Thomas Kent
For years, Russia’s main tactic to compete with Western news media has been to create alternative outlets, like its television channel RT (previously Russia Today) and the Sputnik multimedia news agency. Now, however, Moscow is stepping up its efforts in two areas where Western media and foundations have long enjoyed an advantage: journalism training and fact-checking.
The new focus is notable. Western organizations have trained thousands of journalists in recent decades, particularly in formerly Soviet states and the countries of the Global South. These reporters have gone on to hold government officials to account and fight for democracy and free speech. Meanwhile, Western donors have backed a sprawling network of fact-checking groups around the world that have helped expose disinformation and explode conspiracy narratives.
Now, Russia—with its eye particularly trained on the Global South—seems intent on advancing its own mirror image of Western journalism training, one in which Russian media practices are portrayed as the gold standard. Simultaneously, Moscow is challenging the world’s largest fact-checking coalitions by creating a new fact-checking network under a similar-sounding name, aiming to unite fact-checkers “who share our views and values.”
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