South Ossetia Sinks Into The Spin Zone

[Dover]

South Ossetia Sinks Into The Spin Zone

A battle of perceptions
August 09, 2008
By Robert Coalson
Radio Free Europe


In the modern world, wars are won and lost as much in the minds of global public opinion as on the battlefield. Even as the fighting between Russia and Georgia has raged in South Ossetia and other parts of Georgia, a fierce -- if uneven -- media battle has also unfolded. Each side is eager to establish its narrative of the situation and unfolding events.

As on the battlefield, Russia enjoys vast material superiority in the information sphere. Its 24-hour English-language news channel, Russia Today, has covered the story relentlessly since the fighting erupted on the night of August 7-8. Over footage of dead soldiers and civilians, moderators have emphasized the growing humanitarian crisis in the region, claiming that Georgia has refused to allow wounded refugees to travel to Russia. On August 8, the channel passed along unconfirmed reports that Georgian troops had executed wounded and captured "peacekeepers and civilians."

Since access to the region has been cut off from the Georgian side for many months, the only journalists able to report live from South Ossetia have passed through the Russian side. Independent journalists have been denied visas, meaning that media reports from the ground have come largely from Russian state-media journalists, including reporters from Russia Today and the Russian state military channel Zvezda.

Russia Today has reported a steady string of Russian government statements, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's assertion that he has received reports of "ethnic cleansing" by Georgian troops in South Ossetia. On August 9, Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, bolstering Russia Today's narrative that the Russian incursion is a "peacekeeping operation" intended to restore order and provide humanitarian relief.

..cont'd

http://www.rferl.org/content/South_Ossetia_Sinks_Into_The_Spin_Zone/1189760.html

[Muttocracy]

1. thanks - a bunch of videos from Russia Today posted and I wondered who the station was. nt