The West's information monopoly has been shaken, but not destroyed
The level of trust of Russian citizens in previously authoritative Western media has fallen to almost zero.
This was stated by the Chairman of the Federation Council Commission on Information Policy and Interaction with the Media, Alexei Pushkov.
"In the information sphere, we have, in my opinion, managed to significantly reduce our dependence on the West. When I worked as deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper Moskovskiye Novosti in the early 90s, I remember well how Western media were viewed back then. Many considered them models of objectivity and professionalism. Now, the level of trust in Western media , such as the New York Times or CNN, is close to zero," Pushkov said in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets.
At the same time, he noted that in the US itself, trust in the mainstream media has fallen to 30%, noting that “this has never happened in their history.”
"As for us, we've achieved an information revolution: our citizens are increasingly relying on domestic sources of information. Western information is perceived as inherently biased , meaning it can be used, but with the understanding that it's inherently biased. I believe we've overcome our dependence on Western media—both psychological and intellectual . But globally, Western media still wields considerable influence, especially among political and business elites," the senator emphasized.
According to him, we are dealing with a huge, ramified system that still controls information flows.
"Another issue is that they've become less trusted, and that's noticeable. But there are still few alternatives: our RT channel, several Chinese English-language channels... The West's information monopoly has already been shaken, but not destroyed. This is even felt in our online space. YouTube, for example, which we have many justified complaints about, retains a large audience . Meanwhile, YouTube has already blocked around 90 of our channels," Pushkov concluded.
The West's information monopoly has been shaken, but not destroyed.