A seminar on framing political news on Russian television was held in the Laboratory
On April 18, 2023, the second consultation seminar from the series "Care and well-being in post-socialist Eurasia: institutions, discourses, identities". The meeting was devoted to the discussion of the topic «“Special Path” Discourse in Framing Political News on Russian TV».
The seminar was attended by the academic supervisor of the Laboratory, Linda Cook, a professor at Brown University and an employee of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. Intern researcher of the ILSIR Polina Guseva presented the results of her empirical work on the analysis of the frame of the "special way" of Russia on Russian television.
The meeting began with Linda Cook's presentation of framing as a theory of mass communications. The professor considered various approaches to the conceptualization of frames – from the works of anthropologist Gregory Bateson and sociologist Erving Goffman to modern theories of media effects. In her speech, Linda Cook noted that earlier frame theories were aimed at explaining how people create collective meanings in the process of communication, while the modern interpretation defines framing as the second level of agenda theory. Thus, framing in the media is focusing the attention of the media audience on some elements of media coverage of certain problems and events and hiding others. Next, Linda Cook revealed the topic of the use of media framing by journalists and the state in order to form public opinion and conditions for the effectiveness of such influence. Thus, the main factor in the success of fixing the frame in the minds of the audience is the proximity and consistency of the proposed explanation of its experience. At the same time, the audience's lack of knowledge about the covered topic increases the likelihood of framing influencing people's opinions.
The seminar also presented the results of the analysis of media coverage of anti-Russian economic sanctions from the point of view of the frame of the "special way" of Russia. The discourse analysis of the Sunday editions of the news program "News of the week" ("Vesti Nedeli") showed that the frame of the "special way" of Russia consists of four main elements: 1) the idea of Russia as a special civilization, 2) Russia's special place in the world order, 3) the central role of sovereignty, which determines the interaction between Russia and foreign states, and 4) the role of a strong political leader in policy implementation. Thus, the application of this frame to the topic of sanctions allows not only to explain the reasons for their imposition by foreign states, but also to legitimize the sanctions policy of the Russian government in the perception of citizens.
During the discussion, Polina Guseva's academic supervisor, associate professor and chief Researcher of the ILSIR, Maria Kozlova, noted the possibility of considering the domestic political atmosphere as a separate element of the frame of Russia's "special path".
In addition, Professor Linda Cook stressed the importance of analyzing public opinion polls, which can help trace the connection between the use of the studied media frame in the coverage of anti-Russian sanctions and the actualization of the idea of a "special way" of Russia in the minds of citizens.
Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova, professor and Laboratory Head, noted that the idea of a "special way" for Russia can be applied not only to analyze political events, but also to study the social policy of the state, civil society and the non–profit sector, and the value orientations of Russians. The professor also advised several papers on the idea of a "special way" of Russia, which would help strengthen the theoretical part of the presented research.
At the end of the seminar, the participants discussed methodological aspects of the study of the influence of framing on public opinion and the prospects for continuing work on the topic being developed.
