Brother or ‘Other’? Transformation of strategic narratives in Russian television news during the Ukrainian crisis

Abstract

This article explores how Russian television news deconstructed the narrative embracing Ukrainians as ‘brothers’ through repositioning them within an imagined social reality wherein Ukrainians assume the guise of a threatening ‘Other’. The research material comprises extracts from Channel One, which is one of Russia’s most significant and popular television channels. The data was collected from the channel’s website over two years from 1 November 2012 to 31 October 2014. The sample of 480 news stories was selected on the basis of tag words and engagement with the stories on social media. Frames comprising visual, auditory and textual streams were analysed to explore the narratives about Ukrainians that were promulgated both before and during the Ukrainian crisis. The data revealed that, prior to the conflict, the media portrayed Ukraine as Russia’s ‘little brother’. Following Euromaidan, Channel One replaced this guise with that of an enemy in order to appeal directly to the cultural and spiritual values of its audience. Applying the conceptual framework of strategic narrative, the study illustrates the dynamics at play in the transformation of one image into another.

Keywords

image of enemy information war Russian television strategic narratives television news Ukrainian crisis

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