Polarization And Propaganda: Beyond Our Capacity

Michael Hedges May 4, 2022 - Follow on Twitter

There is certain necessity in being hopeful. It has a lot to do with mental health. Intertwined is general belief in a greater good. All of this drives us forward, facing daily challenges, dark times. There are reasons, philosophical or spiritual, to keep going. There is no pause.

This week many in the media world are giving notice to World Press Freedom Day, set aside 30 years ago by UNESCO to connect “the freedom to seek, impart and receive information and the public good.” The official theme this year is “journalism under digital siege.” It is a broad subject; from harassment and hate speech to data collection, privacy and artificial intelligence. This year, however, another subject dominates: war and civil strife.

Publishing support groups, broadcasters and press freedom advocates formed a chorus of voices strained by the last year, through a worldwide public health emergency, violent military and extremist takeovers in Asia and Africa followed by now recent Russian Federation invasion of Ukraine. Support and commitments by these groups, too many to list, have gone to independent media outlets and journalists. Some of these have supported extractions from conflict zones.

Publishing lobbyist WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers), in its World Press Freedom Day statement (May 3), noted members had raised cash for direct financial support to publishers in Ukraine. To highlight logistics, through the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association (MBL) and pulp and paper products producer Norske Skog is sending several tons of newsprint to Ukraine publishers via Polish publisher Agora. These are not small matters. But, WAN-IFRA offered caution: “Tragically, the conflict in Ukraine continues and looks set to extend beyond our current capacity to offer long-term support to our colleagues.”

Notable international broadcasters also gave caution, not just about media in Ukraine but, also, the Russian Federation. “As audiences continue to seek reliable information about the war in Ukraine, BBC content in any language, including Russian, has been blocked in Russia since early March,” said BBC World Service director Liliane Landor in a statement (May 3). “We continue to do everything we can to serve BBC News Russian audiences with trusted and impartial reporting, investigations and analysis. Despite blocking, there are still millions of people in Russia accessing BBC News content using circumvention and other means. This World Press Freedom Day we stand by journalists around the world as they fight to overcome the increasing challenges, threats and harassment facing our profession today.”

“As the war against Ukraine enters its third month - and the crushing destruction of independent journalism in Russia continues unabated - we are humbled by the courage of journalists around the world, offered US-funded international broadcaster RFE/RL president Jaime Fly, in a statement (May 3), who also noted the recent death in Kyiv of Radio Svoboda reporter/producer Vera Gyrych killed in a Russian missile strike. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to provide uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate. A free press is vital for free societies, and it is through this open exchange of information and ideas that we will find a way forward, on a path that protects and promotes democratic values and human rights.”

Latvian public broadcaster LSM paid special tribute to 16 media workers killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion. "Although social media allows Ukraine's war to be watched online to some extent, the role of journalists in covering the war has not diminished,” said Latvian Radio chief editor Anita Brauna (May 4). “Propaganda and misinformation are powerful weapons of war, and it is journalists who are able to offer real-life information to the public in such circumstances.”

Coincident with World Press Freedom Day, Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) released (May 3) its 2022 World Press Freedom Index, the 20th oft-quoted report card. The analysis paints a dire picture. A “record number” of countries were placed at the “very bad” end of the index, a total of 28. On the other end, as usual, Norway, Denmark and Sweden topped the list, followed by Estonia and Finland, with Moldova and Bulgaria significantly improving. With the 2022 Index the ranking criteria has changed at RSF cautions on comparisons with previous reports. Still, the differences are illustrative.

Hong Kong ranks 148th for the most deprecated, sliding ever closer to China (175th). Greece fell to 108th, the deepest for a European country, from 70th in the 2021 Index, threats to journalists cited. Similarly, the murder of of a prominent TV reporter in the Netherlands contributed to its ranking sharply falling to 28th from 6th in the previous report. Turkey’s RSF Index ranking is 149th, slightly above Russia, due to multiple incidents of judicial harassment as well as two high-profile murders of journalists.

In its analysis RSF points to the double-edged sword against press freedom: polarization and propaganda. It noted that a propaganda war by the Russian Federation, ranking 155th and on the very bad” list, preceded the physical conflict in Ukraine. “At the international level, democracies are being weakened by the asymmetry between open societies and despotic regimes that control their media and online platforms while waging propaganda wars against democracies. Polarisation on these two levels is fuelling increased tension.”

“Within democratic societies,” continued the report, “divisions are growing as a result of the spread of opinion media following the ‘Fox News model’ and the spread of disinformation circuits that are amplified by the way social media functions.” Fox News is the US-based cable network, operated by News Corporation and principally owned by the Murdoch family, offering stridently far-right, populist opinion talkshows. News Corporation, through News UK, recently launched a similar TV channel in the UK.

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• Hot Topics - Press/Media Freedom

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