While the war in Ukraine rages on, the U.S. media pushes hard to expose Russian state propaganda, saying the state-sponsored Russian news outlets can’t stop Russian citizens from getting the truth from the U.S. and European media. But just how different is state-controlled media from the abysmal corruption of the news media in the U.S. and Europe by political parties and corporations? “The Kremlin is clearly grappling with ways to keep the cracks in that dam from forming,” said Russia expert Gavin Wilde, a former National Security Council member. Wilde sees chinks in the totalitarian armor in the Internet age, where news travels fast over fiber optic cables. “China was able to seal off its so-called sovereign information space in a way that Russia simply failed to do,” Wilde said, suggesting that the Russian population is less brainwashed than ordinary citizens in China.
Control over the airwaves has always been the goal of totalitarian regimes, looking to keep the populace obedient and compliant. “Control of classic media is already pretty complete,” said James Kluge of the German institute of International Security Affairs. “It’s hard truth about the war out there.” Whatever Russian or Chinese propaganda, the contrast with the Western press bears striking similarities. Instead of government minders, keeping content from the public, the U.S. and European press accomplishes the same goal of brainwashing the public by controlling the message. When the U.S. press said for four years that former President Donald Trump was a Russian asset, where was the push-back by any news source. Only certain fringe media outlets with limited exposure told the truth. So when comparing state controlled media to political party-controlled media, it’s all the same.
U.S. government and press often criticize state-controlled media as pure propaganda because it’s operated by government censors. But what’s the difference between government censors and those in the U.S. working for the Democrat Party? Did any mainstream journalist question the left-wing narrative that Trump was a Russian asset for his four years in office? Every occasion where Trump got along with Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping was promoted as proof that he coddles up to dictators. Now Biden’s in charge with U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Chinese relations trashed beyond repair, with the media not questioning a thing about the wisdom of wrecking foreign relations. When Biden asked China to intervene to stop Putin’s Ukraine War, Beijing told him it’s none his business. If Biden had relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, things would be different.
Western governments and media like to blast totalitarian regimes for banning the so-called free press. But how free is the press when it’s corrupted by the Democrat Party, demonizing Republicans or conservatives in the in the United States. Watching four years of Trump mobbed by the media for wild speculation about his alleged, never proven ties to the Kremlin shows that the “free press” in the United State spews more propaganda than seen in state controlled news outlets. U.S. and foreign press routinely run stories that Putin’s war against Ukraine was “unprovoked.” Putin told Ukraine and the U.S. to stop supplying lethal weapons to the Kiev government. Putin told Biden Dec. 21, that if he didn’t heed his request for new security arrangements, he would apply “mitliary-technical measures” to stop the threat to Russian national security. Biden ignored all of Putin’s overtures for new security arrangements.
So the Western press likes to criticize the state controlled media in totalitarian or authoritarian regimes but the same propaganda is seen in both places. Anyone thinking that Democrat Parety-controlled press is any different that a state controlled press doesn’t understand that censorship and propaganda is all the same no matter where takes place. While there’s no question that state run news filters and distorts its coverage to advance a political agenda,, it also happens when one political party controls a so-called “free” media. Every U.S. and European media outlets says Putin had no “provocation” to invade Ukraine. Whether or not his excuse was justified, he told Biden that he couldn’t keep arming Ukraine to the teeth without consequences. No government official or press outlet admits that Biden continued arming Ukraine against Putin’s warnings for months until the war broke out.
Propaganda and disinformation happens in state and so-called free press media. There’s little practical difference today because of widespread media corruption. How did a free press al pile on Trump for four years over complete rubbish, accusing him of colluding with the Kremlin. If politics plays such a prominent role to today’s media, criticizing totalitarian regimes for a controlled press makes no sense. Putin may have cracked down on Russia’s free press since taking office in 1999. But what’s the excuse in the U.S. press for letting political parties promote fake stories all because they serve one party’s political agenda? Propaganda and disinformation come from both state-controlled and open media, depending on the extent of external pressure. In the U.S., the Democrat Party exerts a disproportionate control over the mainstream media, controlling the message and brainwashing the public.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
