Russia Media Watch analyzes key western publications and TV programs for honest reporting of events related to Russia and the U.S.-Russia relationship. Unfortunately, the state of current media is such that it is impossible for an average American to understand what is actually happening in Russia or within the U.S.-Russia relations.
We will analyze news outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and the Financial Times' articles, which determine "the Russia story" in the U.S. and evaluate by the following objective criteria:
- Opinion Presented as News
- Omission of key facts
- Inaccurate statements/data
- Claims unsupported by Data/Facts
- Sensational context
- Slanted terminology
- One-sided perspective
- Lack of comparative context
- Overuse of same Russian source
- Overuse of same Western source
- Unidentified sources
- Lack of historical context
- Lack of cultural context
- Obsolete information
- Repetitious clichés/ words
- Inflammatory headline
- Cold War rhetoric
The finished product will be sent to the journalists, their editors, and then to some 1,000 Americans across the US for their input. They will write the editors as well should they wish to do so. Media Watch INDEX will keep tabs on specific journalists and give them a rating to determine how accurate or inaccurate their articles have been over a period of time. This will be published twice a year in the same manner of the Transparency International indices. American citizens deserve better print media on Russia (and other countries) than they are now getting.
