(AP Photo)
When we think of rhetoric in the American media, we often think of it as a journalist's tool.
In America, conservative and liberal media outlets have the freedom to report the news through their respective partisan filters. Journalists seeking to expose truths have the freedom to do so, and op-eds provoke thoughtful discussion. We hope for objective reporting, but the informed consumer is well aware of the rhetorical strategies being used to persuade. The onus is on the consumer to exercise discernment.
Not every journalist–or consumer, for that matter–enjoys these freedoms. In many countries, the flow of information is tightly restricted by the government. This is well illustrated in the case of Putin’s narrative on the Russia-Ukraine War and how it is being delivered to his fellow countrymen.
A recent article in The New York Times explores this phenomenon. It quotes Alexander Gabuev, “a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center. ‘They have doctored images on state-controlled media. Private media don’t cover the war, fearing 15 years in prison. Same goes for people on social media. Russia has lost the information warfare globally, but the regime is quite successful at home.’” This kind of censorship is unimaginable in America.
According to The New Yorker, the Russian government has censored their media outlets so thoroughly that their news sources are portraying a completely different picture of what is happening: “the world is ganging up on Russia, which is busy saving its people, who are forced to flee both Ukraine and the European Union. All of this was bland and bloodless; videos showed the Russian representative to the U.N. Security Council, who looked bored and angry, and women and children arriving from eastern Ukraine, who looked tired.” While the rest of the world is watching Russian forces shell innocent Ukrainian civilians in maternity hospitals and in schools serving as shelters, the average Russian citizen is ignorant to the truth. This is unthinkable to most.
So, who is taking a stand? We have recently seen news coverage of Russian journalists that have done so with harsh consequences. Americans are also raising their voices. Perhaps one of the most unusual instances of this is the nine-minute video that Arnold Schwarzenegger posted to Twitter this week. He pleaded with the Russian people to listen to the truth behind the war. Whether or not the average Russian citizen will be able to access that video is another discussion entirely. Putin has declared war–not only on the Ukrainian people–but also on his own people in a sense. He is depriving them of the freedom to access information and the freedom to form an opinion based on that information. And the world isn’t having it – especially Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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