A No Limits Partnership on Propaganda?
Abstract:
The Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China signed a formal agreement to cooperate on the creation and dissemination of a jointly constructed propaganda narrative for a global audience. There is some anecdotal evidence and some very basic research to suggest this cooperation might be happening. However, this study aims to use scientific research methods from the Agenda Setting Theory to prove or disprove this alleged propaganda cooperation. The author assessed a N = 600 sample of articles from English language versions of Russian Sputnik and the Chinese Global Times and People’s Daily. The evidence indicates a low level of propaganda cooperation. Russia and China appear to be pursuing their own strategic goals with propaganda. This finding has important implications for information warriors’ and strategic communication professionals’ task and counterpropaganda.
AUTHORS
Joint Special Operations University
Tampa, Florida, United States
Douglas S. Wilbur Ph.D., (University of Missouri at Columbia) specializes in the role of propaganda and information warfare in violent conflict and war. He is currently a visiting professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In a previous life he was an Information Operations Officer in the U.S. Army with four deployments.
Published In
Journal of Information Warfare
The definitive publication for the best and latest research and analysis on information warfare, information operations, and cyber crime. Available in traditional hard copy or online.
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