviation is conducting combat missions in the Syrian skies, any flying ojects, including jets and unmanned aerial vehicles of the international coalition discovered west of the Euphrates River, will be followed by Russian air and ground defenses as air targets” — meaning ordered out, or else immediately shot down.
by Finian Cunningham, via Strategic Culture It would be monumental, but Western states seem to be moving, ineluctably, towards banning Russian news media channels from satellite platforms and the internet. That outcome – albeit with enormous ethical and political implications – seems to be a logical conclusion of the increasingly frenzied transatlantic campaign to demonize Russia. Washington, London and Paris appear to be coordinating an unprecedented media onslaught that is vilifying Russia for almost every conceivable malfeasance, from alleged war crimes in Syria to threatening the security of Europe, to shooting down civilian airliners, to subverting American presidential elections. And that’s only a sample. British foreign secretary Boris Johnson declared this week that Russia is in danger of becoming a «pariah state». Ironically, that fate has less to do with Russia’s actual conduct and more to do with the desired objective driving Western policy towards Moscow – to isolate and portray Russia as an international reprobate. If Russia can be sufficiently demonized in the eyes of the Western public by their governments, then the political context is …
Sputnik International writes: […] why does the EU feel so uncomfortable that Europeans have started to read alternative sources of information? Isn’t it a good thing that people have an opportunity to read various news outlets, gather different available information and come to their own conclusions regarding current events? After all, this is what true of freedom of speech and information looks like. A few months ago millions of Europeans marched the streets, holding signs which read “Je suis Charlie,” fighting for their right to freedom of speech and information, but today their elites feel threatened by the presence of Russian media, calling it “Russian information onslaught.” As alternative media sources start reaching out to the masses, there seems to be a fear among EU elites that they could destroy perfectly concealed and fabricated truths, shattering the so-called manufactured consent. At the same time, in Russia, a country that is supposedly filled to the brim with propaganda, politicians are not worried about the presence of alternative media sources. Western media companies have their fair share …
