Representation of the Image of Russians Who Left the Country: Comparative Analysis of News Media Telegram Channels (2022-2024)

This study examines the representation of Russians who left the country between February 24, 2022, and February 24, 2024, as portrayed in Telegram channels of news media. Drawing upon gatekeeping theory, agenda-setting theory, and Theo van Leeuwen's framework for analyzing social actor representation, the study aims to understand how federal media construct the image of this social group. The empirical base consists of posts from Telegram channels of three groups of federal media, categorized by their citation levels: highly cited in traditional media, highly cited in social media, and highly cited in both. Comparative analysis of quantitative and qualitative publication characteristics, including sentiment analysis, was conducted using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and the ruBert-tiny-2 sentiment analysis model. The study reveals a tendency across all media groups towards representing those who left Russia as a depersonalized, passive social group lacking agency. Concurrently, there is a trend toward heightened emotional coloring in news about this group, particularly in a negative light. Thematic analysis shows that media focus primarily on departed celebrities, labor migrants, and those who left due to mobilization. The research confirms the presence of the "Septemberites" image (referring to those who left after the announcement of partial mobilization) in news media. It also identifies differences in the representation of those who left depending on the level and type of media citation. The findings contribute to understanding the formation of public opinion about Russians who have left the country and can be utilized in developing strategies for information support of migration processes.