Since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, “Kremlin Watchers” have tuned in to Russian talk shows, with the expectation that they will give clues to Putin’s latest line of thinking.
While it’s true that millions of Russians sit down to watch these shows, we mustn’t forget that they mainly want to be entertained and that, while toeing the party line, the primary aim of these programs is not to indoctrinate the audience – it is already by and large on board.
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The Original Fantastic Four
Marvel Comics characters who first appeared in November 1961 have since spawned a number of fantasy films. They were a group of astronauts who gained superpowers after a cosmic radiation exposure and must use them to oppose the plans of their enemy, Doctor Victor Von Doom.
Russian TV has its own Fantastic Four who use their powers to defeat their own enemy – truth.
Russian media’s “Fantastic Four”
“The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.” - Edith Sitwell British poet, critic and humanist.
The most popular talk show hosts, who have no doubt survived as presenters because of their loyalty to Putin, in general, and support for the 2014 and 2022 invasions, in particular, are viewed by many as Russian media’s “Fantastic Four.”
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The Thing
First among equals is Vladimir Solovyov, whose “Evening with …” is estimated to capture 60% of the peak time potential audience. His shows are notable for his ever more outlandish diatribes. With, at times, almost religious fervor he makes such statements as: “the special military operation” was necessary because of: “…an eight-year escalation by the Ukrainian Nazi authorities of genocide against the Russian people, against Russian speakers, against people who don’t accept LGBT transgender Nazi values.”
Invisible Girl
Another of Putin’s favorites is Margarita Simonyan, who became the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled media organization “RT” in 2005, at the age of 25. She is a regular guest on Solovyov’s program where she has called for greater censorship as she believes that freedom of speech will lead to “the collapse” of Russia. Perhaps her most notorious comment concerning censorship was: “People say, ‘What do you mean, do you want to be like China?’ Yes! I very much want us to be like China. I dream of being like China.”
Human Torch
Billed as the rising star in the world of Russian political talk shows is the “Iron Doll,” Olga Skabeyeva, who many see as Solovyov’s heir apparent. As outspoken and often considered even more fanatical than her older colleague, she hosts “60 Minutes,” with her husband Yevgeny Popov. She is renowned for her maniacal outbursts against the West and was one of the first to describe the Ukraine conflict as “World War III against NATO.” She frequently calls for strikes against Western countries in retaliation for their support of Ukraine’s war effort, most famously commenting that Queen Elizabeth’s funeral presented a great opportunity to “nuke London.”
Mister Fantastic
The fourth member of the gang is Andrey Norkin, host of the “Meeting Place” program on the NTV channel. He is often portrayed as the elder statesman of Russian talk shows who, unlike the other three, retains a calm exterior leaving the ranting to his guests and acts reluctant to share his own views on the issues of the day. In a show in November, when the issue of Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson came up, he said: “If I say I back the decision to withdraw, I could go to jail for questioning Russia’s territorial integrity, but if I oppose it, I’ll go to jail for discrediting the armed forces. So, I’ll leave it to our experts to comment.”
Needless to say, all four are now the subject of sanctions from the US, EU, UK and others.
Even Russian media takes notice of ratings
In the early days of the war, audiences for the main talk shows on Channel-1, Rossiya-1 and NT TV soared; everyone wanted news on what was expected to be Russia’s speedy and overwhelming victory. As the war dragged on people became disenchanted. A survey by the Rosmir polling center, in August 2023, showed that the audience for Russian state-run TV stations had fallen from 86%, at the start of the war, to less than 60% at the time of the survey.
This was unacceptable to the Kremlin, which maintains control over Russia’s television channels by way of regular meetings with editors to issue directions on how events and policy should be covered. In response to the drop in ratings, which some put down to the public’s losing confidence that they were being told was the truth, the Kremlin began to allow the talk shows to start admitting military failures, while ensuring the full scale wasn’t admitted and responsibility was aimed at incompetent military commanders, not the President’s office.
At the same time the talk shows became even more aggressive and outlandish in their presentation. While still peddling the Kremlin’s key ideology, grabbing the audience became the watchword and the key to that was to increase the volume of the on-screen dialog – what some academics call “agitainment.” Heated arguments and the occasional exchange of blows are all grist to the ratings mill.
The appearance of apparently dissenting voices, interpreted by some western commentators, as a growing disenchantment with the war seems more likely to be an attempt to create an artificial illusion of open political debate.
Insiders say that the views of “liberal” guests were vetted in advance to make sure that their “arguments” would be turned over by their “opponents,” thus ensuring that the Kremlin’s line won the day. Just to be sure other guests were selected for their ability to “shout” so that, if all else failed, they could browbeat and drown out anyone who held “heretical” views.
Maxim Alyukov, a postdoctoral fellow at King’s Russia Institute, London believes Russian political talk shows are solely aimed at its domestic audience as propaganda pieces that serve to entertain, generate ratings and to shape public opinion.
He further argues that the increased international attention given to them, since the war began, as a means of predicting Putin’s next move is counter-productive and actually exaggerates their wider significance.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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