RBTH, Sputnik: The Old And New Russian Propaganda News Machine

Russia Beyond the Headline reached 10,162 million readers around the world through its supplements in newspapers' hard copies in 2013.

Everybody knows Russia Today is Kremlin's voice while most people ignore they are reading russian propaganda in supplements in the most famous newspapers' hard copies or that the newly created Sputnik news agency is to become the most influent propaganda machine.

Researching everyday about the Mistral deal, we have come to know better the Russian propaganda news machine as we have to read it everyday to get its disinformation to better fight it. Here are the few things we learned and that are not often covered by the media:

Russia Beyond the Headlines

The most famous newspapers around the world regularly publish a supplement, Russia Beyond the Headlines (RBTH) directly financed by the Kremlin and designed to spread the russian vision of the world: The Washington Post (United States), The New York Times (United States), The Wall Street Journal (United States), The Daily Telegraph (UK), Le Figaro (France), Le Soir (Belgium), The Economic Times (India), El Pais (Spain), etc.

By paying close attention to it, you might be able to spot written in very small letters that this supplement is in fact a paid advertisment but most people simply won't see this disclaimer.

According to galima-hr.ru, Russia Beyond the Headline reached 10,162 million readers around the world through its supplements in 2013.

RBTH, created in 2007, is sponsored by the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Russian government’s official newspaper that receives direct financing from the Kremlin. RBTH pays newspapers to include its supplements, advertorial items disguised as news and part of a larger mediated public diplomacy strategy that complements Russia’s traditional soft power programs.

Back in 2008, the Guardian's diarist, Hugh Muir, reported that the Russians had admitted to paying the Telegraph £40,000 (≃$60,000) each month to distribute Russia Beyond the Headlines.

During a six-month period from late 2012 to mid-2013, RBTH paid the New York Times more than 1.9 million USD to include its propaganda in the newspaper (declared as fees and expenses).

While the supplement printed and distributed with The New York Times in the US primarily deals with politics, society, economics and bilateral relations, the one for The Washington Post focuses more on culture, history, education and diplomacy. Meanwhile, the supplement distributed with The Wall Street Journal covers business, finance, economics, investments and a bit of lifestyle. The RBTH editors responsible for each of these supplements adjust the stories to a specific audience.

According to 2011 russian studies, some 42% of the readers of the foreign newspapers in which the supplements are published, look through RBTH paying particular attention to such sections as politics and economics.

RBTH presents a slightly different content from Russia Today, in a more tailored and subtle approach and is targeting educated people and intellectuals. Why? Because these are exactly the people who love talking about politics and spreading ideas. And they normally defend an idea brilliantly, as wrong as this one can be.

Russia Beyond the Headlines is one of the sneakiest and most efficient tools Russia has to spread its ideas.

Sputnik

We were very surprised to read not long ago in a new state-funded russian website called Sputnik that India did not link its own deal with France to the Mistral deal. This does not go towards the usual russian propaganda that is trying to scare French people while getting Russians used to the fact that they will most certainly not receive the war ships.

Sputnik started a month ago and is for now trying to get some respectability by spreading news that are only half twisted compared to other russian media. It will include a news information agency, radio stations in 34 countries around the world. Sputnik is state-owned by the agency, Rossiya segodnya and will gradually replace the RIA Novosti news agency and Voice of Russia that was the official russian propaganda machine since 1929.

The design of Sputnik's website, very modern and different from the traditional russian news agencies, is representative of the change wanted: the look is different but the content is almost the same. It should help russian vision of the world to infiltrate minds.

Sputnik is more or less the equivalent of changing the paper around a candy, the bad taste is the same but it looks more attracting.

Russia Today

Not to forget, the annual budget of Russia Today, the state-funded television channel and website designed to broadcast a positive image of Russia around the world, currently stands at $300 million and is expected to increase by almost 50 percent next year. Putin has prohibited funding for Russia Today from being reduced as of October 30, 2012.

According to RT, the network's feed is carried by 22 satellites and over 230 operators, which provides a distribution reach to about 644 million people in more than 100 countries. The channel has started adding German and French to its standard English-language broadcasts.

In the U.K, Russia Today has recently been threatened with statutory sanctions by media regulator Ofcom after the Kremlin-backed news channel breached broadcasting regulations on impartiality with its coverage of the Ukraine crisis.

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