© AFP / Christof Stache
A series of leaks have revealed that Scotland-based Integrity Initiative, which bills itself as a non-partisan warrior against disinformation and propaganda, received £2.5 million from the UK government to manufacture a seemingly organic anti-Russia consensus across the Western world.
To accomplish this task, the organization enlisted "clusters" of individuals working in entertainment, politics, media, and academics to help push the desired narrative.
Unfortunately, this simple but elegant strategy has faced unforeseen obstacles. According to a leaked internal report detailing the organization's activities in Norway, the Norwegian public are too "soft" on Russia - which is obviously unacceptable.
Outlining an August 2016 conference organized by the group in Oslo, the report that was listed along the fourth wave of leaks from Integrity Initiative laments that Norwegians are "generally inclined to be soft on Russia as a near neighbor in the North (where there is a tradition of friendship and a good working relationship)."
To make matters worse, some Norwegians don't blindly trust the United States: "Although the public can be hard-nosed about Putin and Moscow's policies, their skepticism of US/Western politics can lead to their being less critical of Russia's position at times," the report states. For Integrity Initiative, this problem is further exacerbated by the fact that "Norwegian journalists tend to give Russian information the same weight as Western information, not testing its veracity."
Comment: Is there a point where cognitive bias becomes mental illness? So, Norwegians are skeptical of BOTH American and Russian policies, but more skeptical of the U.S. Sounds like they've got their heads on their shoulders to us. And how dare Norwegian journalists give equal weight to information from both sides! That's not what journalists are supposed to do. And certainly, only Russian information should be 'tested for veracity'. No need to question U.S. propaganda...
Luckily the organization laid out "next steps" that should be taken to cure Norwegians of their dangerous level-headedness.
Integrity Initiative should "approach influential journalists to pick up this story and educate the public," the report recommends. The report also calls on Integrity Initiative to "stimulate a series of papers" that align with their anti-Russia agenda.
The organization's questionable tactics have raised questions about its true aims.
"They're actually performing the very definition of propaganda," investigative journalist Ben Swann told RT's Watching the Hawks. The shady "networks of networks" is harming the pursuit of truth, he added. Swann characterized Integrity Initiative's tactics - both in the US and Europe - as: "We're going to create a narrative, we're going to force it down your throat, and you're going to accept this as truth."
Maybe its all structured so we always only see the isolated tip of a iceberg .. one head of the hydra if you like