As you might guess from the title, the article will focus on Russian television. Now the overwhelming part of society is aware of the harmfulness of the work of domestic TV channels, but few understand how the system of control over them is technologically built, and how it is possible to direct their work towards achieving destructive goals. We will try to briefly but holistically highlight this point in the article.
Woe to the Vanquished
We will have to start with the sad fact: the Soviet Union lost the Cold War and as a result, like any defeated country, lost most of its sovereignty, including in the sphere of ideology and the media. Now let us consider the current situation only on the example of the main information mouthpiece - television.
In the USSR, all TV channels belonged to and were completely subordinate to the state, and accordingly, at least nominally, were obliged to work for the interests of the country: to cover the achievements of the people; contribute to the implementation of cultural, educational policy; counteract foreign information aggression and so on. The range of tasks and the scope of work was huge. How well Soviet TV coped with all this is an open question, but in general, the information agenda was at least life-affirming, inspired the population with confidence in the future (the times of Perestroika, of course, are not included here) and made it possible to build a harmonious life.
With the arrival of the new "Boss" - the situation has changed dramatically, and technically it was done as follows. The key positions were occupied by those who today are usually called “effective managers” - mainly people who received additional education abroad (read - “recruited” or “refreshed”), or even persons with dual or triple citizenship. If you read the biographies of top managers of Russian TV channels and leading journalists, then you will quickly reveal this common thing that unites them all. As examples that are well known to everyone, one can name such TV presenters as Vladimir Pozner - a citizen of the United States and France, Ivan Urgant - an Israeli citizen, Alexander Gordon - a US citizen, and so on.
Serving money and ratings
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But television is a huge machine that employs tens of thousands of people. You cannot hire so many professional agents, and you cannot replace all employees with “your own people”. Therefore, systemic mechanisms for changing the goal setting of large media were implemented. This was done quite simply, by setting television channels on the rails of self-sufficiency (given the power and power that television has, in its significance this is tantamount to offering the army to exist in a self-sustaining mode). Today, all Russian TV channels are primarily financial organizations whose main task is to make a profit. This task is indicated in their charters as the main one.
But reorienting from the state to financial interests is not enough, we still need to make sure that these financial interests are realized in the way the customer needs. And for this, external financing mechanisms were built. TV channels make money mainly from advertising. 90% of television advertising in Russia is ordered by large businesses and TNCs, companies and brands that are in one way or another under the jurisdiction of the United States, Great Britain or directly controlled by the financial elites of the Western world. That is, in fact, the creation of Russian television content today is paid for by our overseas or European "partners". Accordingly, if a TV channel starts to conduct an incorrect information policy, then it automatically has problems with advertisers and incomes decrease. And you try to maintain a staff of hundreds of journalists without abundant financial injections.
Until 2016, the only structure that forms ratings for all television content in Russia was the western company TNS. It was she who determined what was popular and what was not. Did you really think that the Russian people love Dom 2 very much, and that is why the ratings of this show always went off scale? Well, of course, it's just a very effective program in terms of reducing the moral and intellectual level of local aborigines, which is why it has always been drawn with high views. After many years of such brainwashing, some kind of real fan base for this degraded product, of course, has formed.
Since 2016, the function of telemetry has been taken over by the Russian VTsIOM, which, on the one hand, can serve as an indicator of the gradual detachment of the Russian media sphere from foreign influence, and on the other, it can be assumed that in 30 years it has been possible to educate a sufficient number of local Gauleiters, and the need for such provocative mechanisms external control has disappeared. One way or another, over the past three years after the arrival of VTsIOM in this sphere, television content in terms of value meanings and broadcast ideology has not become less immoral.
It's all about efficiency
But let us consider the operation of the system further. Thanks to the structured scheme, “their own people” assigned to key positions got the opportunity from all employees of TV channels and all journalists to demand EFFICIENCY, that is, that they bring a good profit to the TV channel. A good profit is ensured by the high-quality implementation of the goal-setting of foreign owners, which for obvious reasons is not announced directly, but what is called "is in the air." Deputy Minister of Communications Alexei Volin, speaking to the students of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, said: "Your business is not better to do the world, but to earn money for those who hired you." Find this video on the Internet to get a feel for the cynicism of the situation.
To do their job efficiently and efficiently, TV journalists should spare no effort to “spill” the local population and conduct anti-Russian rhetoric (not directly, of course, but covertly) in pursuit of ratings and budgets. Therefore, people can be endlessly surprised when they read the news that Channel One invited Ksenia Sobchak to host a new program. It's just that it better than others meets the requirements of foreign regulators - who else but Ksyusha teach the life of Russians on the country's main television channel.
Of course, there are many "patriots" on TV who loudly defend the honor of the country and scold the West and so on. But all their pseudo-patriotism is vividly revealed by a popular demotivator on the Internet, dedicated to the main host of political talk shows, Vladimir Solovyov:
In general, all Russian TV shows are built on the principle of the "Trojan Horse", when, according to the announcement, they pursue good goals, and by default they are destructive. There is a video on YouTube about this technology called "What do Russian TV shows and Western NGOs have in common?" - watch it to understand how it works with specific examples. The TV shows themselves are mostly bought abroad, because the "correct formats" are developed in the metropolis and then exported to the natives. But if the local especially zealous workers bungle something suitable for the customer, then, of course, it would be a sin to refuse, and this also goes into business. A zealous and creative employee gets a promotion and can be sent abroad for additional training.
Actually, for the same reasons, and in all TV series, the main characters drink more than communicate, have a cheeky sex life, and no one even tries to create a strong family. And even if he tries, it never works. The image of a strong, happy family or a working person has been completely removed from TV screens. And also the concepts of "conscience", "chastity", "honor", "modesty" and their derivatives. Because no one has invented a better means of genocide than debauchery, vulgarity, alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. And why, if society is ready to step on the same rake for the tenth time.
Laughter and horror of Russian television
Of course, all this is served mainly under the guise of fun and humor. There are so many professional clowns on television that it is just right to call everything that happens "circus". Although they are actually evil clowns, in essence, everything on the screen looks more like an endless horror movie.
But very many do not see the horror that is taking place and prefer to have fun, or repeat the learned phrase - “if you don’t like it, change the channel”. As if there is a difference among TV channels … It would be better to reread Dunno on the Moon - there is a good image of the Island of Fools. Or "Buratino" would be refreshed in memory. Then they would have understood why Yakubovich has been broadcasting "Field of Miracles" for 30 years and what symbolism it is.
By the way, did you know that the state, represented by the Film Fund, regularly sponsors the shooting of horror films? It's just that there are also effective managers, whose task is to make money … Now the well-known phrase “pay taxes and sleep well” sparkles with new facets. Because for your taxes, the government will allocate another subsidy for a couple of billions to Channel One, or give money to the Cinema Fund to promote national cinema, which it will successfully master by filming another mediocre crap or porn, and hiding behind a request from society. Ratings - “House 2” is so popular!
Where are the calm dreams here …
But it is not all that bad. After all, if you know the alignment of the enemy's forces, then it becomes much easier to fight him. The most effective way to do this is through personal communication and via the Internet, spreading the truth about the real goals of the work of TV channels, programs, famous journalists and the mechanisms of manipulating the masses. As more and more people begin to wake up and see the technology of deception, the system begins to slip more and more actively. As a result, the achievement of certain tasks meets strong public resistance, and sometimes it becomes impossible or requires excessive resources.
Dmitry Raevsky