Case study 8: Faking a context of authentic video

On March 15, 2014, Russia Today showed a story that Jewish people were escaping Kiev because of anti-Semite politics of the Ukrainian Government.


Journalist also showed the parts of the interview with Misha Kapustin the Rabbi. He says “I don’t want to leave. But I want my children to feel safe, to feel free, and could express their views with no stress. That is why I am leaving”.


In order to evoke strong emotional feelings, the journalist also showed the writing “Death to the Jews” on the door of the Synagogue, where the Rabbi was serving.


Kapustin’s TV comments did not specify the place he was leaving for security reasons.
Verification revealed that Kapustin served in Simferopol, Crimea and he was escaping Simferopol because of the danger posed by Russian annexation of Crimea. He had openly criticized Russian politics many times before.
This story by Russia Today is a good example of context change. We see a real person, real interview, but as a result of selective editing and media manipulation, Russia Today replaced the target of accusation – Russia by Ukraine.