BBC News and Russia.

[XabbaRus]

I don't know if it is just me but of late I seem to be noticing a trend with regards to BBC reporting of Russia. Almost every article on the BBC news website whether it is a news piece or magazine piece seems to be borderline to outright negative and seems to be pushing some sort of agenda, almost as if priming the British public for something. It was this magazine piece in particular.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zpm8xsg

Anyone else noticing the same thing or am I being paranoid?

[Oberon]

That one was an accompany to a program on BBC Two last night which got a load of ex-ministers, military leaders and diplomats and put them through a Ukraine style situation involving Estonia and Latvia which eventually transitions into a nuclear exchange when Russia 'accidentally' nukes a US and UK carrier fleet.
It's the sort of piecemeal tactic that Russia has trademarked in the Ukraine and Crimea, although I think the nuking of the ships was a bit OTT but the rest was pretty pointed.
Does the Beeb have an agenda? It's possible, but since we're not quite sure where we're standing with the Russians at the moment, sort of working with them against Daesh but acting against them because of the Ukraine and Litvenenko.
Besides, we did all the 'Terrorists coming to kill us all' media back in the 2000s, and now the Bear is back, it makes much better drama. :yep:

[mapuc]

I have somehow noticed the same in our Danish and Swedish news paper, where an article from Russia a decade ago was written with a positive view today they seems almost negative.

Markus

[Schroeder]

It's the same here. Russia = Evil.
They support Assad so they must be demonized. :shifty:

[AngusJS]

I'd say it's because the Russian government that has turned negative, which is now being reported on.

Invading neighboring countries and shooting down airliners will have that effect.

[ikalugin]

The "WW3" documentary is rather amusing, as we apparently use a long range SAM to engage a helicopter from Russian territory rather than local separatists acquiring MANPADS from whatever source they do.

But, yes, it is about projecting the perceptions of Ukrainian crisis onto poor Baltics.

Regarding the media - there is a negative bias. I remember it from Sochi olympics, when western reporters came, they came to report negative developments, not to report what was actually there. The cause for such bias is not a command by some evill state authority - it is the result of their own (biased) reporting in the past.

As to the airliner, do you imply that Russian Armed Forces shot down the poor MH17?

[Cybermat47]

I'd say it's because the Russian government that has turned negative, which is now being reported on.

Invading neighboring countries and shooting down airliners will have that effect.

Yeah, Putin seems like he really wants to regain all the former Soviet Union. Invading Georgia and Ukraine, as well as annexing South Ossetia, are a pretty big clue.

Hopefully he loses power before he drags Russia down with him.

[ikalugin]

1)
Georgia has commited an act of agression (attack on the peacekeeprs) before Russian response.

2)
South Osetia was not annexed at any point, it's status was disputed before Georgians tried to settle it by force and made the mistake of commiting an act of agression against Russia.

3)
There are no plans to regain Soviet Union. There is a desire for greater economical and political integration with neighbouring countries.

[HunterICX]

Anyone else noticing the same thing or am I being paranoid?

Nah, you're not becoming Paranoid the Dutch news is pretty much the same.
Evil Russians, Supporting Assad's sovereign state is bad and Putin = Stalin.

[Cybermat47]

1)
Georgia has commited an act of agression (attack on the peacekeeprs) before Russian response.

2)
South Osetia was not annexed at any point, it's status was disputed before Georgians tried to settle it by force and made the mistake of commiting an act of agression against Russia.

3)
There are no plans to regain Soviet Union. There is a desire for greater economical and political integration with neighbouring countries.

1) Don't worry, I'm well aware that Georgia performed agressive and illegal acts, and there were reports of ethnic cleansing too. I'd be glad to see South Ossetia leave Georgian control.

2) It seems that you're right, it looks like my sources for the annexation were inaccurate. Sorry about that.

3) I do find it suspicous that Putin has ordered armed incursions into two former Soviet countries, though having given some more thought to the matter, it could well just be a matter of these countries being in the wrong - I've stated my opinions on Georgia's actions above, and the Ukraine was hardly stable before the Russian incursion. However, some believe that this instability was a result of Russian inteference.

But after the Cold War, who knows who's telling the truth? I don't know about Russia, but in the West, Russia is all too often treated as the boogeyman - 'reds under the bed' and all that nonsense :rolleyes:

BTW, I hope I'm not coming across as a Russophobe - regardless of the politics, I think that the Russian military is one of the best trained, best equipped (I especially like the Lira and Su-27), and, if Stalingrad is any indication, some of the bravest.

[Oberon]

The "WW3" documentary is rather amusing, as we apparently use a long range SAM to engage a helicopter from Russian territory rather than local separatists acquiring MANPADS from whatever source they do.

Ah yes, that was another one that made me wince. I think it was an S-400, talk about overkill. :har: I think they shoved that in there because of the whole Turkey and Russia thing, but yeah, not extremely likely.

But, yes, it is about projecting the perceptions of Ukrainian crisis onto poor Baltics.

Yup, and to be fair, it's something that is wargamed by NATO and western defence officials on a semi-regular basis, because of the amount of ethnic Russians that live in the Baltic States and the fears of those states that 1939 is happening again in Europe.
In reality though, Russia is tied down in Syria now for at least another five years, there's an increasing flow of manpower and material into the region, spy satellites are being repositioned en masse to examine Syria, Su-35s have arrived in Syria to play, and T-72s with modern ERA have appeared in the region, I don't think the An-124s have ever been so busy! :haha:
So yeah, aside from the usual Bear patrols, I don't think Russia is going to be in the mood to look at Europe any time soon.

[Schroeder]

Ah yes, that was another one that made me wince. I think it was an S-400, talk about overkill. :har:
Why would you need those if you have Su25s from outer space that can shoot down airliners?:yeah:


So yeah, aside from the usual Bear patrols, I don't think Russia is going to be in the mood to look at Europe any time soon.
So they won't come to take my guns away? What a relief!:yep:

Oh, wait...that was Obama and the UN goons....:stare:

[Nippelspanner]

Hopefully he loses power before he drags Russia down with him.No. Never. Russia loves him. State-propaganda guarantees that.
Putin the strong, Putin the determined, Putin the man!

Russians have a different mentality. "Being strong" matters extremely there and the weak have no place in that society. Before Putin, Russia was in a deep crisis, Yeltsin didn't exactly help in any way by making Russia a laughing matter for his awkward public appearances.

Putin came along, 'magic happened' -> Russia now stronk, Russia gud. Putin gud.
("Russia today" in a nutshell)

[Oberon]

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/37775915.jpg

I think the desire for strong leaders and a strong armed forces above all probably dates from the Patriotic War and the destruction caused by it, and the determination to never let such a thing happen to Russia again.
But yes, playing the strong man goes far in Russia, and impresses quite a few in America too.

[Betonov]

The news in Slovenia are mostly neutral regarding Russia.

We don't want to offend the western overlords and we don't want to offend the Russian investors.
The national climate is getting more anti-western and pro-russian by the day, so even an anti-russian news article is quickly going to be dismised as sucking up to Brussels/DC by the general population. Even if true.

[XabbaRus]

No. Never. Russia loves him. State-propaganda guarantees that.
Putin the strong, Putin the determined, Putin the man!

Russians have a different mentality. "Being strong" matters extremely there and the weak have no place in that society. Before Putin, Russia was in a deep crisis, Yeltsin didn't exactly help in any way by making Russia a laughing matter for his awkward public appearances.

Putin came along, 'magic happened' -> Russia now stronk, Russia gud. Putin gud.
("Russia today" in a nutshell)

You haven't been to Russia then. I was they over the new year and was watching the news but to be honest I wouldn't say the news was pushing Putin all the time. Maybe I was watching the wrong news. It might surprise you but Putin is genuinely liked, propaganda or not. In the earlier part of the century before all this stuff blew up and Putin was still schmoozed by the West living standards were going up, the country was stable. My wife thinks he's ok and she watches more British news than Russian. Though I do get tired of this "Russian stronk" thing. Where did our start? It appears to be a lame attempt by people to be funny. Never heard a Russian speaking English pronounce strong as stronk.

[Oberon]

I think it originally came from 'Serbia stronk - remove kebab'... :hmmm:

[Alex]

The news in Slovenia are mostly neutral regarding Russia.
You're lucky. We got pro-Washington news in here even more than the people from the united states in here. Of course the poor condition of the interests of France and of the French People badly defended in the country by pro-EU officials selling their *** to Brussels testifies of how much the current french republic doesn't fight for France, and won't be able to last long any more. http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a75/Panzer_Kamerad/smileys/yr_zpssyiihfdt.gif

We don't want to offend the western overlords and we don't want to offend the Russian investors.
The national climate is getting more anti-western and pro-russian by the day, so even an anti-russian news article is quickly going to be dismised as sucking up to Brussels/DC by the general population. Even if true.
Lucky you once again !
That's right, I've got to hear some anti-western/EU news myself too, but that was quickly hidden under a load of pro-Brussels/EU/western propaganda trumpeting how glorious we in Europe are supposed to feel with that TTIP lying just around the corner.

Personally, I hardly can believe how much my own country and its interests can be despised so much in the - local (french !) - news to the benefit of the West all the time, just as if France didn't have any importance so far and was no more than that american province devoid of any interest where the Allied landed to liberate Europe in WW2. To the point I've been unpleasantly talking about North America at times in the past, but I swear I've got nothing against the people from there.

[Mittelwaechter]

...
Besides, we did all the 'Terrorists coming to kill us all' media back in the 2000s, and now the Bear is back, it makes much better drama. :yep:

Munich Security Conference next week! People have to understand more investment in defence is necessary. Terrorists with bomb belts are hard to fight with tanks and jet fighters, but a dangerous well armed Putin is ideal for the interests of the military-industrial-complex.

[ikalugin]

Munich Security Conference next week! People have to understand more investment in defence is necessary. Terrorists with bomb belts are hard to fight with tanks and jet fighters, but a dangerous well armed Putin is ideal for the interests of the military-industrial-complex.
We still remember the good old speech he did back in the day during this conference. I wonder how many people have heard about it.

[Mittelwaechter]

Of course it was mentioned in our media, but not translated.
Putin was aggressive, threatening and terrifying - so the general tenor of our media.

http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/02/10/0138_type82912type82914type82917type84779_118123