Propaganda

Exclusive: Two ‘intimate conversations’ held with writers, directors and producers, with a third due in JuneNato is holding closed-door meetings with film and TV screenwriters, directors and producers across Europe and the US, the Guardian can reveal, prompting accusations the alliance is seeking to use the arts to generate “propaganda” for the bloc.The alliance has held three meetings with film and TV professionals in Los Angeles, Brussels and Paris and is due to continue its “series of intimate conservations” next month in London, meeting with screenwriter members of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), which represents professional writers in the UK. Continue reading...

Fiona Hill tells MPs UK is ‘vulnerable’ because it does not educate people on how to deal with information warfareBritain is becoming a soft target for Russian and other state propaganda because the UK is not prepared to educate people on how to deal with information warfare, according to a former White House adviser and security expert.Fiona Hill told a parliamentary committee that she feared the UK had become “extraordinarily vulnerable” to online manipulation feeding into the electoral system because there was a lack of discussion about civil defence. Continue reading...

Péter Magyar compares media coverage to Nazi-era Germany and aims to ‘restore its public service character’Hungary’s prime minister-elect has vowed to suspend state media news coverage, describing it as a “propaganda machine,” when his government takes office around mid-May.Péter Magyar, whose landslide election victory on Sunday brought an end to leader Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power, detailed his plans for the suspension as he gave two tense interviews to public radio and television on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Donald Trump will claim rescue as a triumph but 48-hour drama should be a caution against launching ground operationMiddle East crisis – live updatesDonald Trump will inevitably claim the rescue of the second crew member of the downed F-15 fighter as a propaganda triumph, though the 48-hour drama is a reminder that an undefeated Iran is able to fight back and inflict costs on the US.It also ought to be a caution for a White House still contemplating a ground operation in Iran whether to seize an island in the Persian Gulf – particularly if there a serious ambition to extract Iran’s highly enriched uranium from deep underground. Continue reading...