The analyst was referring to a recent initiative aimed at establishing a new federal agency that will be tasked with countering Russian and Chinese "propaganda."
American media outlets, he added, "pick up like bulletin boards from government agencies very uncritically and just simply put it out there. And no other points of view are really entertained."
The initiative is primarily focused on Europe and its warming relations with Russia, he added. US policymakers are apparently concerned that Europeans are increasingly disappointed in Washington's stance on Russia, with some urging to lift the restrictive measures that were imposed on Moscow following the outbreak of the Ukrainian civil war.
"What I think the fear is, especially if you look at the changing mood in Europe towards, for example, the sanctions on Russia, I think that the people here in Washington feel they are losing that argument," Jatras said.
The US policymakers' logic, according to the analyst, is the following:
"Rather than reexamine their policy and think: 'Well, maybe there is something wrong here, maybe we should change our course,' they are saying: 'They just don't understand us well enough. We just have to make our propaganda better than it has been.'"
The bill, introduced by Senator Rob Portman, has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. If passed, it would create the Center for Information Analysis and Response, armed with a $20-million budget for 2017 and 2018.
"This is especially, it seems, targeted toward Europe where there will be a $20 million over the next two fiscal years made available in the form of grants to unspecified people in Europe that one assumes in the European media to carry a story that is more in line with US policy," Jatras explained.
