Baltics continue discussions to counter Russian propaganda TV

Baltic Times ^ | April 21, 2014

[1rudeboy]

The Baltic States are in talks to set up their own Russian-language television channel in a bid to counter the deluge of propaganda aimed at their ethnic Russian populations by Moscow-backed media, reports AFP. Numerous Russian-language media outlets already exist in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania but most emanate from Russia and toe its line on politics and history - sensitive issues in a region that endured half a century of illegal Soviet occupation.

This month, Latvia and Lithuania each suspended the television channel Russia RTR for "inciting ethnic hatred." Vilnius had already taken two other stations off the air.

The Ukraine conflict, the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War, is at the heart of the idea for a joint Russian channel, giving the talks a sense of urgency.

"The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has led to a situation where waiting any longer is unacceptable given the number of Russian channels being retransmitted in the Baltic States," said Ivars Belte, head of Latvian state broadcaster LTV. "The Russian-speaking audience needs a channel in a language it understands and which objectively reflects developments in the Baltic countries," he told AFP.

Latvia's prime minister and top diplomat have both held talks on the matter in recent weeks, with Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics taking to ''Twitter'' to voice his support for what he called "an effective tool to counter Russian official propaganda."

But the idea is still at a theoretical stage, according to Audrius Siaurusevicius, head of Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT: "We've only had an initial discussion."

Ethnic Russians make up only six percent of Lithuania's population, compared with a quarter in Estonia and Latvia, but Vilnius has led the way in denouncing Moscow's disinformation campaigns. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has described the actions of Moscow-backed channels as "open information warfare." She even alleged last year that Moscow was preparing a mudslinging campaign shortly before the Vilnius summit where Ukraine's decision to step away from an EU deal plunged the country into chaos. "Constant disinformation, provocations and hostile propaganda have become a threat to national security," she warned late last month.

In October 2013, Lithuanian regulators suspended the Russian-language First Baltic Channel after it aired a controversial documentary blaming Lithuania for a deadly Soviet-era crackdown while it was struggling to regain independence, the AFP points out.

More recently Vilnius imposed three-month bans on two Moscow-based Russian-language television channels: NTV Mir in March and RTR earlier this month.

Estonians have also debated blocking Russian channels in past, particularly after the notorious "Bronze Soldier" riots in the capital Tallinn in 2007. The riots erupted when ethnic Russian residents protested against the government's plan to move a Soviet-era war memorial, which Russian media later falsely claimed had been demolished.

But Estonian politicians are wary of the free speech implications of broadcast bans and so far none have been introduced. "Fighting propaganda with propaganda will lead to cold war and will only increase the danger," said Yana Toom, a member of Estonia's Center Party, which is the most popular with the Russian-speaking minority.

Others are skeptical about the viability of the joint channel proposal.

"It's a nice idea but after a hard day in the Riga shipyards, a Russian worker wants to come home and watch something entertaining," said Latvian lawmaker Ainars Latkovskis, a former social integration minister. "Russian shows have huge budgets that even a joint Baltic channel could not compete with. The amount of money that would be available wouldn't even buy a tank let alone an entertaining show," he told AFP.

Anvar Samost, a former Estonian journalist and current politician, has a proposal for a Europe-wide Russian-language channel funded by the European Union. "It is too big of a challenge for one country to set up a Russian TV channel that is good enough to compete, but it will certainly not be too big of a challenge for the EU," Samost wrote in the daily Postimees.

Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas told reporters he thought the EU channel was "seriously worth considering and I plan to discuss this with colleagues from other states."

"I think it’s a good idea to have a TV channel that is objective and works within normal standards of free media,'' he said.

[Monmouth78]

So these governments have already banned media that doesn’t say what they want, just like Russia does. Now they are going to replace the banned media outlets with propaganda broadcasts. Is that an example of freedom and democracy in action?

[1rudeboy]

Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.

[PieterCasparzen]

EU = Forced government subsidies of corrupt Green Energy programs.

EU = Increasing billions in government debt.

EU = Increasing taxes to pay for it all.

EU = Increasing real consumer prices, decreasing real wages.

EU = EU Acquis, forcing national laws into conformance with EU laws over time.

EU = National assimilation.

[1rudeboy]

And after all that, the Baltics prefer the EU to Mother Russia.

[tcrlaf]

The Baltic States have every reason to seek allies to counter Russia, that is why they joined NATO.

You don’t ban propaganda, you counter it. You win in the arena of ideas. The point of the article is that these states, even combined, can’t come up with enough “Flash” to counter the Russian stuff.

Which says more about what they want to say, than it does with what Russian media is doing.

[MeganC]

Estonians have also debated blocking Russian channels in past, particularly after the notorious "Bronze Soldier" riots in the capital Tallinn in 2007.

My Estonian friend calls the 'Bronze Soldier' statue the 'Memorial to the Unknown Rapist'. The statue is a symbol of the crimes committed by Soviet troops during and after WW2 and it became a symbol of oppression after the USSR fell.

That the Russians don't like that their memorial was moved means nothing to me. Estonia is no longer under their control and they can shove their opinions up their collective...

[MeganC]

Monmouth78 - Since Mar 8, 2014

Are you getting a decent check from the FSB, comrade?

[1rudeboy]

The Russian state is trying to agitate the Russians living in these respective countries. The Baltic states are not trying to agitate Balts living in Russia. Understand the difference?

[1rudeboy]

The Russians will be whining about that memorial being moved for decades to come. No one cares about it, but they.

[MeganC]

Were it up to me I’d drop the damned thing on the Kremlin.

[elhombrelibre]

They wanna counter it? Gees, I know the feeling. Get that problem here too.

[PieterCasparzen]

And after all that, the Baltics prefer the EU to Mother Russia.

Well, they've surrendered their national sovereignty and they're all piling up national debt.

Definitely their elites prefer it. The individual sheeple, like everywhere else, if they prefer it, they're sadly mistaken. If they they don't prefer it, tough on them, their government surrendered their national sovereignty and there isn't much they can do about it.

Look at the deficit spending and national debt of the large EU countries, the UK and the US.

The mess we're in is as good as it gets.

[1rudeboy]

No matter how much you complain about it, they prefer the EU to Russia. And their economies aren’t in as sad of a shape as you wish.

[PieterCasparzen]

And the global “economic recovery” is just around the corner.

[1rudeboy]

Please try to stay focused.

[elhombrelibre]

You’ve got to be pretty far gone to prefer Russia under Putin to Europe under the EU. I wonder if these types are so poorly traveled that they think this way or just that far gone.

[Monmouth78]

You don’t have an argument so you resort to ridiculous accusations.

[SunkenCiv]

> The Baltic States are in talks to set up their own Russian-language television channel in a bid to counter the deluge of propaganda aimed at their ethnic Russian populations by Moscow-backed media, reports AFP. Numerous Russian-language media outlets already exist in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania but most emanate from Russia and toe its line on politics and history - sensitive issues in a region that endured half a century of illegal Soviet occupation. This month, Latvia and Lithuania each suspended the television channel Russia RTR for “inciting ethnic hatred.” Vilnius had already taken two other stations off the air.

Russia’s agitprop TV ping. Thanks 1rudeboy.

[AdmSmith]

Inscription: “For the return of Crimea 20.02.14 - 03.18.14.” Yet how could the dates of Crimea’s “liberation” have begun on February 20th?

An image of the medal was quickly removed from the Russian defense ministry’s website after the ceremony on March 25, but the damage was done. How could Crimea have been “liberated” in an operation beginning on February 20, the day on which a bloody assault against the Maidan protesters began in Kiev, killing nearly 100 people? Even more perplexing is that Viktor Yanukovych was still officially the president of Ukraine and Crimea on February 20. So how could this operation have begun on that day, while he was still president—or more importantly, why?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/25/putin-s-crimean-medal-of-honor-forged-before-the-war-even-began.html