Propaganda

In reading the Russian News and Information Agency (rian.ru), I am struck by the subtle means in which it is presenting its vision of Russia. I would even qualify it as propaganda. The way that it reports the news is presenting a very optimistic vision of Russia, one in which Russia is clearly leading the world in the creation of wealth and innovation. In reading the headlines, one could easily think that Russia easily equals the United States in wealth, power and prestige. This is done through the very subtle use of the words "could" and "should" and "soon."

I cite as an example, a news article entitled: "Russia should increase aircraft production by 2025 - Putin." In this piece, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, is cited as saying that "Russia should produce 300 passenger airliners annually and double production of military aircraft by 2025." The article simply presents the president's words as fact: "It [the United Building Aircraft Corporation] has the task of producing annually 300 passenger airliners by 2025," Vladimir Putin said. "As for military aviation, we plan to double annual production." Granted, it is a short piece, but it leaves the impression that Russia will be producing hundreds of passenger airlines within a generation. Is this truly feasible? Also, 18 years is a long time in the history of any country. Who would have guessed in 1979, when Soviet forces were invading Afghanistan, that the Berlin Wall would fall within a measly 10 years? Reporting that Russia hopes to produce any number of planes in 2025 borders on the farcical, unless you are aiming at producing propaganda.

Another popular article: "Gazprom could become world's richest company-Medvedev." Here RIAN cites Dmitry Medvedev, who is also chairman of the Gazprom board of directors, as saying to the German magazine Stern: "Gazprom has the largest natural gas reserves in the world. When I joined the board of directors (in 2000), the concern was worth about $8 billion, but today it is more than $250 billion. One day it could become the world's most valuable company." Why is this newsworthy? And, is GAZPROM really worth $250 billion? According to Forbes Magazine, GAZPROM is the world's 52nd richest company and its worth is estimated at 81 billion. It is an achievement, but why exaggerate GAZPROM's claims and why should RIAN take at face value what the chairman of GAZPROM says to a reporter. Unless, the goal is to create the impression that soon Russia will be one of the world's richest countries.

Finally, this article entitled "Russia to build fifth-generation fighter prototype soon" relies on the ambiguous word "soon." The article affirms that "At present, we have completed the development of technical documentation for the fifth-generation fighter and passed it to the production plant, which will start construction in the near future," Colonel General Zelin said."
The Russian Army has therefore developed "plans" for the new fighter jet and is looking to build it. It optimistically hopes that the plan will go from draft to flying prototype in a bit more than a year. The Colonel General is truly an optimistic man.

All told, the Russian News Agency is in many ways propagandistic. It is not simply reporting the news, it is creating the news. The goal clearly to create an image of Russia as a powerful and rich country that is gaining in greatness and prestige daily.