China and Russia are deploying powerful new weapons: ideas
The West is retreating from the battle of the narrative
SIXTY LUCKY students got the chance to train as journalists last year at African Initiative, a new press agency in Bamako, Mali’s capital. Trainees were given online and in-person lessons in reporting, with the promise that three of them would eventually be hired as full-time staff at the agency. The catch, as reported by Forbidden Stories, a network of investigative journalists, was that African Initiative is run by Russian intelligence.
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This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The growing battle over the narrative”
From the May 17th 2025 edition
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