METHODS OF POST-TRUTH IN THE "TELEGRAM" MESSENGER'S COVERAGE OF PMC WAGNER CASUALTIES IN 2018
The fatal casualties among CMP Wagner fighters in Syria in February 2018 entailed an informational hysteria in the mass media and means of mass communication. In that way, the battle near Deir ez-Zor continued in the RuNet and on the pages of authoritative world on-line publications. Media opponents accused each other of circulating unreliable information, hushing up the facts, and falsifications. Various techniques were used to suppress the truth, not to let it out, so that the readers retained the truth of both sides in their memories. One of the coverage platforms for these events was the Telegram messenger. This platform is often used in information wars. The factors favouring such use are: firstly, the anonymity of many channels; secondly, the lack of the authors' legal status; thirdly, the fact that, in the author's view, it is the fastest existing information distributor; fourthly, in February 2018, the owners of the resource did not pass on the coding keys to the FSB, so the Telegram messenger was considered to be outside the limits of state control and had a reputation of an independent media. All the abovementioned characteristics provide opportunities for directing information flows in certain required directions. The study looks at some definitions of information war developed by Russian authors and draws attention to these authors' classifications of methods and techniques of waging information wars with the help of mass media and modern means of mass communication. Special attention is given to the characteristic features of post-truth, the notion that has been actively in use by journalists since the mid-2000s. A conclusion is made that post-truth, as the fake virtual world in which objective facts influence the formation of public opinion less than appealing to individuals' emotions and personal opinions, has become an important information war tool seeking to influence the opponent's systems of knowledge and ideas. The author analyzes the Telegram's posts related to reports on the deaths of PMC Wagner fighters in Syria in February 2018 and uncovers the use of post-truth methods and techniques by the popular messenger. The findings support the thesis regarding the unfolding crisis of distrust and the future collapse of traditional journalism.