Anatomy of a Discreditation Process

Abstract

The ban on the human rights organization Memorial was prepared in Russia’s statefriendly media well in advance. The television stations NTV and Rossiia attacked Memorial’s projects and advocates by way of propagandistic contributions. They used diverse artifices of political PR. The implements come from a universal tool kit employed in many states around the world - be they democratic or autocratic. However, they conveyed content specific to Russian history policy: what’s at stake is interpretive sovereignty over a heroic historical image, which is to be achieved by all manner of the propagandistic arts.