Information war based on Hollywood standards Sergei Mikheyev and Maria Zakharova "Vestnik Kavkaza"The Russian Foreign Ministry has received information that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is urging its citizens to participate in the information war, the deputy director of the Information Department of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, Maria Zakharova announced. "I was informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has urged the people of Ukraine to write about the so-called aggression against Ukraine today and tomorrow and urge world leaders gathered at the NATO summit to help stop the Kremlin's armed attack on the Donbass region," Zakharova said. She believes that it proves the fact that lies directly impact the negotiation process concerning the situation in Ukraine. When asked whether Russia should also use such methods, Zakharova said: "Certainly not. Information campaigns based on false information have never been our priority. Reputation can be lost only once. If you publish unsubstantiated statements people stop believing."Russian political analyst Sergei Mikheyev agrees with Zakharova: "No one is interested in facts anymore. The Americans are doing what they can do very well - they are playing "Hollywood." Hollywood, certainly, has contributed to writing world history with the help of its films. It is trying to change how we perceive history and the present, and even the future through images that are being embedded in the popular culture."Mikheev explains the loss of interest in true facts is due to technological advances in the media: "From experts, information moved on to ordinary people. Information is created on social networks. Everyman's access to the internet, his ability to post his own opinions on the internet, has radically changed the information environment. Ordinary people are not interested in facts, they appeal to the emotions and rumors. The Americans have understood this very well and are now fully using it... A great number of people, millions, billions have learned to press the buttons and look at the screen. It raises their self-esteem, indulges their ambitions and vanity. Therefore, people work with them and not with experts, not with people who investigate and understand the facts. People are working with mass consciousness only."According to Mikheev, mass culture has entered Realpolitik: "What we see around us, including the events in Ukraine, is mass culture in politics. Undoubtedly, there is an information war against Russia, but it is directed at Western people, ordinary Americans, ordinary Europeans, for whom the authorities have to motivate their actions in particular situations, whom they have to explain why it is necessary to act this way and later that way so that voters won't have any questions."However, Mikheev is convinced, the ability to appeal to facts is the trump card of Russia. There are "a lot of people who consciously chose not to be patriots. It is their conscious choice, they hate what is happening in Russia, they hate their country." Mikheyev thinks that these people should be replaced with people who are more loyal to the authorities: "We need to change the personnel policy of the media, because the media, starting with the 1990s, have been largely headed by people who support "Maidans," Barack Obama, the EU and so on. They sincerely support them... This is a result of brainwashing that took place during Perestroika, as a result of which a whole generation grew up believing that there was no place worse than Russia in the whole world."
"Vestnik Kavkaza"
The Russian Foreign Ministry has received information that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is urging its citizens to participate in the information war, the deputy director of the Information Department of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, Maria Zakharova announced. "I was informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has urged the people of Ukraine to write about the so-called aggression against Ukraine today and tomorrow and urge world leaders gathered at the NATO summit to help stop the Kremlin's armed attack on the Donbass region," Zakharova said. She believes that it proves the fact that lies directly impact the negotiation process concerning the situation in Ukraine.
When asked whether Russia should also use such methods, Zakharova said: "Certainly not. Information campaigns based on false information have never been our priority. Reputation can be lost only once. If you publish unsubstantiated statements people stop believing."
Russian political analyst Sergei Mikheyev agrees with Zakharova: "No one is interested in facts anymore. The Americans are doing what they can do very well - they are playing "Hollywood." Hollywood, certainly, has contributed to writing world history with the help of its films. It is trying to change how we perceive history and the present, and even the future through images that are being embedded in the popular culture."
Mikheev explains the loss of interest in true facts is due to technological advances in the media: "From experts, information moved on to ordinary people. Information is created on social networks. Everyman's access to the internet, his ability to post his own opinions on the internet, has radically changed the information environment. Ordinary people are not interested in facts, they appeal to the emotions and rumors. The Americans have understood this very well and are now fully using it... A great number of people, millions, billions have learned to press the buttons and look at the screen. It raises their self-esteem, indulges their ambitions and vanity. Therefore, people work with them and not with experts, not with people who investigate and understand the facts. People are working with mass consciousness only."
According to Mikheev, mass culture has entered Realpolitik: "What we see around us, including the events in Ukraine, is mass culture in politics. Undoubtedly, there is an information war against Russia, but it is directed at Western people, ordinary Americans, ordinary Europeans, for whom the authorities have to motivate their actions in particular situations, whom they have to explain why it is necessary to act this way and later that way so that voters won't have any questions."
However, Mikheev is convinced, the ability to appeal to facts is the trump card of Russia. There are "a lot of people who consciously chose not to be patriots. It is their conscious choice, they hate what is happening in Russia, they hate their country." Mikheyev thinks that these people should be replaced with people who are more loyal to the authorities: "We need to change the personnel policy of the media, because the media, starting with the 1990s, have been largely headed by people who support "Maidans," Barack Obama, the EU and so on. They sincerely support them... This is a result of brainwashing that took place during Perestroika, as a result of which a whole generation grew up believing that there was no place worse than Russia in the whole world."
