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Western media singles out stories to paint Russia in negative light, says diplomat

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman pointed out that unlike Western audiences, people in Russia have access to all kind of news about developments in the United Kingdom, the United States, France and other countries
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova  Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. The Western press employs numerous tools to handpick stories about Russia, said Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday, addressing a conference on access to information amid the current global political struggle.

"It is hard to say how many filters stories have to go through in the Western media before they are able to become breaking news. I think, more than one," the diplomat emphasized. "This could be called editorial policies or, like they say — fact checking — but actually, they are nothing but filters. As far as the coverage of events taking place in our country is concerned, there are numerous filters. I can say it with authority," Zakharova assured.

According to her, the Western media is aggressively promoting a negative image of Russia. "They seek to neutralize news stories in order to choke off Moscow’s impartial and positive image from gaining the upper hand in the media landscape," the Russian diplomat explained.

In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman pointed out that unlike Western audiences, people in Russia have access to all kind of news about developments in the United Kingdom, the United States, France and other countries. "No one tries to create an artificial balance. Our public is aware of what is going on in these countries," Zakharova noted. "For instance, we learn about cultural life in New York and Paris from the Kultura (or Culture) TV channel, which is state-owned," she added.