Freakonomics blog on the Ocetian Girl bruhaha

[watertank]

Old-Style Russian Propaganda

Two things strike me as completely bizarre about this Russian clip. First, the interview is completely pro-Russia. I can see why the Russian media might show anti-Russia TV clips to demonstrate American media bias. Wouldn’t that be simpler than what they do here?

Second, wouldn’t it be obvious to any Russian viewer that when this was originally shown in the United States, it would have been in English — and thus the coughing was dubbed in later?
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/old-style-russian-propaganda/

The same interview is considered to be Pro-Russian from the American side, and Anti-Russian from the Russian side.

Comments

[poroshin.livejournal.com]

A very unique situation indeed.

[watertank.livejournal.com]

I think many Russians are completely oblivious to reasons why the world does not applaud the destruction of Georgia. Blaming it on the media provides an easy solution to multiple cognitive dissonance problems.

[poroshin.livejournal.com]

And it seems futile trying to explain those reason to them.

[watertank.livejournal.com]

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it."

People don't want to understand because a new understanding might force them into a state of external (social) and/or internal (psychological) conflict. Knowing that your country is in the wrong when everybody around you proclaims just the opposite is tough. Really tough. It is much "healthier" to assume a moral victory and share the euphoria with friends and colleagues.

[poroshin.livejournal.com]

Very well said.

Additionally, arbat is trying desperately to debunk and explain the whole situation, yet there still seem to be some people that just refuse to understand:

http://arbat.livejournal.com/291684.html