Russiagate Revisited by Boyd-Barrett, Oliver; Marmura, Stephen;

This volume provides a comprehensive, scholarly re-examination of the events and developments collectively referred to as Russiagate. In 2016 a consensus emerged within American and British intelligence, political, and news media establishments that Russia was interfering in the United States federal election vis-à-vis an “influence campaign,” in support of the candidacy of Donald Trump. This narrative monopolized western media attention for over five years but has proven poorly founded in fact.

Russiagate Revisited examines the authenticity of official Russiagate claims, the role of mainstream and alternative media as both observers of and participants in the drama, what Russiagate reveals about the state of mainstream journalism, the gambits of professional propagandists within a long-established campaign of demonization of Russia, how Russiagate narratives were perceived in Russia, and the grave implications - of both Russiagate and the decline of trust in public information - for sustainable western democracy.

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part I Putting It in Context.- Chapter 2. Cross-Contamination of Aligned Elite Sources in Russiagate “Big Lie” Construction.- Chapter 3. Digital Media, Propaganda, and Information Wars.- Part II Propaganda and Mainstream Journalism.- Chpater 4. Orange Man Bad: Russiagate, the Rise of Boomer Journalism, Narrative and Pro-Social Lying.- Chapter 5. The Propaganda Simulacrum as a Model of Russiagate Propaganda.- Chapter 6. Propaganda, Political Economy, and Empire: The Russia-Ukraine Conflict.- Part III Demonizing Russia: Red Scares and Beyond.- Chapter 7. Putin’s “Global Hybrid War”: The Anti-Russian Bias of the Atlantic Council.-Chapter 8. ‘Russophobia’ and the New Cold War: The Case of the OPCW-Douma Controversy.- Chapter 9. Irrational Politics: The Domestic Component of Russiagate.- Part IV The View from Russia: Media Frames and Rhetorical Strategies.- Chapter 10. Strategic Narratives of Russiagate on Russian Mainstream and Alternative Television.- Chapter 11. The 2014 Ukraine Coup and the Demonization of Russia.- Part V Dilemmas of Dissent.- Chapter 12. WikiLeaks, Russsiagate, and the Crisis of Democracy.- Chapter 13. Platform Governance and the Hybrid War Industrial Complex.- Chapter 14. Conclusion: What Are the Main Lessons?./