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In reply to the discussion: Anyone willing to post a cite from "Russia Today" should read this... [View all]leveymg
(36,418 posts)Last edited Fri Dec 18, 2015, 01:43 PM - Edit history (1)
Not like the Russians are the only ones or the biggest spenders on propaganda in the world. In fact, if that figure quoted is remotely accurate, it wouldn't cover one US Government agency program that sponsors Syrian opposition propaganda and "nonlethal aid."
The term is "public diplomacy" or "perception management" not "trolling." It isn't just a game played by the Russians.
Most US global perception management comes from the State Department, its contractors and foreign program beneficiaries, since USIA was folded into State Public Diplomacy and Public Affiars in 1999. http://www.publicdiplomacycouncil.org/commentaries/11-11-15/murphy-and-kuehl-national-information-strategy-i-%E2%80%93-introduction
USIA was folded into the Department of State in 1999, so the Public Diplomacy cone has succeeded to this national imperative. Im not aware that any other branch of government has claimed it.
The State Department runs what it classifies as $330 million in "non-lethal assistance" to the Syrian opposition. The Department describes the media component of that as follows:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/09/232266.htm
Home » Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs » Bureau of Public Affairs » Bureau of Public Affairs: Office of Press Relations » Press Releases » Press Releases: 2014 » Press Releases: September 2014 » Syrian Crisis: U.S. Assistance and Support for the Transition
Syrian Crisis: U.S. Assistance and Support for the Transition
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
September 29, 2014
Support to independent media includes assistance to both television and radio stations; mentoring from Arab media experts to broadcast professionals inside Syria; training for networks of citizen journalists, bloggers, and cyber-activists to support their documentation and dissemination of information on developments in Syria; and technical assistance and equipment to enhance the information and communications security of Syrian activists within Syria. U.S. technical and financial assistance is also supporting the Coalitions outreach to Syrians through the internet, local, independent radio stations, and satellite television.
An example of a program funded through State to achieve "strategic cognitive information effects" is as follows: https://consortiumnews.com/2014/12/25/selling-peace-groups-on-us-led-wars/
James Prince, the founder and President of the Democracy Council, is also an adviser to CyberDissidents.org , a project created in 2008 by the Jerusalem-based Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies, founded and funded by Sheldon Adelson, a patron and confidant of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Other resources include postings on social media and alternative websites with sensational stories such as the anti-Assad activist Gay Girl in Damascus who turned out to be a middle-aged American man in Scotland or Syrian Danny Abdul Dayem, who was frequently interviewed using fake gun fire and flames in his interviews.