Reframing Propaganda

Disrupting the logic of national propaganda in Russia

cultures of information

challenge

How can we counter the Russian state’s narrative and open up processes of public opinion building?

designers

Maxime Benvenuto

partners

Justice & Peace

Shelter City

designers

Maxime Benvenuto

Thanks to a 2012 law, the Russian government can classify NGOs that work on human rights and receive foreign aid, as foreign agents — a.k.a. spies. The majority of media outlets in Russia reinforces this law and has become instrumental in spreading the official propaganda and narrative of the state. Maxime Benvenuto and Human Rights Defender Valentina examined the logic of national propaganda in Russia, along the way identifying weak points and possible ways to disrupt it.

partners

Justice & Peace

Shelter City

The challenges Valentina faces

Working as a human right defender in Russia, Valentina herself has been targeted by the foreign agent law on three occasions already. She is the chair-coordinator for ‘Women of the Don Region’. The union’s objective is the formation of a strong human rights infrastructure in the region, focusing on capacity-building of HRDs in the Russian Federation and Ukraine through dialogue and methods of mediation.

The challenges Valentina faces

Working as a human right defender in Russia, Valentina herself has been targeted by the foreign agent law on three occasions already. She is the chair-coordinator for ‘Women of the Don Region’. The union’s objective is the formation of a strong human rights infrastructure in the region, focusing on capacity-building of HRDs in the Russian Federation and Ukraine through dialogue and methods of mediation.

Thanks to a 2012 law, the Russian government can classify NGOs that work on human rights and receive foreign aid, as foreign agents — a.k.a. spies. The majority of media outlets in Russia reinforces this law and has become instrumental in spreading the official propaganda and narrative of the state. Maxime Benvenuto and Human Rights Defender Valentina examined the logic of national propaganda in Russia, along the way identifying weak points and possible ways to disrupt it.

Undermining the propaganda machine

With their deep dive into the inner workings of Russian propaganda, Maxime and Valentina are ultimately searching for ways to undermine it. They aim to establish a collaboration with one of the Russian independent news media outlets and to develop a format that will cover a global and multi-faceted view of conflicting propaganda narratives.

Freeing public opinion

In practice, this concept addresses a new kind of newspaper column, in which the same event is reported on from different points of view. This strategy enables readers to critically construct their own understanding of news. Implementation would open up processes of public opinion building, making them more independent from the state’s propaganda machine.