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Paul Craig Roberts
Institute for Political Economy
24/7 Media and No Valid Information
24/7 Media and No Valid Information
Paul Craig Roberts
The English language Russian media, such as RT, is better at news reporting than the Western media, but Russian media also supports official narratives, such as the claim that Evgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group staged a mutiny against Putin. If the Wagner Group had attempted a coup, it probably would have succeeded. https://www.rt.com/russia/595507-ex-wagner-fighters-join-chechen-unit/
What actually happened is that a small contingent from the group held a march on Moscow to protest the senseless casualties of fighting a war with both hands tied. Prigozhin wanted to get the war with Ukraine over with, not drag it on endlessly and needlessly.
A protest is not a mutiny. The Russian military, jealous of the Wagner Group wanted Prigozhin’s warriors brought under their control. They used the protest to alarm Putin about a mutiny. Putin, who is unable to admit that his “limited military operation” is a blunder, came down hard on Prigozhin. The military got what they wanted. Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash, and the Wagner Group was dispersed among Russian military units, thus breaking up the best fighting force Russia had.
I have also noticed that RT and Sputnik support US official narratives, such as the “Jan 6 Insurrection.” The explanation for this could be self-censorship by the English language Russian media so that they are not banned from the US.
If you think about it, the question arises: Do people anywhere in the Western world have a factual understanding of any important event? The assassination of President John F. Kennedy? The Gulf of Tonkin? The 1964 Civil Rights Act? The Soviet collapse? 9/11? Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction”? The overthrow and murder of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi? The Maidan Revolution? The Ukrainian-Russian conflict? The Israeli genocide of Palestine? The 2020 US presidential election? The charges against Trump?
For truth to prevail, honest journalism is required, but as Martin Gurri explained in The City Journal, what the West has is “post-journalism” which consists of advocacy of agendas and protection of the narratives that support those agendas. Facts are no longer part of the picture. The Woke turn to the NY Times, CNN, and NPR to slate their emotions with their hate fix for the day.
Consequently, no one knows what is really happening, not even those who know that something is wrong.