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<h1 class="gmail-post-title"><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/09/new-russian-language-channel-seeks-to-counter-kremlin-spin-current-time-putin/">New Russian-Language Channel Seeks to Counter Kremlin Spin</a></h1>
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<ul><li class="gmail-author"><span class="gmail-FP--author--wrapper">By <span class="gmail-author"><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/author/kavitha-surana" class="gmail-author" title="Kavitha Surana">Kavitha Surana</a><span class="gmail-description"><span class="gmail-info-icon"></span></span></span>, <span class="gmail-author"><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/author/reid-standish" class="gmail-author" title="Reid Standish">Reid Standish</a><span class="gmail-description"><span class="gmail-info-icon"></span></span></span></span></li><li class="gmail-date"><time datetime="2017-02-09T11:56:10-05:00">February 9, 2017 - 11:56 am</time></li><li><a href="http://www.twitter.com/ksurana6" target="_blank">@ksurana6</a></li><li class="gmail-print"><br></li><li class="gmail-sharing">
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<p><span style="font-weight:400">Outlets that don’t toe the Kremlin
line have long had trouble gaining a foothold in the Russian media
market. As a result, the expertly-produced state media enjoys a virtual
monopoly in the Russian-speaking world, stifling independent voices and
stories critical of official Russia. </span></p>
<p>Now, a new network for Russian speakers has entered the market and it
hopes to break through the drumbeat of Kremlin narratives by focusing
on local issues and people’s daily lives.</p>
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</div><p><a href="http://www.currenttime.tv/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight:400">Current Time</span></a><span style="font-weight:400">,
backed by U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Free Liberty and partnered with
Voice of America, launched its 24/7 Russian language television channel
on Tuesday. It had already started a website last year.</span> <span style="font-weight:400">With
about 100 staff members in Prague and correspondents stationed
throughout the region, the network will broadcast in 11 countries across
the former Soviet Union, including Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, and
the Baltic countries.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">“Our focus is on real human beings, bread and butter issues,” Daisy Sindelar, the director of Current Time, told <span class="gmail-fp-red" style="color:rgb(235,20,20)">Foreign Policy</span>
during an interview. “The videos really tap into day-to-day but
universal issues, like corruption and poverty and health care.” </span></p>
<p>The move comes as European Union officials have stepped up <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/23/the-eu-moves-to-counter-russian-disinformation-campaign-populism/">criticism</a>
of Kremlin-controlled media. Moscow-funded outlets like RT and Sputnik
often set the tone on stories like the Ukraine conflict, NATO, and
domestic issues inside some countries with large Russian-speaking
populations, sometimes sparking controversy with false information.</p>
<p>“Russia tries to challenge the stability and the minds of Western
societies,” said Anna Fotyga, a Polish member of the European Council
who sponsored an EU report on Russian disinformation last year. “I
consider a Russian-language satellite and digital network an excellent
response to this threat.”</p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Current Time may have trouble drawing
eyeballs away from well-funded state media pumped up with drama and
glitz. The new outlet will have to make due with a much smaller budget
than established Russian networks enjoy. Meanwhile, local affiliate
stations that Current Time relies on to distribute their content</span> <span style="font-weight:400">in
Russia are often hesitant to pick up foreign programming for fear that
they could lose advertising revenue by going against the official line.</span></p>
<p>“In the short term, we don’t anticipate that our TV penetration will be significant in Russia,” said Sindelar.</p>
<p>Current Time’s founders think they’ll have better luck reaching the
millions-strong Russian language audience across the region on their
smartphones, using video to tell personal narratives and highlight local
issues. The digital division has already garnered more than 200 million
views on sites like YouTube, Facebook, and the Russian social media
site VKontakte since January 2016.</p>
<p>Glenn Kates, the managing editor of Current Time’s digital
department, said the team was inspired by the growing popularity of
short subtitled videos on Facebook from outlets like Al Jazeera +,
Buzzfeed, and others news sites that managed to excel in accessing
audiences on social media platforms.</p>
<p>“I had seen how those videos were capable of engaging with people and
I realized that there is no reason that something that works there
shouldn’t work [for Current Time],” he said.</p>
<p>Current Time, which is affiliated with the Broadcasting Board of
Governors and funded by the U.S. government, will also need to shed
criticism it has its own state-funded editorial viewpoint.</p>
<p>Sindelar counters that the Russian government pours millions into
their glossy media industry, blocking independent channels from offering
different points of views. She said Current Time doesn’t push a
political viewpoint besides highlighting human rights and rule of law
issues.</p>
<p>“We present one of the few alternatives that Russian speakers have to
this state-orchestrated media,” Sindelar said. “I think in the end we
will have an audience that knows they can come to us with zero spin and
good factual reporting about things that are important to them.”</p>
<p>Focusing on personal storytelling, instead of politics, will allow
their content to spread in Russia, Sindelar and Kates argued. Some
shows, like “Unknown Russia,” gives viewers a glimpse of life across
Russia and tells personal stories from the far-flung regions that many
Russians themselves have never visited. Others focus on how-to advice,
such as “Business Plan,” a show about creating start ups in Ukraine.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">But it won’t be all lighter fare.</span> <span style="font-weight:400">For example, one <a href="http://www.rferl.org/a/27913045.html" target="_blank">recent</a>
story used smartphone video footage and audio recordings to expose a
harrowing episode of police brutality — and its coverup — in Russia.</span></p><p><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/09/new-russian-language-channel-seeks-to-counter-kremlin-spin-current-time-putin/">http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/09/new-russian-language-channel-seeks-to-counter-kremlin-spin-current-time-putin/</a><br><span style="font-weight:400"></span></p><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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