The Fort Worth Press - US radio sets out to break Russian 'propaganda wall'

USD -
AED 3.672974
AFN 68.425216
ALL 93.007834
AMD 390.01331
ANG 1.81621
AOA 911.999957
ARS 998.249996
AUD 1.54345
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.699887
BAM 1.852776
BBD 2.034663
BDT 120.423833
BGN 1.85313
BHD 0.376872
BIF 2975.829027
BMD 1
BND 1.346811
BOB 6.963779
BRL 5.806301
BSD 1.007759
BTN 84.987093
BWP 13.673805
BYN 3.297919
BYR 19600
BZD 2.031252
CAD 1.40043
CDF 2864.99997
CHF 0.887045
CLF 0.035513
CLP 979.910444
CNY 7.243099
CNH 7.255902
COP 4479
CRC 514.586422
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.456686
CZK 23.962998
DJF 179.450744
DKK 7.067675
DOP 60.695052
DZD 134.182994
EGP 49.321298
ERN 15
ETB 122.993165
EUR 0.94762
FJD 2.27485
FKP 0.788387
GBP 0.78809
GEL 2.730243
GGP 0.788387
GHS 16.275027
GIP 0.788387
GMD 70.999767
GNF 8626.906515
GTQ 7.732614
GYD 209.363849
HKD 7.78093
HNL 25.442281
HRK 7.133336
HTG 132.50221
HUF 386.750254
IDR 15875.4431
ILS 3.748965
IMP 0.788387
INR 84.433209
IQD 1320.093319
IRR 42092.498493
ISK 139.630035
JEP 0.788387
JMD 159.538871
JOD 0.709102
JPY 155.900501
KES 129.500052
KGS 86.201845
KHR 4082.940274
KMF 466.349913
KPW 900.000286
KRW 1408.14273
KWD 0.307714
KYD 0.833937
KZT 496.700918
LAK 22131.335237
LBP 89600.701953
LKR 294.541861
LRD 189.957415
LSL 18.103174
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.882485
MAD 10.020131
MDL 18.159255
MGA 4702.502532
MKD 58.284107
MMK 2097.999867
MNT 3397.99984
MOP 8.017648
MRU 40.117279
MUR 46.889905
MVR 15.449622
MWK 1747.434509
MXN 20.571925
MYR 4.482016
MZN 63.899993
NAD 18.103174
NGN 1684.119587
NIO 37.087736
NOK 11.152585
NPR 135.978578
NZD 1.70394
OMR 0.385031
PAB 1
PEN 3.819421
PGK 4.022654
PHP 58.849994
PKR 278.051027
PLN 4.116289
PYG 7864.722013
QAR 3.674102
RON 4.717298
RSD 110.890999
RUB 98.500922
RWF 1383.186748
SAR 3.757416
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.620275
SDG 601.497717
SEK 10.996295
SGD 1.345889
SHP 0.788387
SLE 22.814988
SLL 20969.502481
SOS 575.878195
SRD 35.279754
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.756103
SYP 2512.530181
SZL 18.108875
THB 35.04298
TJS 10.662352
TMT 3.51
TND 3.147935
TOP 2.38999
TRY 34.356195
TTD 6.800372
TWD 32.57475
TZS 2680.545109
UAH 41.343768
UGX 3672.512403
UYU 42.486895
UZS 12811.433733
VES 44.996696
VND 25374.272123
VUV 118.722041
WST 2.798776
XAF 621.79325
XAG 0.033135
XAU 0.00039
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.753908
XOF 621.79325
XPF 113.11667
YER 249.774976
ZAR 18.27157
ZMK 9001.193302
ZMW 27.374927
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSC

    0.0700

    24.61

    +0.28%

  • RBGPF

    59.2500

    59.25

    +100%

  • CMSD

    -0.0200

    24.73

    -0.08%

  • BCC

    1.4200

    142.55

    +1%

  • SCS

    -0.3000

    13.37

    -2.24%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0400

    7.07

    -0.57%

  • NGG

    -0.7800

    62.12

    -1.26%

  • VOD

    0.2800

    8.75

    +3.2%

  • RIO

    -0.5800

    60.62

    -0.96%

  • GSK

    -0.4100

    35.11

    -1.17%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.24

    +0.15%

  • RELX

    -0.4700

    46.12

    -1.02%

  • AZN

    0.1000

    65.29

    +0.15%

  • BCE

    -0.4800

    27.21

    -1.76%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    35.42

    +0.51%

  • BP

    0.4100

    28.57

    +1.44%

US radio sets out to break Russian 'propaganda wall'
US radio sets out to break Russian 'propaganda wall'

US radio sets out to break Russian 'propaganda wall'

With Russian troops massed on Ukraine's border, US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is trying to break through a "wall of Russian propaganda", its director for Europe told AFP.

Text size:

Based in Prague, RFE/RL was founded in 1950 as an anti-communist outlet to beam programmes into the Soviet bloc, helping topple those totalitarian regimes nearly four decades later.

These days, it still broadcasts in 27 languages -- including Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian -- to 23 countries, many where media freedoms face severe restrictions.

It has more than 200 journalists in Ukraine and plays a major role in covering the looming conflict on the Ukrainian border, according to Kiryl Sukhotski, regional director for Europe and TV production.

"Our role is to provide objective and impartial information from both sides of the conflict to our audiences. We're a surrogate broadcaster and we don't take sides," Sukhotski said in an interview.

"We are penetrating the wall of Russian propaganda."

The West has repeatedly accused Russia of spreading disinformation to justify its cause, while Russia says the Western view of the crisis is distorted.

Most recently, the Russian foreign ministry slammed as "nonsense" and "provocative" reports from Britain about Moscow planning to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv.

RFE/RL, which has a target audience of 37 million people, stepped up activities in the region following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the occupation of eastern Ukraine by pro-Moscow rebel forces.

It launched the Current Time TV channel in Russian, as well as programmes targeting audiences in the Donbass and Crimea regions.

- 'My boyfriend is there' -

The radio station's journalists -- staff and freelancers alike -- face constant threats from Russian and rebel authorities.

Some have already ended up in prison, such as Vladyslav Yesypenko, who is facing 15 years in jail on espionage charges.

Their coverage methods vary, from on-the-ground reporting to journalism based on open sources.

Last week, an RFE/RL journalist gave an account of how Russian troops are gathering on the Ukrainian border by following scores of TikTok accounts.

"Soldiers were sharing TikTok videos of how they go towards the border, and then there were hundreds of comments saying, 'Oh, my son is going there', or 'My son is on that train', or 'My boyfriend is there'," said Sukhotski.

"And we started talking to their families posting those comments and suddenly this whole picture of dozens of thousands of troops moving to Belarus, towards the Ukrainian border, we were able to do it just by looking at TikTok accounts," he added.

- 'White noise' -

Funded by the US Congress, RFE/RL is also setting out to battle what it says is Russian disinformation.

"We are creating a new unit in Kyiv that will do same-day rapid reactions to fake news, disinfo, propaganda -- just saying OK, this is true, this is not true," Sukhotski said.

"Russia very quickly understood that it is not necessary to lie to make successful propaganda. All you need is to withhold context and create white noise.

"Our task is to present the context and for our audiences to make their own decisions, and this is what the Russian authorities perceive as a threat," he added.

Recalling Moscow's attempts to jam RFE/RL broadcasts during the Cold War, Sukhotski said variety was key.

The radio is present on Facebook, Twitter, and also on Russian social media including VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.

"The whole digital landscape is changing fast and if we are not changing with it, we will be left behind," he said.

"You can block a website but it would be very difficult to block Facebook or YouTube. Russia is not yet there."

"It is the beauty of social media that can get us there despite any attempts by the authorities to block us."

N.Patterson--TFWP