American financier Katsenelson: Chances that Ukraine will join the NATO are nil. The West will not risk escalating the conflict with Russia 

The news about an American journalist who decided to do an experiment and watch only Russian TV for a week spread among the Ukrainian mass media. This journalist is an American financial analyst Vitaliy Katsenelson, native of Murmansk who left the USSR in 1991. Vitaliy is living in Denver now. Besides being a financier, he is an author of the book "Active Value Investing", his articles are published in the FinancialTimes, InstitutionalInvestorMagazine, andBusinessInsider.

According to Katsenelson, he performed the experiment in an attempt to understand how the Kremlin propaganda works and why the overwhelming majority of Russians support the policy of the Russian President Vladimir Putin despite the common sense. Katsenelson shared his impressions from watching the Russian TV in his article "Putin’s World".

"I have always considered the Internet an unstoppable democratic force," Katsenelson stated, "that will allow the truth to leak through the cracks of the most powerful propaganda wall.Iwaswrong. After watching Russian television you do not want to read Western sources as you are convinced that they are telling lies. Which is more important, Russian TV is so powerful that you do not even want to watch anything else because you are convinced that you have irrefutable facts."

In an interview to the GORDON edition, Katsenelson described his experiment with Russian TV, explained the reasons for the drop in oil prices and commented on the investment future of Ukraine.

– Vitaliy, I am wondering about the purity of the experiment: did you watch only Russian TV or did you also switch on American channels?

– I read news about the companies I own and about the investment and financial markets, but I only learnt about the world news from the Russian TV.

I wanted to understand how average Russians could allow a conflict with Ukraine. I left the USSR more than 20 years ago and I remember that there were absolutely adequate people there. And suddenly I see such an attitude to Ukraine. I do not agree with the annexation of the Crimea, but I understand why the Russians were in raptures about it. But how did they allow Russian intervention to the east of Ukraine? So I made up my mind: OK, I will watch only Russian TV and will try to understand. I was watching it throughout a week.

– What was your impression?

– It is propaganda of a very high quality. You watch and do not doubt at all that the reports are true. Emotions switch on and the ability to reason switches off completely.

There is a huge world image, but Russian TV takes a magnifying glass and focuses the viewers on one spot. And you automatically start sympathising with pro-Russian fighters killed in Donbass, you immediately start hating the Ukrainian state. I also had these feelings, but I was aware that there is the rest of the image outside the magnifying glass.