Let's just skip the kabuki theater with this guy and force our ISPs to ban his site (and/or any derivations thereof).
3
Shocking!
This article brings one back to a recent article (The hacking of America) by and book review of Harvard Historian Jill Lepore’ new book on the history of the US. Ms. Lepore shows how the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine , which regulated the media, was watered down and finally eliminated as a means of allowing the free markets to grow under the pretense of First Amendment rights.
This is applies to the repeal of Net Neutrality rules as well. Deregulation has its merits, but most of the time it has dire consequences because deregulation only accounts for the revenue side of corporations, not the social and economic consequences on the nation. Consider these results:
1j collapse of the economy by a unregulated Wall Street
2) poisoned drinking water in Flynt, Michigan
3) dirty money in politics and the end of democracy as we knew it - can you say Sheldon Adelson, Michael Bloomberg. Hedge fund fraudsters?
4) Russian, Chinese, Israeli interests driving US policy
6
“Whenever I write for anything Russian, they don’t censor me,” Mr. Silverman said. “If I write for American publications, I get censored.”
Which is why so-called "alternative" news organizations are thriving.
1
I appreicate your comment, as it hits the nail on the head.
Like Rush Limbaugh, these people say what MAGA suckers want to hear. The ignorant and uninformed will always be amongst us. Thus, “tax and spend snowflakes” like me are under constant attack.
Vote all the GOP out in November!
11
This guy had been banished to a TV station in Omsk??
No wonder he'll do anything to get in Daddy Vladdy's good graces.
7
No different than Voice of America sponsored Radio Javan and the like. Free press is free press. It’s in our Constitution. You don’t get to pick and choose who gets to publish what; that wouldn’t be democratic at all.
1
@Charles
Letting a foreign country run disinformation campaigns in your country is a bad idea.
I know this because I have been studying CIA disinformation campaigns in other countries for four decades. Their successes were usually followed by the secret arrest, torture, and murder of tens of thousands of people, usually human rights and worker advocates.
U.S. citizens are protected by the Constitution, not assets of foreign governments. U.S. citizens that work for foreign governments in media and lobbying are supposed to register as foreign agents.
3
We are a free society, we should not fear foreign media that is out in the open, at the very least. Let's not forget the Voice of America broadcasts we saturated the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries with for decades either--what's good for the goose, is good for gander.
6
@Cazanoma
When we beam propaganda into foreign countries they fight against it, but you want to let the Russians project propaganda here without opposition?
If you go around mugging people, should you want to get mugged?
If the gander is abusing the goose should the gander want to be abused.
I've spent a lifetime trying to get the U.S. to stop mugging and abusing other countries, but that doesn't mean I want my country to be undermined by foreign intelligence services.
Yes, if foreign countries sell clearly marked versions of their news sources, so that people know the point of view is foreign, that is one thing, but when foreigners start pretending to be Americans and attack our government, while claiming their own governments are here to save the world from the U.S., that is spy craft, not journalism and we have a right to protect ourselves from that.
By the way global corporate mass media is preset of the problem. Mosst of you Democrats are up in arms about Russia running psyops here, but you have no problem with the global mega rich (many of who are foreign nationals) owning controlling shares in our mass news organizations and telling you which candidates and policies are "viable" and which are crazy.
Who do you think has spent decades telling you that social security needs to be "reformed" but global corporations need $5.5 trillion in tax cuts.
Rudolph Murdock is an Australian. Why does an Australian get to come to the U.S. and call our government the enemy?
5
According to the article, the company attempts to promote “information and problems that are hushed up by major American publications controlled by the political elite of the United States”.
That's a mouthful, isn't it? Major American "publications controlled by the political elite......?"
Russians don't seem to realize that "the west" isn't run like Russia.
Oh, and by the way, can anyone imagine what would happen to someone, Russian or American. who attempts to promote “information and problems that are hushed up by major Russian publications controlled by the political elite of "The Russia?”
7
@matty, Also: "...major American publications controlled by the political elite of the United States." almost perfectly describes the GOP-Fox axis, though in that case it's hard to tell who's controlling whom.
5
@matty
"Oh, and by the way, can anyone imagine what would happen to someone, Russian or American. who attempts to promote “information and problems that are hushed up by major Russian publications controlled by the political elite of "The Russia?”
You mean like this journalist?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Anna_Politkovskaya
And she's but one example of many.
8
@Mikeweb Can't forget about the Clinton News Network as well!
So, New York Times, you couldn't bring yourself to hyperlink even ONE of the many printed references to "USAReally." A small detail? No. A telling omission. It speaks of fear. Not fear of USAReally, of course, but fear of your corporate overlords.
In some technical sense, you are free to choose. But if you were really free to choose, you would see the omission for what it is.
2
@William Romp
Sorry Alexander - er, I mean William. There won't be a bump in web traffic courtesy of the NYT today.
6
@William Romp it says more about you than it does the New York Times that that issue is the one that bothers you most about this article
9
@William Romp
Why would the NY Times want to promote a site they are calling a Russian front organization?
If you really want to go there type the address.
2
I’d wager this is likely connected to the sole news venue FULLY endorsed by the Republican Party. They are desperate to increase their reach beyond the hopelessly doped Fox News audience. What better way than to disguise yourself as an independent and unaffiliated news source that just so happens to harp on the same diatribe as Fox News? Thereby giving the impression of credibility via corroboration.
8
With a name like USAReally, you know there’ssomething Really fishy.
The best way to determine true from Fake News is to look at a site’s historical record and reputation, while recognizing that even the best can get it wrong sometimes.
And use your brains.
12
@lm The examples of Russian postings I've seen, for the most part seem obviously fishy or definitely not any serious attempt at propaganda, which I think Russia could do quite competently if it truly wanted to.
Or at least serious Russian propaganda would be on par with US propaganda.
I have no idea what this USAReally is trying to achieve.
Getting the NYT to give it this much coverage... it must be a slow news day
Moscow, Russia etc. etc. etc. - sure, but since Russia helped elect Trump and Putin-worshipper Trump is both beholden to Russian investment and he's the face of the USA, isn't USAReally American?
4
@common sense advocate
That's not funny, or common sense.
The Party of Trump is against the Constitution.
Don't normalize them by repeating their talking points, even in jest.
I'm more concerned about our own corporatized US media that attracts the masses and preserves this 2 party political system. Has our mainstream media ever had serious, honest political debates or simply charades? Each outlet promotes bias without discussion of complexity of issues and acknowledgement that other arguments have validity. There maybe a philosophic issue here with limits to our ability to understand the world? I suspect Jesse Ventura on RT is as honest from his perspective as any American Media I could subscribe.
2
@john g You're more concerned about vetted, verifiable media produced in the US than about sensationalized, often strategically fabricated media produced by a foreign country with the intention of disseminating misinformation and subverting our politics? And your reasons are the US media is biased and avoids complexity? (I know outlets like the Times and NPR actually embrace complexity, so I admit that I'm making assumptions about the other media outlets you rely on.)
I guess Mr. Malkevich's approach is working.
7
@Rob Ware ..."sensationalized, often strategically fabricated media" perfectly describes the NYT, Washington Post most establishment media selling US citizens on Iraqi WMD.
@Rob Ware
I am concerned by both.
We used to have laws that kept news sources local and varied.
The two corporate parties gutted those laws, so now most news is delivered by global corporations who have a financial stake in U.S. policy.
The conglomerates that own most of our news sources also own global banks (who got $ trillions of dollars in free cash from the Federal Reserve over the last then years, at least $9,000 with per citizen, without barely a mention in the press), global oil corporations (for which our children are repeatedly sent to die for, like in Iraq, while they get tax subsidies), and global military manufacturers (who profit from the aggressive foreign policy their parent corporations promote).
They also sold us a $5.5 trillion tax cut for the owners of capital (them) paid for by a $4 trillion tax increase on high-tax-state workers (us) and call it a $1.5 trillion tax cut.
Why do you think that they keep repeating economic numbers like GDP, the Dow, misleading unemployment numbers, etc., instead of reporting on stagnant wages, slashed benefits, etc.?
Why do they keep telling us that billionaires are wealth creators? Wealth is created by workers who actually do the work, not financiers betting our retirement funds. The people they call Job Creators literally get paid to fire people.
Robots replace workers, so we raise taxes on workers to subsidize robots!
Who talked us into subsidizing our replacements while they blame it on immigrants?
Whenever any new site pops up as possible and state sponsored meddling they should blocked/banned until thoroughly vetted by INDEPENDENT investigation. No exceptions.
6
Is Peter Thiel aware that this site refers to him as a "gay vampire of capitalism"? USAReally might want to Google "what happened to Gawker" if he wants to stay out of court and on the Web.
8
Sad times for NYT. A Russian netizen is a better journalist. The most effective meddling being applied to the American public derives from local TV news broadcasters. They are not all Sinclair companies, but, for the most part, they are guided by the same conservative principles.
1
USAReally, Sputnik and RT agents of Russian propaganda?
Shocked I am, shocked!
6
@Michael Panico
If course it is not shocking that Russians use the media and internet to spread propaganda. All big countries export propaganda. We send our own propaganda all over the world.
The shocking part is that a U.S president keeps pretending it isn't happening and has repeatedly taken the side of a hostile intelligence service over his own intelligence services and our electoral systems, even on foreign soil. That's not his job.
More shocking is that 90% of the Republican Party is backing him in attacking our premier counter-intelligence agency, the FBI, and have no problem with Russians hacking into state electoral systems as long as they elect Republicans.
That is treason.
And the most shocking thing is that centrist Democrats still treat the Party of Trump as if they are reasonable and intelligent political opponents instead of traitors.
I don't know what evidence Mueller has, but I can see what Trump and his party, who are against almost everything in the Constitution, do and say, and most of it is literally anti-American.
The Government is how our Republican gets things done, according to the Constitution, and Republicans keep calling our government "the enemy."
And centrist Democrats still want to compromise with the Party of Trump as if they are not taking the side of a hostile intelligence service against our own national security, while they attack workers for corporate profit!
It's not about Russia. It's about Trump.
1
It is not so much the Russian News outlets that are a problem for me. RT, Russia Today, and this new propaganda tool often have some interesting articles or editorials, but I know and can gauge what I see from them.
The real problem is American is the Right-Wing media, FOX News, Sinclair Broadcasting. We think because they are American that they continue the American tradition of accurate and objective reporting, but the fewers voices and papers we have the less objectivity and truth we have, and the bigger the outlet the more it is a target for takeover.
We also hear how NYT or other papers are Left-wing, or communist, and that is hardly true, all America's media is Right-of-center and we almost never see anyone who is centrist and certainly not Left-of-center. The right represents people with so much money who are getting more money and power and leveraging that to get even more and push everyone else out.
14
@Bruce
Exactly.
And Murdoch is not even American, but he is allowed to pay people to call our government "the enemy," all day long.
This doesn't excuse the Russians, but rather explains how the system has become so corrupted that they could easily take advantage of it.
And global corporate mass media is not "liberal," it is neoliberal, which is closer to neoconservative than liberal.
Classical economics described how markets worked, and included the problems that they create, like imperfections, externaliries, market manipulations, etc.
Neo-Classical economics decided (with no evidence) that none of the bad effects of markets were important and that Government was always the problem (not because it was true, but because it was good for profits). Neoliberal economics combined with neoconservative foreign policy made neoclassical economics the default assumption of both parties, creating a global race to the bottom, where every government is supposed to compete to cut taxes on capital and services for workers to attract investment. This is bad for workers, but good for shareholders, so the shareholders bought the media, call themselves "liberal," and sell us neoclassical economics.
Follow the money and read between the lines. Every news organization has an agenda (even if they have a few real journalists to help their reputations). You have to be aware of the financial interests of your news sources, and be skeptical of what they tell you.
In a disinformation war there is a psychological advantage to discrediting mainstream media and creating a confusing news environment, usually through the propagation of conspiracy theories. This switches the population to alternative news sources...especially rumors, gossip and urban legend. According to the article, the company attempts to promote “information and problems that are hushed up by major American publications controlled by the political elite of the United States”.
A negative bias toward mainstream media will increase the suggestibility of the population. This enables rumor, gossip and urban legends (which are easy to produce) to travel farther and faster. Research from the former Soviet Union in 1950-1951 found that when the official media was distrusted, 66% of the population listed word-of-mouth as their most trusted news source. According to DiFonzo (2008): “In other words, in an environment where official news couldn’t be trusted, word of mouth information – in large part rumors – was the most powerful.” (p. 85)
Cite:
DiFonzo, Nicholas Ph.D. The Watercooler Effect : An Indispensable Guide to Understanding and Harnessing the Power of Rumors. Avery, 2008.
8
About their exact percentages I am uncertain, but this article has to take the prize for being the best attractant of bots and political nutcakes of the week.
7
USAReally will be competing with Fox News, already hiding in plain sight.
6
Along with this article I recommend reading Scott Shane's article, Russia Isn’t the Only One Meddling in Elections. We Do It, Too. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/sunday-review/russia-isnt-the-only-on...
“We’ve used posters, pamphlets, mailers, banners — you name it. We’ve planted false information in foreign newspapers. We’ve used what the British call ‘King George’s cavalry’: suitcases of cash.”
2
The "Voice of Pootie" coming to unavoidable places around YOU.
3
To the NYT moderators.
@Yulia is a Russian troll. Or, an impersonator. Grammar errors. Voice. Tone. Subtle judgement. She starts with an agreement and hooks you with a disagreement at the end. She is the next nasty generation of Russian troll.
I suspect, after @Yulia, the next model will not make the same grammatical errors present models, like Yulia, do.
4
A Russian troll or just the person whose opinion you disapprove?
3
Information overload does not make people more "rational" and strengthen their desire for verification - it makes them more emotional and automatic in their responses to content that validates their pre-existing biases.
And when technology is at the center of political information-seeking and agenda-setting - two fundamental processes of democracy - it makes social media firms (Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat) and people like this guy not disseminators of information but actual political actors.
From the article: "“USAReally, Wake Up Americans,” was intended to promote “information and problems that are hushed up by major American publications controlled by the political elite of the United States,”
I would reply: "A dictator with a web site and Twitter account is still a dictator."
6
Shut them down before they get a foot in the door.
3
Reminds me of RT (Russia Today) and how many Americans read it without realizing it's part of Putin's propaganda machine.
6
It's always good to see perspectives out of the main spotlight. Just always fact-check and realize the source of information; everybody has an agenda, and I mean everybody.
2
@Don Q
That's our problem. People don't Fact Check. They don't even read the NYT or WAPO to get the Facts Checked. Ask any Trump voter if they know the Facts and they'll say they don't read anything from liberals because all they need is Fox News.
That's why Trump said, 'I love the poorly educated'. Keeping American stupid one Fox News show at a time.
I'm sure Malkevich's site is being watched. I'm not sure the FBI was on top of what Putin or other Russians were doing during the 2016 campaign until it was too late. Hopefully, they're more aware by now.
3
@sandi I disagree!
Trump didn't say "I love the poorly educated" because he thinks the uneducated are more susceptible to misinformation; he said it because he never has any idea what he's going to say when he opens his mouth. He had just said "we won the uneducated," the crowd was cheering, and he wanted to express a positive sentiment in a sentence where he was the subject.
So "I love the uneducated" popped out.
Isn't it time that Americans realize that the internet is not the appropriate place to get their news?
This is a great country with many people doing amazing and wonderful things. Look for the good, people!
2
The scars from the recession, extreme inequality, and the decades long tendency of the GOP to use the things that divide us such as lingering racism, homophobia, religious divisions, and abortion to win elections has left us vulnerable to this obvious propaganda. Add in claims of fake news from our president and we're caught up in a perfect storm.
We need to stop focusing on the rest of the world and get our own house in order. A divided country falls from within.
Russia has never forgiven us for what happened to them post cold war. Capitalists took advantage of their weakness and a lot of people suffered. Revenge is a dish best served cold and they're in a position to get even for our role in the fall of the USSR.
Our politicians and business community need to work together to focus on creating a healthy and united country. That means they need to stop treating labor as the enemy and ensure that policies are put in place that will improve the quality of life for the average citizen. The wealthy will have to give up their tax breaks and corporate America will need to move jobs back home. Our weaknesses have been exposed but they're fixable.
9
“I pledge NO allegiance, to the flag
of the Divided States of America,
and to a republic which does not stand,
TWO nations, without God, so divisible,
with liberty and justice only for SOME.”
This is what has become to be true if one realizes that our current pledge of allegiance has never been a reality, at anytime in our history. It is now even more evident than ever.
5
Considering the partisan divide, Trump in the White House, ignorant tweets, by Trump, getting laughed at by UN delegates, a widening income gap, mass shootings, high murder rate in Chicago, and web sites like USAReally, this statement: "Today, USAReally’s website depicts the United States as a democracy in decline, riddled with crime and divided by partisan rancor."; is more fact than fiction.
The Russians, Trump, and GOP, have managed to tun this country against themselves. A new "civil war" being fought between Trump, and his supporters, and 67% of the rest of the country. Outlets like USAReally, RT, and, yes, FOX News, play on only enhancing the divisions even more.
Lincoln said, in 1858, "A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided."
Like, in 1858, this country is woefully divided, and this si being encouraged by Trump, the GOP and the Russians. Three years, after Lincoln's speech, we fought the Civil War, 7 years later Lincoln would be dead, and the war over. But, rising from its ashes are people like to flame these ashes.
Let's hope Lincoln's words resonate in the upcoming elections, as 2/3 of America tries to take its country back from the Russians, GOP and Trump.
Vote, fro real change, the future of this nation depends on it.
16
@Nick Metrowsky
Sounds as if might be propaganda
If the American political and security institutions have any genuine cause for the alarm they have registered about various Russian news outlets, it is primarily to the extent that they have made themselves appear to be, collectively, a pitiful, helpless giant. One can search the mountains of verbiage devoted to Russian propaganda efforts without ever finding any concrete examples, or, heaven forbid, any concrete evidence of lying provided by Western sources.
5
@Vincent Amato
Good point ... but I wonder how do Americans insist on being shown the truth, and would they recognize it when they saw it? A few times in our evolutionary history we have changed the world that we evolved in. but this last time, this symbolic, information world is a world that humanity was never designed for and I am not sure we can adapt to.
2
The US is riddled with crime, racial and ethnic hatreds and is paranoid about the outside World that is out to get them, endless wars and ranting at everybody else. Swamped with debt and an economy that produces nothing the World wants and it only exports raw materials and War and weapons. We are done. But the local press is complicit in ignoring all the above. If you do not read the World press you are living in the dark.
6
@Phil Greene ... that is a bit much. Have a little faith, or at least hope for our country. I understand your concerns, but our economy is pretty good and diversified around the world. Our biggest problem is the lack of democracy and human rights .. we are starting to look like we are on a trajectory to look like Russia and China.
This is framed as "inequality" ... but I don't think it is inequality that is the problem and as long as we keep focused on that we miss solving real problems ... the government is complicit in exploiting our people. That is way worse than inequality which sounds frivolous and kind of unattainable anyway.
1
"I am interested in cooperation and friendship between our two great countries,” he said."
Two great countries? Well one anyway.
3
I don't need a Russian telling me what's wrong with America just because his country owns our president .
23
Why not if Americans could not even choose their own President ?
1
@yulia
Good point !
@yulia
When was the last time Russians chose their own president?
Stories about Russian media organizations, both legitimate and questionable, continue to remind us of how vastly many more educated Russian citizens are literate in English; how relatively few educated Americans are literate in Russian. Yes, Russian is a post third-world kleptocracy with GDP not even the size of California's, but they have beaten us to the punch in understanding the way our two nations think, perceive information and data, and how to look for and find ways to some advantage. That's not going to change any time soon and it won't at all until we retool our public education infrastructure to include more thinking about the rest of the world. Additionally and unfortunately, Mr. Putin has learned and forgotten more stuff about America than Trump will ever learn about Russia, even if he were interested.
5
I've carefully watched news, read books, and digested the combination for over 45 years. I consider myself heavily read in philosophy, politics, law, history, humanities and the arts. I disagree with this paper's interpretation of truth and categorization of propaganda so often lately I very much want to unsubscribe out of protest.
This paper's take on Russia is flagrantly irresponsible, biased, and often invented out of whole cloth. Any literate and well read person can for instance watch RT on Youtube and see news that is far more professional and deep, with far less chattering ideology, than what Americans are privileged to on either CNN, Fox, or MSNBC. In fact some of the most ethical former employees of those American institutions now work at RT, after having lost their job here for telling the truth. I don't know who this paper thinks it's fooling with it's neoliberal nonsense amplification of it's various pet biases concerning Trump and Russia, but it's really getting old.
Huxley summed you up:
"By means of ever more effective methods of mind-manipulation, the democracies will change their nature; the quaint old forms— elections, parliaments, Supreme Courts and all the rest—will remain. ... Democracy and freedom will be the theme of every broadcast and editorial. ... Meanwhile the ruling oligarchy and its highly trained elite of soldiers, policemen, thought-manufacturers and mind-manipulators will quietly run the show as they see fit."
8
If you did so much reading, re-read some books on WWII. Then you may understand why many Americans are "biased" against the Russian system. (Not the people. But against the government).
I never met my grandfather, because he was sent to a Siberian work camp in 1942. My family had to escape Eastern Europe from the Soviets in 1944. They made their way legally to the United States. Millions of people, including Russians, were killed by Stalin.
I love and respect the Russian people. It's Putin and his rich buddies the world must keep their eye on.
7
Emma Goldman, several million dead kulaks, Solzhenitsyn, about fifteen physicists, and Gary Kasparov would beg to differ.
7
And he was send there why? Considering that in 1942, the Eastern Europe and the half of the Russia was occupied by Germans and the Russians were in the middle of bloody war.
Aside from the political viewpoint, how is this any different from the Voice Of America?
6
@mikecody
"Voice of America (VOA) is a U.S. government-funded international radio broadcast source that serves as the United States federal government's official institution for non-military, external broadcasting." The source of this statement is Wikipedia.
USAReally purports to be an American media enterprise. I don't think it has its office in Moscow because of censorship by the US government. The government permits all manner of false information to be disseminated. Breitbart publishes all manner of false stories.
There is a small anomaly that should be considered. In spite of all of the negative stories about how bad America is, how lawless, how badly we treat immigrants, even those we take in legally there are still millions of people from around the world who want to come here and believe that they will be able to have better lives here than where they are. I don't know of any who came here and now want to return to the country they or there ancestors left.
1
Russia seems to think that a new American civil war and anarchy would be good for them. Don’t they understand the ruthlessness that disgruntled US citizens would then direct towards Russia? Thermonuclear terror attacks in Russian cities by former American officers would make them realize they made a terrible mistake. We must prevent anarchy for everyone’s sake.
6
Not to worry. USAReally has the cooperation and approval of Comrade Trump, kind of as a favor to his buddy Vladamin. Why do you think that in spite of all the evidence and reporting by all our intelligence agencies about Russia's ongoing cybernetic interference in our democracy Trump has issued no actions to those agencies to do anything about it. It would interfere with their efforts to keep as many Republicans as possible in office in the midterm elections.
5
The article is a great illustration how correct this guy is. Americans view their citizens as stupid and, therefore, in need to be protected from what some view as 'harmful' opinions, so hence censorship. Of course, idea to let people to hear all opinions and decide for themselves which one they are going to believe, clearly, terrifies at least some Americans despite of 1st amendment. This campaign against the Russian conspiracy just shows how insecure Americans in their beliefs in their own democracy. I understand why the established press is pressing the issues. It is just trying to squeeze competition, nothing more. It is hard for me to believe that poorly written Russian opinions are the danger to the American Democracy with range of other news and opinions, but if it is, this danger is not from Russians but from American media that could not satisfy the thirst of their citizens for variety of opinions. Remember, nobody forces people to read any opinion. Of they do, it because they chose. Ban just deprives people of their choice. And propaganda? It is such amorphous definition that everything could be declared propaganda, like this anti-Russian campaign.
6
@yulia...What is your native language and birth origin?
11
@yulia
To me, this comment sounds as if is is written by a Russian.
1
Why is so important to you? Is the value of opinions measured exclusively by geographic location of birth? if I was born in the US, my opinion is great, if I was born in Russia, it is nothing but junk? No wonder, some Americans are so easily fooled.
1
Remember.
America, this has all happened to you under Republican Domination of all the branches of government.
Domination that has been acquired through their cooperation with Capitalists gone amok, intent on savaging and pillaging the USA Treasury. Goals achieved through their skills at lying, cheating and stealing.
Conspiring with Russia, and sacrificing all the principles contained within the constitution, in order to achieve their goal of One-party government.
A government controlled by corrupt American and Russian Oligarchs, beholden to no-one other than their greed and lust for power.
16
@Truth Is True
To me, this comment sounds like propaganda Russians planted in American social media before the election.
The GOP and Trump won the election in 2016 with the help of the two most evil criminals in the planet. The mafioso Putin and the world's most evil plutocrat, Murdoch and his faux news. While Murdoch made the current GOP, Putin and gang of russian mafiosos made Trump. Trump's past and present criminality will catch up to him soon, but who will stop Murdoch? We are beginning realize the nefarious Putin as our enemy but Murdoch is a bigger threat to our democracy and unless he is stopped their will be more Trump's waiting for us
13
@Beachboy
Sounds like propaganda.
@Beachboy
Don't forget the Adelsons who so far this year have donated $55 million dollars to Trump and the Republicans. It has been published that Adelson talks to Trump regularly if not daily as does Sean Hannity who has only a high school education, but the ear of the President. FOX news is almost exclusively Catholic and soon 6 out of 9 Supreme Court Justices will be. Separation of Church and State has long since been overthrown and we are developing our own form of Sharia Law.
1
Relax folks. Our president has got this. Why, just in the 24 hours at the UN he sounded the alarm about 2018 election interference... from China. Could this man be any more obvious about being a Russian asset?
21
Counterpunch and TruthOut, to name but two 100% homegrown websites, are dedicated to reporting on “information and problems that are hushed up by major American publications controlled by the political elite of the United States.” Are they trolls too?
Being multi-lingual, I read news from sources around the world. It's a no brainer that on any given day given day the MSM omits important stories or (just as bad) covers them with a very discernible bias.
The bias does not bother me as much as the media's tyrannical gambit to smear anything that departs from its self-approved narrative as subversive ("trolling") treasonous or "interference" by foreign actors.
From the start of this whole trolling troll, no one has explained to me what "interfere" means. Last I looked, the First Amendment guarantees to anyone the right to insert his opinion into the public cacophony. I too have my own blog. Its interfering purpose is to "influence" public policies and elections. (Not that I have much success.) But gee... since I am not credentialed to the Times, I must be a foreign agent or at least a contemptible troll.
Does the New York Times not seek to interpose opinions or what it considers news*worthy* items into public discourse? Why should the right of a free press be limited to a vetted few? Why should those whose origins are foreign be denied legitimacy on that fact alone. The answer to these questions will tell you what's up.
6
Interfering is the real spreading of fake I formation. I’m not giving it credibility by calling it anything else. That fake information included made up stories just to stir up anger and in some cases violence. This newspaper, and many many other news outlets, including FOX and CNN (despite their political leanings), have both explained this, and social media sites such as Facebook have been working to eliminate that fake Information and fake fakes that are created just to get people riled up.
Having an opinion is one thing; sharing made up or altered information to support that opinion is something else indeed.
That many Americans believe and share fake stories and fake “facts” without checking them out is the problem, and also says something very sad about us and our lack of ability to be critical thinkers.
@Vickie Ashwill
The US government spreads fake or falsified information all the time. The big issue here is now there is some self-appointed authority who is to determine what is fake or not. Some sites have been pulled because of obviously faked photos, stories, but many accounts have been removed merely because they take points of view that are not consistent with what’s portrayed on American media. Is that free press? Is that fair? Do we have to censor images that are so clearly photoshopped because people are too dumb to tell the difference? Maybe we should be investing our time and energy in education.
But the problem is clear: the big players in American politics see this as a prime opportunity to gain a near-monopoly on public opinion. In that way we would be not much different than China or Russia in that regard.
Another Russian liar - but with official Russian officials is there any other kind?
2
I see no mention of a free "American" press in Article 1.
1
“Wouldn’t it be great if we all got along with Russia?”!(Trump)
“You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in” (Trump snake poem)
“Rare two-headed copperhead snake found in Virginia” (news)
Easy to make the Trump connection, but what’s the deal with Lindsey Graham’s recent transformation? Does Russia also have dirty pictures and Kompromat on him?
12
The drumbeat of Russian propaganda continues and they are so embolden by their recent successes, they don't try hard to hide it. Since we now depend on the internet for legitimate news and commerce, when are we going to regulate it to help ensure its legitimate ? After all, we have the FCC for print, radio and cable and we must produce IDs/credit cards to buy things.
4
Why do you want to regulate the Internet? You want somebody to tell you what you can and can not read? You don't trust yourself to make the right decision? If you don't like the opinion, don't read it . Find something what you like. Thanks to unregulated Internet you could do it.
2
@yulia
"Find something what you like"?
Sounds Russian.
Whatever you think of the state of American democracy, the current government of Russia hates us. They have not forgiven us for how we treated them after the cold war ended. Now, personally, I am not happy that we not only made no attempt to help a defeated adversary but reveled in their suffering during the 90s, but, I am an American, so, right or wrong, I am not going to support Russia and its undeclared war against us.
I sincerely wish there were fewer of my fellow liberals that were willing to side with an adversary against their own government and country. You will suffer too when our country crumbles, and, with the election of Trump, that day really isn't far off I suspect.
Freedom of speech doesn't mean much when you are living in anarchy.
4
@Michael In your first paragraph you bemoan that the United States did not help Russia after the Soviet Union fell. That isn't completely true, but nevertheless, that's what you claim. Then in your second paragraph you blame liberals (and only liberals) for siding with (apparently) Russia against "their own government".
Aside from this contradiction of what you are saying, I hardly would describe Hillary Clinton's push for more democracy in Russia as anything remotely like "siding with an adversary". After all, the common wisdom is that it's Putin's hatred (and fear) of Hillary Clinton that has lead for this whole propaganda machine to rise up in the first place.
16
@Michael I don't see liberals supporting the Russian government. Am I missing something? I see Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr. and Ivanka and Jared Kushner supporting Russia. I see the entire cabinet and White House Staff of Donald Trump supporting Russia, which would include two USMC (United State Marine Corp) Generals, John Kelly and James Mattis. And let's not forget most of West Virginia and Utah, local hotbeds of Russian support along with the Republicans in Congress, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. And let's not for forget bromance of George W. Bush and Pootie-Poot (Valdmir Putin).
11
It seems to me like our policy (or law) should be to limit any foreign media, that wouldn’t be allowed in the originating country. Moscow does not welcome US government sponsored discursive propaganda about any old thing we view as truth, and why should we allow this kind of post on US social media?
If we apply a rational person standard as follows: they are copying selected work from other. Advancing a certain viewpoint, by cherry picking highly selected facts and presenting them out of context - regurgitating them as “news” . This I would argue is not news, but is propaganda. Distorted “facts”, presented out of context is not journalism.
Notably, maybe we should also ban Fox News while we’re at it, because this sounds a lot like what’s going on over there.
4
@PNicholson
The policy outlined in Article 1 doesn’t say anything like that with regard to the press.
You can take it as a given that the Russians are probing our online defenses. They attacked, we got bruised, we built up our defenses, and they're probing for new weaknesses.
You can spot the more blatant Russian content by the misuse of articles such as "a" or "the". For example they might say "It was American missile that shot down airplane in Syria" instead of "It was an American missile that shot down the airplane in Syria".
But the Russians are clever. I'm sure that they can find enough English speakers to correct their grammar, while dangling the obviously flawed content as a distraction, so that we think we can see what they're doing.
And of course, America is a democracy that is in a (hopefully temporary) decline, with a divisive polity and with what appear to be intractable structural problems.
I'm reminded of a quote from singer-songwriter Peter McCutcheon: "Don't take it for granted say Grandfather's immigrant eyes."
4
@mlbex
OR, how "American Airbornes" saved...........
1
It seems to me the problem is not in identification of Russians, after all this guy doesn't hide that he is Russian. The problem is that Russians , according to this article, found the way to American hearts, that American press could not find. That's why the Russians could influence the American election much more than mighty American press.
I recall reading NYT's piece on how to spot a "fake news" website. The clues included misspellings and odd word choices.
Wonder if Google translate is responsible for the close but no dice title of USA Really. What were they aiming for:
USA Rally?
USA Reality? (not good but better)
Or did they hit everything except the punctuation. Should it say, "USA, really?!?!"
10
Strange no questions about the site's finances. Is the site covering it's costs? If not who's funding it? Where did the initial funding come from?
20
@sr Americans, being the dopes that they are, are probably sending them donations. We continue donating to fake Veteran Charities and apparently our government can't do anything to stop those groups from preying on American Senior Citizens.
6
There are way too many genuine American "news" outlets that do a better job.
Instead us looking for a scapegoats for our problems, we should be looking at ourselves and fixing our:
1. changing health insurance(car) to health care(human)
2. military spending(addiction to war)
3. social security shouldn't kick in after statistically most of as are dead
4. protecting population not banks, as we've seen in 2008
5. voting system which does not represent democracy
6. lobbying shouldn't exist
I think I can go on, but each sane person will be able to add a few points here.
18
@vf
No it is much more financially prudent to keep all efforts to brainwashing the population so they are too afraid to ask for healthcare, a decent pay, and an end to endless unnecessary wars.
Most of the comments on this article scare me. The US media's relentless focus on Russia actually has liberals begging to have what they are allowed to hear and read censored by our government. While it may be true at USAReally (which I had never heard of until I read this article) is a propaganda outlet, so are a lot of our own, homegrown media. We need to be sensible and evaluate what we read and hear from the media ourselves. We don't need censorship. Also, as one commenter already said, the US has media outlets that are read and heard in other countries. If Putin were to shut down all media that comes from the US, and not allow any Russian citizens to, say, watch CNN, we would think that was terrible. But yet so many of us now seem convinced that we need to be protected from Russian media through censorship.
9
@E. Vincent Excapt for how cynical Russian media is. I know that I don't have to double down and "evaluate" what I read on the BBC. That's not only a pleasure, it shouldn't have to be an added task. I like knowing that there are journalist of X group that are acting responsibly in how they source, write and present news.
I also have no problem with ANY outlet - Fox, RT, Breitbart, etc - making opinion. But that opinion should be clearly headlined and not presented as anything other than opinion.
4
it is just your opinion and your choice what to evaluate and what not. I, for example, prefer to evaluate any source of information including ones that come from the established media. That's how I conclude that there was no WMD in Iraq, and that this Russian hysteria is nothing more but hysteria. Russian were bad because they published under assumed names, now they are bad despite publishing under their own names. I very much suspect that they are bad because their opinions are different, and some Americans could not stomach that. That is a danger to democracy.
3
@E. Vincent
CNN is not available in Russia.
You can't fight Russia with kid gloves.
4
It is time to trust only those sources which are well known and have a good reputation about reporting the news, like this newspaper as well as others.
6
@npog99 Please, I'd like to know which ones have good reputations. This one has its own set of "face news", remember: https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/washington/us/the-nuclear-card-the-al... and the war that is still there.
I badly want to know that there are real news outlets, but getting disillusion by each one.
Even NPR gets caught in Russia bashing and nobody looks at serious problems that this nation has to correct to survive and not decline.
2
@vf Wait a minute. First when I saw the "2004" in your link, I thought "he has to go back 14 years to find a flaw in the journalism of the New York Times". Then I went to a link and I am reading a long explanation of how we all were mislead. That isn't bad reporting in the least. What it is saying is that investigative reporting, particularly when it comes to people in power, has its limitations. At least when it comes to the NY Times they present mea culpas after the fact.
This article is also from 2004. And it is a full laying out of what the Times got right and wrong. I think it was remarkable.
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/world/from-the-editors-the-times-and-...
“Whenever I write for anything Russian, they don’t censor me,” Mr. Silverman said. “If I write for American publications, I get censored.” His work is not being censored, it is being edited. He has the right to express his opinions - he just won't be paid for them.
12
@Neil Columbus
When you're "writing" for Russians and they "don't" censor you, then there's a reason.
2
That is good one. I guess there is no such thing as a censorship only editing. Orwell?
1
There is no guesswork here. This news channel has no rights. Shut it and it’s copycats down.
6
@DENOTE MORDANT Yeah, we need a censorship office! Wait doesn't it turns us into what we are supposedly oppose?
3
They wanted to go with “FoxNews” but it was already taken.
34
Where is the Voice of America when we need her?
It is astonishing how swift and unrelenting the attacks and consequences have been. We sit here as we watch America under attack and read of the decline of American Democracy, happening in plain sight and broad daylight. Imagine that it was all due to perceive grievances and manufactured fears.
....And somehow we are all still hoping that it is just a bad dream, that balance will again be restored to the land we embrace and love. Certainly, all this madness, that we can see with our own very eyes, can’t be possibly happening.
....So is the incredulity that we all face and must acknowledge soon, or we will inherit a bag of bones.
5
You mean we need the Voice of America broadcasting to Americans? You think the Voice is much better than any other American media and will be a game changer against handful Russian trolls.
1
One thing that could stop the spread of Russian-backed disinformation from sites like these is if both Twitter and Facebook blocked their users from posting links from the site.
Both are private companies and curate information for their users (not a First Amendment issue). But since there is a rabid audience for this kind of information, which the Russians are playing to, and there are clicks to be clicked, don't look for any major social media platform to take any steps (though maybe pay some lip service to it.)
2
"Today, USAReally’s website depicts the United States as a democracy in decline..."
They got that much right. They might also have said a nation getting addicted to unending wars. So far I count four more wars or regime changes we are looking for: Syria, Iran, Venezuela & Russia.
8
Maybe those who grew up on Barney with "I love you, you love me" need to learn to not trust anyone. Question everything. Think of the Internet like 42nd Street in the 1970's, or Bourbon St. on Fat Tuesday.
6
You’re going to need to save your Millennial stereotypes for another story. Research has overwhelmingly shown that the bulk of those who believe and share fake news stories and conspiracy theories are in their 60s.
2
Their attempt is flatfooted, starting from their About Us tab ("Today, people of US do not receive objective and independent information about events occurring on the territory of America and around the world"). The error-riddled (funny!) text makes clear it's produced elsewhere, but shamefully sidesteps the most relevant truth that it's the product of Russia. I can only think that Americans drawn in by this effort would really only have themselves to blame. In 2018 we know better than to not pay attention to our news sources.
9
@Steve Yes, both those Americans are still allowed to vote.
1
Enough.
Shut it down.
There is no longer a Cold War, but an open attack on western sovereign elections from Putin and his Russian mafia.
We need a coordinated aggressive global response led by those who aren't puppets placed in office like Trump.
Russia's economy may be a basket case, with natural resource profits stolen from the Russian people, but they spend the resources of the state to create global instability and chaos.
Putin is a pox upon the Earth, and those Americans who allow him to attack the nation from within are traitors.
62
Attack? Seems to me more like the competition of ideas and visions. Don't blame Russians if the American media is not trusted by American people. American people could chose whom they want to believe and if they chose to believe the Russian trolls, it just means that trolls understand American people better than American media.
1
@yulia Objective journalism and news reporting is not the same as propaganda and lies. No one is blaming Russia for Americans not trusting media - we have homegrown right-wing propaganda websites and our prevaricating president to thank for that. We are blaming the Russian government for waging cyber warfare, interfering in our elections, and spreading vicious racist views designed to create hate. And this clown, who has seamlessly assimilated the right wing whine of victimhood: "I'm an easy victim for American media." Yeah, right. When you lie and you get caught, you are not a victim (except perhaps of your own bad behavior).
Here we go again!! Thank you NYT for educating us on USAReally site. Once again Russia tries to destroy our Democracy and cause division within our country.
28
Yes it is....this is a long term Russian effort. Expose them all by name.
29
I listened to an interview with an ex-white nationalist yesterday. He discussed how much of the propagation of their ideology was via social media. It then dawned on me that if I’m a Russian troll mill, I am not stopping with throwing an election one way or the other, I am a full-service propaganda machine and will identify and exploit any and every point of conflict to sow chaos in the US. Literally every contentious thread on twitter is susceptible and suspect.
66
@Mike Pod Of course it is. What these people in Russia understand is that it's about infiltrating the language. It's about making an otherwise extreme conversation appear more and more normal the more it gets repeated. We're almost at that point now when we have people casually referring to "the deep state" as if it is obvious.
18
@Mike Pod
There are few contentious, popular comment threads that I read that don’t have bizarrely simplistic comments that echo Russian troll talking-points. Despite suspicions, don’t know if they were posted by a Russian sponsored entity or by an American citizen who wholly buys into their divisive nonsense. And I suppose that’s exactly the point.
@Mike Pod
Social media has proven to be the #1 source of conspiracy theories, fake news, and illegal data mining globally. The trolls will continue to thrive there on the Dark Net. Cyber security experts are on overdrive trying to protect companies and all-too-stupid and gullible Americans from abuse.
Grand Old Propaganda
Grand Old Putin
GOP 2018
Russian-Republicans can't stand the truth, democracy or the will of the people.
Let's cut their political heads off.
November 6 2018
Vote in record numbers, America.
93
@Socrates
I moseyed over to the USAReally website to have a look-see.
I'm just speechless.
The most insidious tactic of the GOP in the last four decades was to denigrate and de-fund public education. They created a fertile bed for poison seeds. It's so sad.
November 6 2018
Vote in record numbers, America.
8
@Socrates Putin is like that destructive "friend" you have. The only way to feel better about himself is to put YOU down. Putin isn't growing a better, richer life for his people. He is trying to tear down the U.S.A.
And Trump admires him.
6
To all fairness, life under Putin is better for Russian citizens than it was before him. I really doubt that tearing down the US is his main goal. He wants the better life for his people, and if it requires to tame down the US ambitions he will do everything in his power to achieve it, but should we blame him for that? The American leaders are not very thoughtful about other countries either.
2
Publications such as USAReally are further leveraging an ugly growing trend - creating divisiveness.
It is sad to watch many of the values that were once what made us proud to be Americans such as reaching out to other countries less fortunate without expecting an equal payback, doing the right thing because it was right - including turning the other cheek and not seeking vengeance (called bullying) - what America stood for in the world following WWII, non isolationist policies & the Marshall Plan made us a great country. - the opposite of this greatness is now what is meant by MAKE AMERICA GREAT (FIRST)... we build higher walls instead of saying "tear that wall down"…. in ways the FOX News is the most anti-American, but they wrap themselves in our flag... now we have USAReally
26
@Jimi The idea that the Russians are creating divisiveness is silly and it is hard to understand why any citizens would believe it.
The US has been very divided since the Civil War.
And then there was the Vietnam War that created divisions.
There is the rural urban and class divisions.
These are real divisions.
Bernie Sanders is the best leader the US has to bridge all this divides, and not by quivering in fear about Russia.
I'm really mystified at why the Establishment, its media and its foreign policy gurus are so intent creating fear and hate for Russia.
It is difficult to imagine those who see such as USAReally
being influenced by it, or even looking at it except out of curiosity.
If citizens are influenced by such as USA Really, the problem is with us, the US, our schools and our culture.
11
@Lucy Cooke: "I'm really mystified at why the Establishment, its media and its foreign policy gurus are so intent creating fear and hate for Russia."
It's no mystery to me. They want to turn the crank on the police state, to erode our freedoms in the guise of defense against an enemy, while profiting from the machinery to do so.
Nothing like a random Russian who suddenly becomes obsessed with "building" American democracy. Who would give credence to that claim? Only those who are in the bulls-eye of GOP constituent base or those who think they "can see Russia from their window"!
42
When Stalin was around he would chuckle that Communist cells were allowed to operate freely in America but no democratic cells were allowed to operate in Moscow. The only thing that has changed since is that now the cells in America are more covert than overt, with web sites and the media as cover.
26
Freely? Didn't he hear about the Red Scare? Didn't you hear about McCarthy? Some 'freely'.
@yulia It sounds like your comment is a defense of the red scare and McCarthyism.
@yulia
I suggest that anyone who believes that Communists were allowed to operate freely in the U.S. during the cold war look up the Supreme Court cases Dennis v. U.S and Yates v. U.S., in which the publishers of Communist books and newspapers, and speakers at Communist ralleys and classes, were sent to prison. As the dissent by Douglas and Black said, they were sent to prison for engaging in protected First Amendment activities.
Not only were Communists prosecuted, but ex-Communists who refused to publicly confess, and name their associates, were fired from their jobs.
This left us with a heritage of people being afraid to identify with socialism, that continued until 2016.
"USAReally’s website depicts the United States as a democracy in decline, riddled with crime and divided by partisan rancor." Have you watch Fox News from 8 - 11 any night of the week? It's open sedition.
81
@tdom perhaps Fox was and is in on the collusion .... all those Fox personalities may be apparatchiks communicating Divisive targets and ideas to the Kremlin. I don’t know but that Roger Ailes was guiding news to tip off Trumps Russian friends as to topics most likely to wind up the most aggrieved base.
3
Well, if it's "overt", there is nothing wrong with it. There are many American funded websites, programs and newsmedia that are specifically aimed at publishing information about other countries and targeting audiences in those countries.
8
"Mr. Malkevich said he aimed to turn USAReally into a kind of digital-first version of RT or Sputnik — both Russian media organizations that broadcast pro-Kremlin views inside the United States — and a counterweight to organizations funded by the United States, like Radio Free Europe, that broadcast in Russia and other countries." Well there you have it: one side misinforms people with propaganda and the other brings truth and light. One side presents the values of a system that produced Trump, the other one that produced Putin. Diogenes with his lamp would have quite a search ahead of him.
19
I took a look at USAReally and then Breitbart. While USAReally is less polished, its extreme bias is similar to the content of Breitbart. Both sites are simplistic, one sided and designed to contain a highly emotional appeal. This is true of countless right wing sites throughout the US, many of whom are, for some reason, sympathetic towards Russia. It could be that USAReally is designed to be crude and simplistic because it has worked elsewhere, something many, including the President of the US, have learned through experience.
82
Interesting to see what USAReally produce. I'm always curious if anyone will ever print what's really going on. I think it's true that even Orwell could not have dreamed of just what form the control of the people would be.
I constantly watch to see if anyone will break free and spill the beans. Of course there will be consequences for them.
4
Is this a joke? Did you read the article? He’s a Russian citizen that doesn’t live in this country publishing propaganda and misinformation to subvert the US. There’s no truth to it, at all.
42
@C. Bernard
Are you at liberty to tell us "what's really going on?" Perhaps you can just give us a hint. But if it's too dangerous for you, we will understand.
22
@Reader
Exactly how is USAReally going to subvert the US?
If the US is so fragile, the important question is why?
What worries me is that if any truly left candidate wins the Presidency and wants to do radical things like signing a peace treaty ending the war with North Korea, taking our military out of Syria and Afghanistan... the election win will be blamed on Russian meddling.
Why is a Russian citizen who I assume is in the United States on a tourist visa allowed to engage in such activities? If a US citizen visited Russia on a tourist visa, they would not be permitted to engage in the type of political activities that Mr. Malkevich is conducting. If this is happening, we only have ourselves to blame.
98
@Mike Gera "Why is a Russian citizen who I assume is in the United States on a tourist visa allowed to engage in such activities?"
The reason should be obvious: he's being tracked by our intelligence agents, to see what the Russians are up to.
13
@Bob
Sorry, one more from The Onion, re/ "our intelligence agents":
https://politics.theonion.com/smart-qualified-people-behind-the-scenes-k...
@Mike Gera . Russia also tends to kill political opponents and spray poison gas on "traitors". Should we do the same?
4
Walter Cronkite was considered America's most trusted man by many in his days. Then the rise of the internet has marginalized the traditional news media. It doesn't help the Faux News has gained legitimacy by being a mouthpiece of the Republicans. Finally, the recent rash of news anchor exposes may very well be the final nail.
News media are now fighting for clicks. Even the Gray Lady are showing questionable headliners now and then. Weaponizing the news is in part our own making. How people deploy it is another story though. When news becomes spyware, we are entering the no-hold-bar territory
13
How is this different from " radio free Europe" during the Cold War? Our government has historically taken every opportunity to broadcast our propaganda abroad within other sovereign countries and surely the USSR expressed their opinion in out media when the opportunity arose. Readers should ask themselves why this is so important now, just because Trump is president.
12
@William Stuber
William: Radio Free Europe was a beacon of hope for millions caught in the dictatorial web of the Soviet Union.
Do you think what RFE was trying to accomplish was in the same spirit as USAReally?
Despite the faults of the U.S. and other western democracies, we are still a grand experiment in government by the people for the people. I'll take my chances with that vs. whatever Emperor Putin and his minions have to offer to those who succumb to fear and give up their rights.
115
@William Stuber, what US government controlled media is squeezing out free opinion in the US? Secondly, Trump would love to get rid of most of the writers at Radio Free Europe (no less than Putin), they stick to the facts even when its not in the propaganda interest of the party in charge in Washington. Nearly all their journalists are native speakers and come from the country they are covering. The ratings for Radio Free Europe dropped once free media began to operate in Russia but have rose lately specifically because there are now few options besides Russian government controlled media options.
58
@Kevin O'Reilly,
Radio Free Europe's role as a beacon of hope is overshadowed by it's role as a propaganda machine for the political ideology of America's lame leadership. Ask any non-American listener. You HAVE taken your chances with the failed "grand experiment" and you HAVE succumbed to blindness as your rights have eroded to the vanishing point (not counting your right to guns and your right to live in wealth amid the grinding poverty of your fellow americans).