The noose is tightening around the international media financed by Russia, such as the television channels Russia Today (RT) and the Sputnik agency. Pointed out by European governments and dropped by several headliners, do these controversial press organs really have the means today to influence public opinion in the Ukrainian conflict?
One thing is certain, RT France’s coverage of the events in Ukraine on Thursday was out of step with that of other continuous news channels. Clashes on the ground were barely touched upon, and the emphasis was rather on the Kremlin’s desire to begin a de-escalation of tensions.
The various experts who took turns on the set also repeated that the economic sanctions adopted by Western countries were useless, insisting that it was rather the Western countries who were going to pay the price for Russia’s isolation with halting the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
“The goal of these media is to destabilize Western democracies, to polarize opinions. It’s the same objective as the troll factories, but in a more subtle way,” explains Jean-Hugues Roy, professor of journalism at UQAM’s School of Media.
The raison d’être of the pro-Russian media would therefore be to “destabilize”, and not to give good press to Russia abroad, as the French political scientist Maxime Audinet writes in his essay Russia Today (RT). An influential media at the service of the Russian state. Moreover, he underlines that there is very little question of Russia or Vladimir Putin normally.
In the countries where RT is installed, airtime is mainly monopolized by various protest groups, whether far left or far right, as if to give the impression that these companies are on the brink of collapse. . Opposition to health measures, for example, has occupied an important place on the airwaves in recent weeks. It should also be noted that RT France recorded its best ratings during the Yellow Vests movement, during which the channel’s journalists had taken to covering the demonstrations with protective helmets, as if they were in the war.
But RT can also surprise by offering coverage according to journalistic standards that France 24 or the BBC would not deny. Before the first Russian strikes began in Ukraine on Wednesday, RT France broadcast a long interview with Cameroonian lawyer Alice Nkom, who defends the rights of LGBT people in Africa. All on a channel funded – the height of irony – by a state that severely represses homosexuality in the public space.
“Sometimes they will do reporting that will seem completely objective. But we must not lose sight that other times, we feel very well the framing. This bias is clearly felt, for example, when covering Western countries that Russia perceives as competitors. Always with the intention of sending the message that there are a lot of problems in these countries,” says Simon Thibault, who teaches in the Department of Political Science at the University of Montreal and who is interested in propaganda.
In the sights of European governments
Western governments have always known that the Russian foreign media are not press groups like the others. But they have hardened their tone considerably in recent days with the escalation of tensions in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, has already indicated that the license of the British channel of RT will be examined. In France, the senate asked the audiovisual authorities for the “immediate” suspension of the signal from the Russian channel. Germany for its part took RT off the air at the start of the month.
Faced with pressure, former Scottish Prime Minister Alex Salmond announced on Thursday that he was suspending his participation in the public affairs program he had hosted since 2017 on RT in the United Kingdom. Ditto for host Frédéric Taddeï, one of the only big names that RT France had managed to attract.
In Quebec, the right-wing essayist Jérôme Blanchet-Gravel confirmed that he was ceasing to collaborate with the Russian news agency Sputnik in view of the latest developments in Ukraine. “I have never felt uncomfortable working for a Russian-funded media outlet. It is a media that went against political correctness, unlike Western media, and that is what explains its success. It was therefore natural to be there, but that was before, of course, the start of operations in Ukraine, ”supports the one who is also a columnist at Radio X, among others.
Russian media do not enjoy great popularity in Quebec and Canada, points out Jean-Hugues Roy. The journalism professor notes that RT enjoys a certain aura in conspiratorial circles in France, but observes that this fringe of the population here much prefers the American channel Fox News or the Rebel News site.
“Honestly, when I hear Fox News commentators talking about Russia, I tell myself that the Russians don’t need RT and Sputnik to do their propaganda,” says Mr. Roy.