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> The massage therapist, a war supporter, was happy to talk. She gave an interesting description of her media consumption. “On the Internet,” she explained, the

> The massage therapist, a war supporter, was happy to talk. She gave an interesting description of her media consumption. “On the Internet,” she explained, there are so many fakes: “You have to figure out that this is a fake, this is not a fake.” Whereas with the news on TV, “you watch it for the day and you’re done. No problem.” As for the war, it was hard for the massage therapist to say who started it and why. > “But we started it,” Marina said. > “Who’s we?” said the massage therapist. > “Well, I mean, Putin started it,” Marina said. > The invocation of Putin seemed to set the massage therapist off. She lost her temper and threatened Marina, saying that she would “call someone” who would come to straighten out Marina on the subject of Putin and the war. That one anecdote pretty much sums up the article in my opinion. A combination of opinions derived from a media silo (one that’s especially difficult to get out of because most Russian language media is, of course, produced in Russia and subject to Kremlin regulations), reluctance to question established beliefs, cult of personality/hero worship around Putin, and fear of government reprisal.

pitched 2y ago
> Having been the one in the room most reluctant to talk about politics, Lyuda now couldn’t stop. It turned out that she had a draft-aged son. She desperately wanted to prevent him from going to the front. But, when asked if the war should end and whether Russia should withdraw its troops, she suddenly changed her perspective. She said that she’d been watching all the media channels and knew for certain that the United States, not Russia, was the one killing civilians in Ukraine. Some interesting anecdotes in the article and they do all hit home. Media-literacy isn’t a Russia-specific problem.
- Calavar 2y ago
  No, it's not a Russia specific problem, but Russia's issues are exacerbated because it doesn't have the same English literacy level of Western Europe and there is also not a robust Russian language media presence outside of Russia to serve as a counterbalance. Contrast with Mandarin, where there are robust media systems in both the PRC and Taiwan. There is an alternative media source for those with the will to seek it out, and even if only a few people seek it out, that information diffuses. This is why Russia doesn’t feel the need to censor the internet as aggressively as China or North Korea - language acts as a natural information barrier.

pitched 2y ago

> Having been the one in the room most reluctant to talk about politics, Lyuda now couldn’t stop. It turned out that she had a draft-aged son. She desperately wanted to prevent him from going to the front. But, when asked if the war should end and whether Russia should withdraw its troops, she suddenly changed her perspective. She said that she’d been watching all the media channels and knew for certain that the United States, not Russia, was the one killing civilians in Ukraine. Some interesting anecdotes in the article and they do all hit home. Media-literacy isn’t a Russia-specific problem.

Calavar 2y ago
No, it's not a Russia specific problem, but Russia's issues are exacerbated because it doesn't have the same English literacy level of Western Europe and there is also not a robust Russian language media presence outside of Russia to serve as a counterbalance. Contrast with Mandarin, where there are robust media systems in both the PRC and Taiwan. There is an alternative media source for those with the will to seek it out, and even if only a few people seek it out, that information diffuses. This is why Russia doesn’t feel the need to censor the internet as aggressively as China or North Korea - language acts as a natural information barrier.