February’s edition of Online Talks on Russian Media, the collaborative initiative between Tampere Research Center for Russian and Chinese Media and the Russian Media Lab Network, features Ilkhom Khalimzoda from the University of Jyväskylä.
On Tuesday, February 9, 12:00 – 13:30 (GMT+2), he will present his research “Does diasporic media serve the democratic society or strengthen the division? A comparative analysis of the Russian-language media in Latvia and Finland”.
Khalimzoda’s presentation sets out from the premise that tensions in media landscapes are commonplace, especially in bordering countries that historically experience strained relations or simply favour different positions in international politics (Marcus, 2018).
His paper focuses on two such cases, Latvia and Finland, both of which share a border with Russia and hold a different worldview than Russia does. The study sets three sub-goals to explore:
(1) to analyse the historical formation and development of Russian-language media in Latvia and Finland,
(2) to map out currently available Russian-language media and
(3) to evaluate whether diasporic media serve the development of a diverse democratic society or they are used in strengthening divisions within these societies.
His study suggests that on one hand, diasporic media serve the needs of the Russian minority and at times play an important normative function in a democratic society, and on another hand, the mediatized conflict between Russia and the West often may serve as a dividing factor.
Speaker’s bio:
Ilkhom Khalimzoda is a doctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, Department of Communication Studies. His dissertation deals with the media use and adaptation of Russian immigrants in Latvia and Finland.
He is a member of the editorial board at the journal of intercultural communication and member of the board at the society for the study of ethnic relations and international migration (ETMU). He is a non-resident research associate at the European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS) and contributor at various platforms such as the European Journalism Observatory, Politurco and Jylkkäri.
If you want to join this talk, please register here to get the Zoom link.