Media watchdog launches Russian-language satellite news channels
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Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced Tuesday the launch of a package of satellite news channels catering to Russia, much of it produced by Russian journalists forced to leave the country after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The Svoboda Satellite project -- named after the Russian word for freedom -- "is clearly not propaganda against propaganda", RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire said at a Brussels event in the European Parliament inaugurating the launch.
"This is independent journalism -- exported from democracies, by mostly media in exile -- towards people living in countries with a despotic regime," he said.
Deloire said the satellite package had the potential to reach 4.5 million households in Russia fitted with satellite dishes. He said broadcasts would be "secure and reliable".
European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova welcomed the initiative as a challenge to disinformation campaigns both inside and outside Russia.
"We've been failing in this information war. I'm not happy to say it," she said, pointing to "aggressive communication" strategies by Moscow that tailor disinformation to each country targeted.
"Some are common, but many different narratives are just abusing the vulnerabilities of the society and historical tendencies and language proximity," she said.
Promotors of the Svoboda Satellite project said it will give a Russian-speaking audience, in Russia and in neighbouring countries, access to journalism "able to speak about war crimes" Russia is committing in Ukraine.
Notably, and unlike media in Russia, they will be free of Russian domestic laws that require the war in Ukraine to be termed only a "special military operation" under threat of criminal punishment.
The nine channels, among them ones produced by Radio Sakharov and Novaya Gazeta Europe, are to be hosted on the French-based Eutelsat network of Hotbird satellites.
There are plans to later expand the offering to 25 channels, said RSF, which is financing the endeavour.