I am sure there are true believers out there but I mean among the general population of other countries, especially reporters. I put about as much stock in interviews with average Russians as I do the North Korean equivalent. There’s enough social pressure to conform that even those who disagree with the narrative are unlikely to say so on camera.
Propaganda is such an unbelievably strong tool. Just look at the Western world with its seemingly unlimited access to information, knowledge and education and how easily people are convinced of some bullshit.
Russia was never a “free” country but stumbled from one autocracy into the next while the uneducated peasants stayed mostly uneducated peasants through the centuries.
I am sure there are true believers out there but I mean among the general population of other countries, especially reporters. I put about as much stock in interviews with average Russians as I do the North Korean equivalent. There’s enough social pressure to conform that even those who disagree with the narrative are unlikely to say so on camera.
Propaganda is such an unbelievably strong tool. Just look at the Western world with its seemingly unlimited access to information, knowledge and education and how easily people are convinced of some bullshit.
Russia was never a “free” country but stumbled from one autocracy into the next while the uneducated peasants stayed mostly uneducated peasants through the centuries.
In retrospect, the “information age” should be renamed to the “disinformation age.”