Julia Davis (born

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, 16 May 1974) is a Ukrainian-born American journalist, columnist and media analyst who worked in federal law enforcement in a supervisory capacity and had a career in

filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. She is best known for founding ''Russian Media Monitor'', a project monitoring Russian state television, including its international outlets such as RT (formerly Russia Today). Davis is a columnist for ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' and ''

Center for European Policy Analysis Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

''. She has been described as the "foremost U.S. expert on Russian government-controlled television and propaganda" and a "Russian TV whisperer for American ears". Davis is a native speaker of Ukrainian and Russian, fluent in English, Spanish and studied basic

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

prior to her federal service.

Education

Davis earned a

Master’s Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practi ...

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

and Spacecraft Engineering in the

Kyiv Polytechnic Institute The Kyiv Polytechnic Institute ( KPI, ; official full title National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute") is a national public technological university in Kyiv, Ukraine. Name In the long period of existenc ...

in Ukraine. Later she graduated with honors from the

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC; pronounced ) is a law enforcement training school under the United States Department of Homeland Security, serving 105 federal law enforcement agencies within the United States federal governm ...

and received a certificate of outstanding achievement upon graduation.

Career

Film industry

Davis began her career in the field of filming and production in 1995, working in film and television production as a director and writer. She is a member of many professional organisations, including the

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

Women In Film Women are involved in the film industry in all roles, including as film directors, actor, actresses, cinematographers, film producers, film criticism, film critics, and other film industry professions, though women have been underrepresented in ...

, and was a member of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

. Davis was the first to produce the musical score featuring the National Ukrainian Orchestra for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

Disinformation analysis

Until 2014 Davis was primarily focusing on filmmaking and investigative reporting. However, after Russia invaded Crimea, Davis was "dismayed to discover" the lack of reporting on that topic in the US, which led her to believe that the reason for that was the influence of English-speaking RT channel. RT claimed to be an

alternative media Alternative media are media sources that differ from established forms of media, such as mainstream media or mass media, in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publica ...

outlet at the time, but it quickly turned to spread

Russian disinformation Russian disinformation campaigns have occurred in many countries. For example, disinformation campaigns led by Yevgeny Prigozhin have been reported in several African countries. Russia, however, denies that it uses disinformation to influence pub ...

regarding the

Russo-Ukrainian war The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. In short, "the Kremlin's bullhorn was weaponized, spewing out blatant propaganda and outright fakes", Davis stated. Her coverage of Russian propaganda has exposed the Kremlin's cyber-warfare, fake news and disinformation efforts against the United States and other countries. Davis served as a featured Russian expert with the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

's disinformation portal. On 21 May 2022 Davis was officially sanctioned by the Russian government. She expressed it as she's “in great company and honored to have been included.” In 2024 Davis released her own book, titled ''In Their Own Words: How Russian Propagandists Reveal Putin’s Intentions,'' published by the

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

, with a foreword by historian

Timothy Snyder Timothy David Snyder (born August 18, 1969) is an American historian specializing in the history of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. He is on leave from his position as the Richard C. Levin, Richar ...

Russian Media Monitor

Regarding Davis's founding of the Russian Media Monitor, she has stated that "it felt like a very natural thing that, when the U.S. is under such an attack from that part of the world, that with the unique experiences and skills I have, and the language, that I jump in and try to do something about it." During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Russian Media Monitor has received attention for exposing some aggressive rhetoric on Russian television to international audiences, such as nuclear threats, as well as showing Russian media's prominent embrace of certain American personalities like

Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American conservative political commentator who hosted the nightly political talk show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was term ...

and

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and military officer serving as the director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence (DNI) since 2025. She has held the rank of Lieutenant colonel (United Stat ...

Works

* ''"In Their Own Words: How Russian Propagandists Reveal Putin’s Intentions"'', Columbia University Press 2024 ISBN 978-3838219097

Notes

References

External links

Julia Davis on linkedin
*
Russian Media Monitor (site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Julia 1974 births Living people American journalists Media analysis organizations and websites Ukrainian emigrants to the United States