It's Just Another Front in the New Cold War

Let the war begin, the propaganda war.

One of the great battlefields of Cold War is the war of propaganda.  We've been waging a propaganda war against Russia for some time.  That's not to say that Russia hasn't generously supplied us with plenty of ammunition for us to spin and circulate and fire back.

Now Russia is going to lock horns with the West on this front as in others.

Russia on Monday launched a state-of-the-art media organisation with hundreds of journalists abroad intended to wean the world off what it called aggressive Western propaganda - dubbing it, with echoes of the Cold War, Sputnik.

In a hi-tech presentation in a media centre once used to host Cold War-era press conferences, one of President Vladimir Putin's favourite journalists outlined plans meant to repair the damage done to Russia's image during the crisis in Ukraine.

Although Moscow denies reverting to Soviet-style techniques, Russian media executives acknowledge privately they are waging a propaganda war with echoes of the Cold War.

"We are against the aggressive propaganda that is feeding the world," said Dmitry Kiselyov, a conservative television anchor who heads the Rossiya Segodnya media outlet created by Mr Putin last year to promote Russia's image abroad.

"We will provide an alternative interpretation of the world, of course. There is demand for this."

...Standing on a stage in front of a huge screen showing a starry sky, which gave way to television footage from around the world, Mr Kiselyov said Sputnik would have "news hubs" in 30 cities, including Washington, London, Berlin, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and the capitals of a host of former Soviet republics.

Its operations will include news wires, a radio station, an Internet site, applications for mobile phones and social media, as well as press centres in some countries. Some of the hubs could have up to 100 staff, Mr Kiselyov said.