Never heard of the “Crimean Spring”? That's probably because you haven't been watching Russian television lately.
As troops have occupied Crimea in recent weeks, Russian television has depicted President Vladimir Putin's annexation as an awakening that saved the region from being overrun by fascists — part of a propaganda effort rivaling the machine that shaped public opinion a generation ago.
“What's happening now with state media and especially TV is unprecedented, even for the Soviet era,” said Tatiana Vorozheykina, lead researcher at the Levada Center in Moscow, Russia's only independent polling company. “These are propaganda instruments, and no one hides it.”
The message is unrelenting: Correspondents across Ukraine and Russia weigh in several times daily with reports on chaos in Kiev, the desperate plight of Russian-speakers under the new regime, and the overwhelming support of Russians for the annexation. The campaign crowds out debate and helps bolster Putin's approval rating.
Ren-TV and Channel 5 are owned by billionaire Yury Kovalchuk, a close adviser to Putin and among the 20 officials targeted by American sanctions.
“The media are a weapon for the Kremlin,” said Jadwiga Rogoza, an analyst at the Center for Eastern Studies in Warsaw.
