Jelisic tells N1: Media manipulations are attempting to justify the aggression

NEWS 21.03.202220:35 0 komentara
Dr. sc. Jasna Jelisić iz EU gošća emisije Izvan okvira

The guest of the N1 BiH show Beyond the Frame was Dr. Sci. Jasna Jelisic, an international expert on public diplomacy and communications, who is the Head of the Western Balkans Task Force in the Strategic Communications Division of the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels.

In the show, Jelisic focused on the information challenge that the world is facing following the media that report on the Russian aggression against Ukraine. According to her, the war in Ukraine is, above all, a great human tragedy, but also a serious informational problem.

“One of the leading nuclear powers attacked an independent neighbouring country, carrying out aggression against it. Apart from human tragedy and the violation of international law, what is happening is also a communication challenge. In this globally organized disinformation action, one actor tries to justify something that cannot be justified. These disinformation narratives create a serious problem in understanding what is actually happening”, said Dr. Jelisic, stating that the manipulative narratives promoted by the official Kremlin are not new. They have been noticed for a long time and the European Union has been dealing with them in an organized manner since 2015.

She believes that creating narratives that do not correspond to the facts is a current attempt to justify an unjust war, which is also not a new phenomenon because “the truth is usually the first victim of any war”.

“In the 21st century, we are talking about several different concepts through which we understand manipulation in public space. Although I personally don't like propaganda, it doesn't have to be destructive, “black” as it is qualified in theory. For example, advertising is a form of propaganda, but it’s not necessarily malicious. Propaganda can be carried out for commercial or political purposes. What we discuss here is the growing problem with disinformation and information manipulation.

“These are more sophisticated forms of manipulation in public space in which manipulators of public opinion, to put it simply, add ninety percent of inaccurate, manipulative information to ten percent of truth or to something that the object of manipulation believes in. That is how a disinformation narrative that can stick is created”, said Jelisic adding that information manipulation can have an economic or political goal. They are made with the intention of influencing our choices the way the manipulator wants”, Jelisić explained.

Publishing information that is not in public interest is not journalism

The N1 BiH also asked about manipulative practices during the election process, which were discussed in the context of elections in several developed democracies in which the Russian Federation sought to influence the election results. Answering this question, Jelisic said that it is important for democratic societies to spot external influences and attempts at manipulation, to know how to recognize and prevent them in order to preserve the integrity of elections because elections lose their basic purpose if voters are manipulated.

Citizens’ media literacy also plays an important role in democratic societies, she said. “Media literacy, which is exceptionally important in the 21st century, is based on the necessity to ask a simple question: How do I know what I know? What’s the origin of my knowledge? Who told me, who wrote this? Where did I read it? Our capacity for critical thinking and a critical attitude towards any content is crucial. We simply need to know how to distinguish “content” from a real journalistic article. Journalism is a difficult, important and responsible job, a craft. In journalism, information is collected in an ethical manner and is distributed in the public interest. When you distribute information in particular interest and not in the general interest, for example in the interest of a company, political party or state apparatus, you leave the journalism zone and enter some other professions. They can be called public relations, marketing, lobbying … But that is no longer journalism”, said Jasna Jelisic, who believes that journalism is a public good and a serious profession based on ethics and a large amount of knowledge.

Dr. sc. Jasna Jelisic holds a PhD in International Relations. She specialised in Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs and International Relations at the prestigious Oxford University as well as at the City University of New York. For many years, she has taught public diplomacy at a number of European universities, including at the International Relations and Diplomacy Program of the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. Before her career in diplomacy, she was an award-winning journalist and International Correspondent based in New York.

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