In the Now another new Russia-funded TV channel

There is a new offshoot of the popular Russia-funded RT news channel called In The Now. It claims that it wants to attract social media users who want their news "served with a side of smile".

 

Naturally given the funding there is also a propaganda element along with entertainment, Internet goings on and some serious news. In The Now has its own Facebook page. The top banner image is filled with a collage of world leaders, two cute foxes and celebrities. In an article on In The Now, BuzzFeed News notes that it is not immediately made clear that In The Now is a venture of RT, the Russian funded news channel. In The Now actually used to be a regular show as part of the RT channel offerings. It started as a separate project this spring. The In The Now website is at inthenow.media.. A recent article suggests that the Dalai Lama could be a CIA agent. Many articles express skepticism about Western foreign policy and is supportive of Russian positions.

A recent hit was the appended video titled "Independent Canadian journo totally crushes MSM reporter on what's actually going on in Syria". Indeed, Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett does make some significant points, but she also makes some claims that are quite questionable. She uses the Syrian elections as evidence that Assad has the support of Syrians; but the voting took place only in areas controlled by Assad. If they had been held throughout Syria the result would have been quite different. She also makes claims about some reports using the same child several times. This claim is criticized in some detail in an article by BBC Channel 4.

However, other sources have also been critical of news reporting from the Aleppo offensive as for example Patrick Cockburn writing in The Independent. In my opinion actions on both sides have probably been war crimes; but most western mainstream media descriptions and accompanying images have been chosen so as to demonize Assad while only criticizing rebel actions to a much less degree.

A second hit for In The Now claims that a series of "farewell" videos that were posted by civilians in the besieged portion of Aleppo "looks like a coordinated PR campaign". RT picked up on the video, noting in an article that, "In The Now found there's little to indicate that the people appearing in the mobile videos were actual civilians experiencing the hyped "Russian and Syrian shelling". BuzzFeed points out that the Russian embassy in Canada then tweeted the RT story. Does BuzzFeed think that U.S. and Canadian diplomats do not often tweet material that supports their points of view? There is a constant propaganda warfare going on that has heated up considerably over the last while.

BuzzFeed News asked RT some questions about the relationship of RT to In The Now. An RT spokesperson said that In The Now was originally part of RT but was spun off when its creator Anissa Naouai wanted to "explore a less formal, digital format".

The press conference shown in the video took place on Dec. 9 at the UN building in New York. Krostoffer Ronneberg the U.S. correspondent for the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten was the journalist who asked the questions. Ronneberg said that he had gone to the conference only to hear what Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar Jaafari would say about the situation. However, Jafaari did not show up but instead four activists appeared whom he claimed gave a message that you would expect to hear from the Syria or Russian government. Ronneberg said that the exchange was being used as part of an information campaign in a military conflict. Wouldn't the ambassador have engaged in a similar campaign?

Bartlett explained to BuzzFeed that Jafaari was supposed to introduce here but that he had another meeting and could not be present. She said the press conference was organized at her request and with the help of the U.S. Hands Off Syria coalition.

Patrick Cockburn: Syria in 1st stage of sectarian civil war

   In an article in the Independent Cockburn argues that Syria has already descended into the first stage of a sectarian civil war. Much of the opposition after being bombarded for demonstrating has opted for arming their supporters to fight back. Added to this one has members of the Syrian armed forces who have deserted are also fighting back. This is all happy times for Al Qaeda linked groups who side with the Sunni opposition and add terrorist acts to the mix of violence.
     The Alawi the Shia sect of which Assad and much of the government are members are trying in vain to simply put down the majority Sunni opposition by force. The reaction of the opposition is to militarize the conflict which in Cockburn's eyes has the effect of increasing the bloodshed without defeating Assad. Cockburn points out that the rag tag group of militias and deserters is not up to stopping armored columns of the Syrian armed forces.
     The tactic of the opposition seems to be to promote international intervention on their side as happened in Libya. This Cockburn says could take the form of a safe haven protected by NATO in north west Syria.
    However, this time around Russia and China are not likely to give a pass to a UN resolution. Both countries feel that the no-fly resolution in Libya was used in a manner that went much beyond the UN mandate in Libya.
    Cockburn thinks that much of the international community had an entirely wrong idea about the ability of Assad to stay in power. Last December the U.S. State Dept. claimed that Assad was a dead man walking. As with Libya solving the conflict has become secondary to regime change. Given this international support there is no strong motive for the opposition to seek a compromise with Assad. To be fair Assad has so far never kept any agreements in any event. However, he may be at the stage where the pressure is great enough that he would keep agreements at least in part.
  Cockburn aptly describes the situation as having several aspects. At one level it is an uprising against Assad's corrupt, brutal police state with wide popular support. The brutality with which protests were met simply increased the level of protests.
  The second level of the struggle is between Sunni and Shia within Syria and this in turn links to a battle between Shia Iran and its enemies. Cockburn notes that the sectarian aspect of the conflict is mostly ignored in the media and emphasis is upon the first aspect of the struggle. Power in Syria is distributed around sectarian lines as it was in Iraq under Hussein with the minority Sunni being in power. In Syria the situation is reversed with the Shia being in power and the Sunni the majority. In Bahrain the Sunni rule too as a minority over a majority Shia population but there the Sunnis are the good guys in Western eyes.
   Cockburn notes that television reporting is very much skewed towards painting Assad as a government of almost pure evil fighting a heroic people. Assad is certainly brutal and criminally repressing his own people but as Cockburn notes this does not mean that one should ignore other forces at work. As Cockburn points out there have been brutal terrorist attacks by groups allied with the Sunni opposition that killed many innocent people. Some opposition spokespeople suggest that this is just part of the government operations to discredit the opposition. This strikes me as nonsense. Cockburn concludes that Syria is headed into a conflict that can only divide Sunni and Shia communities even further with little sign of any way of halting this slide into more conflict and bloodshed. For more see this article.
 

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