Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, scholars have taken up increasing interest in media depictions of war.
One example of this has been a project initiated at Tampere University by TaRC members Kaarle Nordenstreng and Svetlana Pasti. Their international project has observed media coverage of the war in nine countries’ flagship TV news bulletins.
The project has already produced two open-access publications: a general comparative report (2023; more on it here) and a journal article in the International Journal of Communication (2023; see more here).
Now, publications continue with Svetlana Pasti’s new article in the International Communication Gazette.
In her open-access article, “Covering the Invasion of Ukraine on Russia’s Evening TV News”, she focuses on how Vremya, the flagship TV news bulletin on Russia’s pro-state Channel One, covered the first seven weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In her study, Dr Pasti conducted a content analysis of the news, measuring the type, frequency and duration of topics, sources and points of view, specific narratives, and tone. The analysis period starts from the first day of the invasion (February 24, 2022) and ends seven weeks later.
The results of the analysis showed that television news was a part of the state’s information policy to clarify the goals and objectives of the invasion and to promote the psychological mobilization of society around the political leadership, in the face of the West’s unconditional support for Ukraine.
If you are interested in the results in more detail, please check out the whole article here.
Everyone at TaRC congratulates Sveta on this timely publication!