Owen Matthews: “Through the Looking Glass”

OWEN MATTHEWS “THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS – INSIDE THE KREMLIN’S PROPAGANDA MACHINE”

A talk about the speaker’s experiences over the last year as a regular guest on Russian State TV – appearing live nightly, on Rossiya 1’s 60 Minute, Russia’s top rated slick political talk show and seeking to rebut the tide of propaganda, obfuscation and lies that he alleges the Kremlin feeds to its viewers. The vector of the propaganda is predictable – that the world led by the US. is ganging up against Russia because the West supposedly fears Russia’s new might. That the West fomented a revolution in Ukraine and are aggressively surrounding Russia not only territorially but through such supposed conspiracies as the Olympic doping scandal. Russia is surrounded by enemies and fascists, while Putin bravely stands with those who resist Washington’s global hegemony. Yet Russia’s elite also believes the propaganda that is served to the masses. Which is in many ways the most unnerving part of the whole show.

Owen Matthews (born 1971) is a British writer, historian and journalist. Educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford (MA in History).. His first book Stalin’s Children was shortlisted for the Orwell prize for political writing, and for other prizes. From 2006-2012 he was Newsweek’s Moscow Bureau Chief. Has worked as a foreign correspondent in Budapest, Sarajevo and Belgrade. Covered the second Chechen War. Has reported from Turkey, the Caucasus, Syria and Iran, also covering the invasions of Afghanistan and then Iraq. Has lectured on Russian history and politics at Columbia University’s Harriman Centre, St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and the Journalism Faculty of Moscow State University.