LONDON (Bywire News) - Until now I tried to avoid the obvious fake news baddies. However since it was announced there would be a ban on Russia Today, I decided to investigate as many of their news stories as possible before the ban takes effect to improve our fake news algorithm. When I woke up this morning the BBC ran a headline saying that “Russia Today is damaging the truth according to Johnson”. Does this match my experience?
I managed to analyze briefly around 20 articles. There are a few of the usual suspects, namely, the obvious articles about a crazy dictator (Lukashenko, Kim Jong-un) telling us how NATO is putting the world in danger and that poor old Russia is the victim in all of this. However, the majority of the articles were in my opinion were actually much more ingenious to influence public opinion.
For example, the article on banning Putin as an honourable member of the International Judo federation mentions the most important fact: that Putin is removed because of the war in Ukraine. However, if you read the article it mainly describes how Putin watched the Judo Olympics with the UK prime minister David Cameron, how Putin did a lot of Judo and how it is beneficial for our health.
All of this is, of course, true, but it has been used to spin what should be a very negative news item – that Putin has been removed from the Judo federation because of starting a war – into something more positive – Judo is great, Putin is great for Judo and an excellent friend. The fact that he started a war is somewhat secondary. This is a rather clever and subtle form of fake news. It obscures the truth without using any overtly false information.
To analyze this in a bit more depth I would like to analyze another article from RT (full text at the bottom). This article was about Ukrainian prisoners being released to fight. Now, it is hard to verify facts in an ongoing war, but we know this to be true as it was confirmed by Ukrainian President Zelensky (reported by the Kyiv Independent).
The article kicks off heavy:
- Ukraine releases convicts to fight Russia
- Convicted acid-attack murderer has been allowed to handpick a squad of fellow inmates
This text immediately set off alarm bells for me, because it mentions a very specific criminal that will be released and gets the freedom to choose. Further on we get more details on the criminal.
Siniuk was quoted by Hromadske as saying that Sergey Torbin, a former combat veteran, was one of the inmates released. Torbin previously fought in the conflict with the DPR and LPR. He was jailed for six years and six months in 2018 for his role in the murder of a civil rights activist and anti-corruption campaigner Kateryna Handziuk. The woman was doused with acid in July 2018 on a street outside her home and died in the hospital with severe burns later that year.
Now, this is the very worst criminal we can find. Attacking a human rights activist, of course, he should stay in jail! Checking with independent sources (the Ukrainian newspaper Hromadske and other newspapers) and a background check on Sergey Torbin, it seems that this is factually correct. The only factual inconsistency seems to be the fact that Sergey Torbin was already engaged in fighting before he was officially released from jail.
The devil is really in the details. If one looks closely at the title one would expect a discussion on whether it is good to have prisoners fight alongside regular soldiers and how many prisoners are expected to fight.
However, the article has only one paragraph about the actual release of prisoners and the majority of the article only discusses one specific criminal. We should remember that when you release a significant number of prisoners (say 1,000) you will always be able to find a “bad apple” and a “good apple”, meaning you can bend the article any way you want. This smokescreen is the first red flag.
Another important fact this article leaves out is that this is a measure that many countries, including Russia, take. The prime example is the French Foreign Legion where anyone can join and after serving you can make a new start in France regardless of your past.
Moreover, the article focuses on the notion of criminals being set free and given the freedom to pick their comrades. However, criminals serving in exchange for a new start are often sent to deal with the worst situations on the front.
For the French Foreign Legion, Wikipedia estimates several hundreds of thousand men served with over 40,000 casualties. That’s a casualty rate of 10% - and this includes times of peace and so-called ‘easy wars’ such as Iraq in the 1990s. For some engagements, precise numbers are known. During the war in Indochina, the Legion casualties were 14.1%. This is significant.
Considering Mr Torbin was sentenced in July 2018 to serve 6.5 years, he already served more than half of his sentence. This is not a get out of jail free card – it’s exchanging the remaining 3 years of prison time for a very significant chance that he might be killed in the fighting – not such a good deal after all.
So, I would hand out one red flag for painting the prisoners as being released while in fact, that is on condition they fight a very dangerous war and another red flag for failing to note the historical context of why the decision was made.
What makes this article particularly problematic is the following passage:
Moscow attacked its neighbour on Thursday, arguing it was defending the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which broke off from eastern Ukraine shortly after the 2014 coup in Kiev.
Ukraine condemned the move, claiming it was an act of unprovoked aggression.
By including the viewpoint of Ukraine, the article makes an attempt to seem objective. But the focus is actually on the bad criminal and the context is suspiciously absent. This makes me want to hand out many red flags, but I can’t as the article is factual correct and it is only by the focus and omitting the proper context that it becomes untrustworthy.
Judgement:
3 red flags: Not trustworthy.
The article is factually correct but very misleading and therefore not trustworthy. This is precisely what makes this kind of article very effective at influencing people. I saw this in many of the 20+ articles I analyzed on Russia Today.
So does Russia Today damage the truth? This is in my opinion a difficult question as their articles are factually correct and show both sides of the narrative, but they effectively spin the truth by focusing on certain negative or positive aspects and leaving out others. Therefore I don’t consider them a trustworthy source of news. I doubt. however, if blocking is the best solution.
As the article might not be available here is the full text:
27 Feb, 2022 15:07
Ukraine releases convicts to fight Russia
Convicted acid-attack murderer has been allowed to handpick a squad of fellow inmates
Ukraine is releasing inmates and criminal suspects with a military background so they can join the fight against the Russian attack on the country, the national prosecutor general’s office confirmed on Sunday.
Moscow attacked its neighbour on Thursday, arguing it was defending the Donetsk and Lugansk
People’s Republics, which broke off from eastern Ukraine shortly after the 2014 coup in Kiev.
Ukraine condemned the move, claiming it was an act of unprovoked aggression.
A convict's service record, combat experience, and repentance are among the factors considered in each individual case, Andrey Siniuk, an official at the prosecutor general’s office told Western government-funded Hromadske TV on Sunday. “It’s a complicated issue decided at the highest level,” he said.
Siniuk was quoted by Hromadske as saying that Sergey Torbin, a former combat veteran, was one of the inmates released. Torbin previously fought in the conflict with the DPR and LPR. He was jailed for six years and six months in 2018 for his role in the murder of a civil rights activist and anti-corruption campaigner Kateryna Handziuk. The woman was doused with acid in July 2018 on a street outside her home and died in the hospital with severe burns later that year.
Siniuk said Torbin handpicked former inmates for his squad after his early release. He added that another ex-serviceman, Dmitry Balabukha, sentenced to nine years in jail for stabbing a man to death at a bus stop after an argument in 2018, had also been released.
The Ukrainian government is actively arming civilians as Russian forces approach its capital. Media outlets reported renewed fighting in Kyiv’s outskirts on Sunday.