Seeing Red - Russian Propaganda and American News

Seeing Red reveals the extent to which Russian disinformation, propaganda, and the Russian model of political communication have infiltrated not just the American media but been embraced by the American Right. From the 2020 elections to the Capitol Insurrection to the war in Ukraine, Sarah Oates and Gordon Neil Ramsay examine the penetration of Kremlin strategic narratives that attempt to project Russian power, blame NATO for Russian aggression, and attack democracy via the U.S. news. As Oates and Ramsay argue, the danger lies not in how foreign governments attempt to manipulate the media, but in how our media system has been compromised by domestic actors who follow an authoritarian playbook and promote anti-democratic narratives.

The U.S. media has been tainted with Russian disinformation, but the more significant threat is how the Right has embraced the Russian model of the news media as a vehicle for propaganda. This could not have happened without Donald Trump, who has been aided and abetted by politicians and news outlets that favor persuasion over information. From his inauguration onwards, Trump has shown allegiance to the Kremlin propaganda playbook-he consistently denies reality, amplifies lies, vilifies the free media, and broadcasts disinformation.

Seeing Red breaks new ground in investigating the scope of Russian disinformation, arguing that key politicians and media outlets in the United States have facilitated the dissemination of Russian propaganda. From the 2020 elections to the Capitol Insurrection to the war in Ukraine, Sarah Oates and Gordon Neil Ramsay examine the penetration of key Kremlin strategic narratives that attempt to project Russian power, blame NATO for Russian aggres sion, and attack democracy via the U.S. news. Despite knowledge of the risk and resourceful work on tracking down Russian propaganda in the United States, the problem of foreign disinformation continues to this day. As Oates and Ramsay argue, this is in part due to exploitation of the American tradition of free speech and the open nature of the U.S. media system. Yet, the much more dangerous menace lies not in how foreign governments attempt to manipulate the media, but in how our media system has been compromised by domestic actors who follow an authoritarian playbook and promote anti-democratic narratives. When it is hard to tell the difference between what the Russians are saying about the Democrats and how Fox News is covering Joe Biden, it is time to realize that some American outlets have crossed the line from news to propaganda.

Inhaltsverzeichnis:

Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: American News in the 21st Century
Chapter 3: Strategic Narratives: What do the Russians Want?
Chapter 4: U.S. 2020 Presidential Campaign Narratives and Russian Propaganda
Chapter 5: Curating Chaos: Election Fraud Claims and the Capitol Insurrection
Chapter 6: Russian Strategic Narratives and the War in Ukraine: From Neo-Nazis to NATO
Chapter 7: Conclusions
References
Index

Rezension:

Oates and Ramsay deliver a damning, evidence-based diagnosis of both the virus of Russian propaganda, and the catastrophically weakened immune system that allowed it to infect America's media and politics - an invaluable guide for those who want to solve the problem, rather than wallow in it. Samuel Greene, Professor of Russian Politics, King's College London