Leaked Kremlin Memo to Russian Media: It Is “Essential” to Feature
Tucker Carlson
Leaked Kremlin Memo to Russian Media: It Is “Essential” to Feature
Tucker Carlson
The Russian government has pressed outlets to highlight the Fox host’s
Putin-helping broadcasts.
David Corn
On March 3, as Russian military forces bombed Ukrainian cities as part
of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of his neighbor, the Kremlin sent
out talking points to state-friendly media outlets with a request: Use
more Tucker Carlson.
“It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of
the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the
actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in
unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative
behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards
the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally,”
advises the 12-page document written in Russian. It sums up Carlson’s
position: “Russia is only protecting its interests and security.”
The memo includes a quote from Carlson: “And how would the US behave
if such a situation developed in neighboring Mexico or Canada?”
The document—titled “For Media and Commentators (recommendations for
coverage of events as of 03.03)”—was produced, according to its
metadata, at a Russian government agency called the Department of
Information and Telecommunications Support, which is part of the Russian
security apparatus. It was provided to Mother Jones by a contributor to
a national Russian media outlet who asked not to be identified. The
source said memos like this one have been regularly sent by Putin’s
administration to media organizations during the war. Independent media
outlets in Russia have been forced to shut down since the start of the
conflict.
The March 3 document opens with top-line themes the Kremlin wanted
Russian media to spread: The Russian invasion is “preventing the
possibility of nuclear strikes on its territory”; Ukraine has a
history of nationalism (that presumably threatens Russia); the Russian
military operation is proceeding as planned; Putin is protecting all
Russians; the “losing” Ukrainian army is shelling residential areas
of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia; foreign mercenaries are
arriving in Ukraine; Europe “is facing more and more problems”
because of its own sanctions; and there will be “danger and possible
legal consequences” for those in Russia who protest the war. The
document notes that it is “necessary to continue quoting” Putin. It
claims that the “hysteria of the West had reached the inexplicable
level” of people calling for killing dogs and cats from Russia and
asks, “Today they call for the killing of animals from Russia.
Tomorrow, will they call for killing people from Russia?”
A section headlined “Victory in Information War” tells Russian
journalists to push these specific points: The Ukrainian military is
beginning to collapse; the Kyiv government is guilty of “war
crimes”; and Moscow is the target of a “massive Western anti-Russian
propaganda” operation. It states that Russian media should raise
questions about Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s state of mind
and suggest he is not truly in charge of Ukraine. And it encourages
these outlets to “broadcast messages” highlighting the law recently
passed by the Russia Duma that makes it a crime to impede the war effort
or disseminate what the government deems “false” information about
the war, punishable for up to 15 years in prison. This portion instructs
Russian journalists to emphasize that these penalties apply to anyone
who promotes news about Ukrainian military victories or Russian attacks
on civilian targets.
This is the section of the memo that calls on Russian media to make as
much use as possible of Tucker Carlson’s broadcasts. No other Western
journalist is referenced in the memo.
Mother Jones is not posting the full document to protect the source of
the material. Here are photos of the memo. The first shows the opening
page; the next displays the paragraph citing Carlson.
< - >
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/03/exclusive-kremlin-putin-russia-ukraine-war-memo-tucker-carlson-fox/
--
Iw mailing list
[email protected]
http://sticklist.org/mailman/listinfo/iw_sticklist.org
