Who will be the three trainee journalists selected by Moscow to become correspondents for the African Initiative of the Russian “press agency”? In Bamako, the 60 Malian students of the journalism school created at the end of July by this structure controlled by the Russian intelligence services are impatiently awaiting the results of the contest. For a month in August, everyone followed free courses, through online video modules or in person in Bamako, taught by one Mikhail Pozdniakov, director of the French “publishing house” of the African Initiative.
the world and nine international media outlets, coordinated by the organization Forbidden Stories, a network of investigative journalists created in 2017 to continue the work of silenced reporters, had access to the content of this training within the framework of an eight-month investigation into the operation of the Russian press. disinformation in Africa.
In refined French, Mikhail Pozdniakov explains in eight videos the basics of journalism, from filming videos to data collection and fact-checking. With, in the background, a geostrategic dimension centered on Mali, governed since 2020 by a junta supported by Moscow and the Russian security group Wagner.
“The Internet space has been transformed into an alternative battlefield where the war is not fought by regular armies, but by journalists, specialists in information campaigns, political technologists and opinion leaders,” says Pozdniakov in one of these videos. In another, the Russian advises his students to fill their articles with titles and quotes. “striking and provocative », using them as an example “Macron clarifies: the results of Lavrov’s visits [Sergueï, ministre russe des affaires étrangères] and Evkurov [Iounous-Bek, vice-ministre russe de la défense] in Françafrique.
Retake the propaganda network built by Wagner
All of these video modules bear the African Initiative seal. Following the disappearance of Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in the crash of his plane in August 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense commissioned this agency to take charge and develop the propaganda network built by Wagner on the African continent. Since then, he has published articles online promoting Russian interests in Africa.
While the African Initiative already has offices in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – three countries governed by pro-Russian junta – it is now actively seeking local correspondents in other African countries. “There are very few representatives, among the Russian media, who constitute and cover the information agenda on the continent. The main problem is the lack of primary sources. “Our journalism school is designed to address this situation,” African Initiative highlights in an article published on July 31 on its site to mark the launch of the program.
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