Brics: Spotlight on the role of media

Against a background of decades marked by the American and British media as the arbiters of what is important and relevant for the world, Russia Today (RT) has called for a media landscape in the new world order, which it says “has to be truly multipolar”.

Addressing the two-day Brics media forum in Johannesburg, RT first deputy editor-in-chief for news, Elizaveta Brodskaya, said the international news market was monopolised by the US and the UK, with CNN and BBC being the dominant players.

‘Africa defined according to Western media’

She said in 2003, CNN and BBC painted “the picture they (Western countries) wanted about the Iraq invasion”.

“Colin Powell was sitting in the UN Security Council, waiving a vile of fake evidence supposed to prove non-existent possession of weapons of mass destruction by Saddam Hussein – lying, but there being nobody to call him a liar,” said Brodskaya.

Reflecting on the new world order championed by Brics, Brodskaya said some sections of the international community – “even those not from the West”, had “a particular image of the world, in part created by the Western media”.

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Said Brodskaya: “Let us take Africa, where there are two topics that dominate the coverage on the continent by the mainstream media, like CNN and BBC.

“It is either a piece on something horrible – war, hunger, disease and corruption – or a package on African fauna.

“These range from lions and Kalashnikovs – defining Africa according to Western media – something until very recently, a narrative parroted by the rest of the world.

‘Countries set own agenda’

RT believes that the local population of each country should set the agenda of what is covered, Brodskaya said.

“Our local correspondents tell us what is important to them, not the other way around.” 

Brodskaya said the “monopoly on narrative” took place on a global scale.

“It is a simple and straightforward formula – something becomes an important cultural issue in the United States, and then very quickly this issue is extrapolated around the world.

“Take the topic of transgender rights. Ten years ago, this was not an issue of conversation. Now we have local media around the world writing stories and filming movies on the topic.

“From Nigeria to India, everyone must be concerned about whether the government should or should not provide its citizens with the right to change their gender.

“I am not saying that this is not a real issue – what I am saying is that this issue had been artificially inserted into media coverage around the world,” maintained the RT editor.

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‘Independent platforms’

On what it would take to have “a truly independent media in the new world order”, she said: “We need a platform independent of foreign government control.

“We have made some progress on this in Russia, with China and India having their own platforms. This process is just starting on a global level and we have a long way to go.” 

On the dawn of the multipolar world, she said: “The Western media dominance is not only a question of what topics to cover – but an idea that the values that western liberalism propagates being made relevant and beneficial for a global society.

“Anything that does not fit this moral code, is considered at best ignorant – at worst barbaric.

“As I look around in this room, I see people from around the world.

“Your personal experience, education and values, are often based on the knowledge and wisdom formed by centuries of cultural development.

“It is absurd that anyone from the Western media would feel comfortable to judge your countries’ morality as if they are talking to a baby.”

The Brics media forum – expected to adopt key resolutions on Sunday – serves as a platform to highlight new developments within Brics countries (fastest-growing emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). 

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