01-01-2016, 08:40 PM
From consortiumnews of April 27, 2014:
Then, on Sunday, the (New York) Times led the paper with a lengthy report on the "Search for Secret Putin Fortune" with the subhead: "U.S. Suggests Russian Leader Has Amassed Wealth, and That It Knows Where." Except the story, which spills over to two-thirds of an inside page, presents not a single hard fact about Putin's alleged "fortune," other than that he wears what looks like an expensive watch.
The story is reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's propaganda campaign against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for wearing "designer glasses," a theme that was picked up by the major U.S. news outlets back then without noting the hypocrisy of Nancy Reagan wearing designer gowns and Reagan's beloved Nicaraguan Contra leaders profiting off arms sales and cocaine smuggling.
Spreading suspicions about a target's personal wealth is right out of Propaganda 101. The thinking is that you can turn people against a leader if they think he's ripping off the public, whether he is or isn't. The notion that Ortega's glasses or Putin's watch represents serious corruption or that they are proof of some hidden fortune is ludicrous, but it can serve a propaganda goal of creating divisions. (full article here: https://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/27/wh...ze-russia/)
Also see: https://consortiumnews.com/2014/05/02/tw...n-ukraine/
Then, on Sunday, the (New York) Times led the paper with a lengthy report on the "Search for Secret Putin Fortune" with the subhead: "U.S. Suggests Russian Leader Has Amassed Wealth, and That It Knows Where." Except the story, which spills over to two-thirds of an inside page, presents not a single hard fact about Putin's alleged "fortune," other than that he wears what looks like an expensive watch.
The story is reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's propaganda campaign against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for wearing "designer glasses," a theme that was picked up by the major U.S. news outlets back then without noting the hypocrisy of Nancy Reagan wearing designer gowns and Reagan's beloved Nicaraguan Contra leaders profiting off arms sales and cocaine smuggling.
Spreading suspicions about a target's personal wealth is right out of Propaganda 101. The thinking is that you can turn people against a leader if they think he's ripping off the public, whether he is or isn't. The notion that Ortega's glasses or Putin's watch represents serious corruption or that they are proof of some hidden fortune is ludicrous, but it can serve a propaganda goal of creating divisions. (full article here: https://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/27/wh...ze-russia/)
Also see: https://consortiumnews.com/2014/05/02/tw...n-ukraine/