Abstract
Under Putin's regime television managers in Russia face the problem of balancing between the necessity of being competitive and being able to perform tasks given by the state power. This authoritarian-commercialized model of television propaganda demonstrates the following key characteristics: - Attractiveness.
It uses modern achievements of the television industry - technical (3D-animation, virtual reality) and creative (infotainment). Combined with different communicative strategies it leads to a variety illusion offering different types of propaganda (soft, ironic, hard, unsettling, belligerent). - Adaptability.
It can use entertainment formats, which normally don't discuss politics, for propaganda purposes at certain moments (e.g., the scandalous shows 'Let them talk' or 'Malakhov' were used to discredit opposition or give an idea of the inevitable victory in the war against Ukraine). - Flexibility, i.e. ability to change fast. For instance, after the annexation of Crimea political talk shows turned into real propaganda spectacles. - Relatively self-regulating.
Propaganda discourse has transformed into the universal pattern, which has long been understood by propagandists and doesn't require additional comments on the Kremlin's side. The proof is the so-called 'metodichki' (guidelines).
By 2021, the comments in them were all about short 'notes on the margin'. More explicit special 'metodichki' emerge only if really important events take place. - Seeking credibility.
Technically, it doesn't bring outright false information. Its strategy is directed towards interpretation of actual events in the light favorable for the authorities.
The main distortion technique is a selection of facts. - Tool of the covert struggle. It's not always explicit but 'exchange of signals' between oligarch's clans still goes through media. (e.g., REN TV and Channel 5 NEVER showed Dmitry Medvedev on air when he was a Prime Minister).
All these specific features were formed before the war and still keep their importance although they have undergone several specific transformations.