President Obama had a poor image among Russians before his visit to Moscow this week. His summit with Russia’s leaders was a chance to change that perception. But it’s not clear he succeeded. Jessica Golloher looks at how Russian TV covered the President’s visit.
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LISA MULLINS: I’m Lisa Mullins, and this is the World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH in Boston. Barack Obama came, and he saw, but it’s not clear he conquered. President Obama had a poor image among Russians before his visit to Moscow earlier this week. His summit with Russia’s leaders was a chance to change that perception, to reset relations. Jessica Golloher reports on how Russian TV covered the Obama visit.
JESSICA GOLLOHER: Over pictures of the two leaders shaking hands, Russian TV said, “Obama brings a big change in foreign policy.” Despite the positive headlines, Mascha Lipman with the Carnegie Center in Moscow is skeptical that Mr. Obama made a strong impression. For instance, neither the first family’s departure from Moscow, nor for that matter, their arrival on Monday, got much coverage on State TV.
MASCHA LIPMAN: If they chose not to show the departure or the arrival. If they chose not to focus on, you know, a wonderful family, totally charismatic figure of Obama himself, his wife, little girls. We didn’t broadcast it so that the Russian public may be charmed by the American President, or would be unduly impressed by him.
JESSICA GOLLOHER: State run Television did not carry the two President’s news conference live, but did show excerpts throughout the day. They also described meetings between the two leaders as positive. Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov boasted that US/Russian relations were on the mend because Mr. Obama needs Russia.
SERGEI LAVROV: His administration wants to reconsider their view of the global situation, and thinks over the threats it needs to react to. And the main threats are terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Obama’s main idea is that the United States will not be able to counter these threats on its own, and Russia is indispensable here.
JESSICA GOLLOHER: Obama’s speech to graduates at the New Economic School was broadcast on a cable channel, but not live or on major networks. During the speech, Mr. Obama was critical of the Kremlin’s increasingly authoritarian politics and aggressive foreign policy. Mascha Lipman of the Carnegie Center says, the kind of TV coverage the summit got shows the Kremlin hasn’t yet made up its mind about the meeting’s success.
MASCHA LIPMAN: We really need to see what issues the coverage will be focused on, and what quotes will be used, and whether the focus will be on the achievements, on what was not achieved, you know, the differences that remain.
JESSICA GOLLOHER: Before Mr. Obama came to Russia, a public opinion poll showed that 75 percent of Russians didn’t have faith that he would do right by Russia. And considering the coverage he received here over the past few days, ordinary people didn’t get much of a chance to change their minds. For The World, I’m Jessica Golloher in Moscow.
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