Russian Media in the Digital Age: Propaganda Rewired

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 398-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Oates

This article reflects on the role of media in the Russian Federation through the concept of “rewired propaganda.” The approach highlights how the Russian regime copes with challenges to its information hegemony in the digital age. The study employs two critical case studies to examine the Russian political communication sphere: the 2011–12 election protests and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by a Russian missile in 2014. The article argues that a key vector of analysis is understanding strategic narrative as the critical measurement of media control. The findings suggests that it is not so much who owns or controls the media that is key to understanding information control; rather, it is knowing who is constructing and disseminating the most compelling national narrative that holds the key to power in Russia. This focus on rewired propaganda and recasting of the debate will permit an analysis of the role of the media in the post-Soviet state even as the overall media environment has shifted with the advent of the digital age. On balance, the two case studies demonstrate that Russian elites have continued to adapt to growing challenges, showing an ability to use many facets of communication to consolidate an information dominance over citizens.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 330-339
Author(s):  
Abdul-Karim Ziani ◽  
Mokhtar Elareshi ◽  
Khalid Al-Jaber

Abstract Many critical questions concerning the relationship between the news media and political knowledge involve the extent to which the media facilitate learning about news, war and politics. Political awareness - via the news media - affects virtually every aspect of citizens’ political attitudes and behaviours. This paper examines how Libyan elites adopt the news media to access news and information regarding the current Libyan war and politics and how they use political communication and new media to build/spread political awareness. With the expansion of private and state-owned television in Libya, concern has grown that these new TV services will survive in providing information about citizens’ interests, including the new, developing political scene. A total of 134 highly educated Libyan professionals completed an online survey, reporting their perceptions of issues covered by national TV services. This account centres on how those elites consume the media and what level of trust they have in the media and in information and what the role of the media in their country should be. The results show that most respondents, especially those who live outside the country, prefer using different Libyan news platforms. However, 50 per cent of these do not trust these channels as a source of information regarding the civil war, associated conflicts and politics in general. They have grown weary of coverage that represents the interests of those who run or own the services and consequently place little trust in the media. Spreading ‘lies as facts’ has affected the credibility of these services. Politically, these respondents wish the media to discuss solutions and act as a force for good, not for division. They also differed in the number and variety of national news sources that they reportedly used. This paper also highlights the role of social media, mobile telephony and the Internet, as well as the rapidly proliferating private and national media. These findings are also discussed in relation to the growing impact of online sources in Libyan society, social and political change and the emergence of new media platforms as new sources of information.


Politea ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemanja Djukic

2021 ◽  
Vol 331 ◽  
pp. 04010
Author(s):  
Fakira Mohan Nahak

Odisha is a natural disaster prone state. Its geographical location contributes a lot for the disasters. The eastern Indian state has a 480 Kilometre long coastline. The Bay of Bengal which is the house of cyclonic storms is the major contributor for the calamities in the state. From time immemorial till today Odisha has been facing hundreds of calamities in the form of cyclones, floods and famines. It is a regular phenomenon that in the period of September to December every year Odisha faces varieties of cyclones. These affect human life, properties and agriculture to the maximum extent. After the super cyclone of 1999 the government became sensitive so also the media. In these two decades Odisha media has played a vital role in creating awareness about the disasters and helped people in displacement and rehabilitation. In recent pasts media helped the Government in reaching the “Zero Casualty” target. The role of media not only limited to this, even post-disasters it followed the condition of people and their lives. The researcher takes some case studies of different disasters and their handling by media. Also tries to find out the people’s perception about media in disaster preparedness and management.


2019 ◽  
pp. 100-122
Author(s):  
Francis L. F. Lee

This chapter reviews the relationship between the media and the Umbrella Movement. The mainstream media, aided by digital media outlets and platforms, play the important role of the public monitor in times of major social conflicts, even though the Hong Kong media do so in an environment where partial censorship exists. The impact of digital media in largescale protest movements is similarly multifaceted and contradictory. Digital media empower social protests by promoting oppositional discourses, facilitating mobilization, and contributing to the emergence of connective action. However, they also introduce and exacerbate forces of decentralization that present challenges to movement leaders. Meanwhile, during and after the Umbrella Movement, one can also see how the state has become more proactive in online political communication, thus trying to undermine the oppositional character of the Internet in Hong Kong.


Author(s):  
Eva Sørensen

Political communication is becoming increasingly mediatized. Mediatization refers both to a gradual increase in the role of the media in political communication and the spillover effects that this increase has had on the way politics takes place and is organized and relatedly, the performance of political leadership. Of particular importance for political leadership styles is the surge of drama politics, the fragmentation of political communication and the active role of citizens in political communication. Chapter 9’s typology of democratic political leadership performance lays the ground for an analysis of how paternalist, populist, engaged, and interactive political leadership styles are affected by the increased mediatization. The analysis suggests that an interactive political leadership style is more viable than the other three political leadership styles to patterns of mediatization in the age of governance.


Author(s):  
B. Guy Peters
Keyword(s):  

To understand contemporary governance, one needs to be cognisant of the manner in which media, and perhaps more generally, information, is used as a component of the process. The fundamental contention of the mediatisation literature is that institutions and organisations adapt to the pervasive role of the media, and this paper argues that the same is true for processes of governance. Thus, contemporary governance reflects the extent to which the formal and informal actors in governance have adapted their behaviours to the media environment within which they function. Whatever the goals of a government, they must pursue those goals within the environment shaped (in part) by mediatisation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 149 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia Markelin ◽  
Charles Husband

Although one people, the Sámi live in four different countries with different laws and regulations. The Sámi media landscape is thus shaped by four different political and economic frameworks, creating unique nationally defined environments. Simultaneously, the Sámi people are internally diverse, both in terms of language and identity. The media professionals within Sámi media need to navigate in an environment where there are several indigenous and majority languages, which raises questions about the fragmentation of potential audiences, and also about the role of the Sámi media in sustaining or undermining particular Sámi languages. Drawing upon recent interviews (2012) with Sámi media professionals, this article seeks to provide insight into the development of an expanding indigenous media infrastructure within the Nordic states and the homelands of Sápmi. It points particularly to the centrality of the national public service broadcast system in providing the political and infrastructural context for this development. The different political settlements between national governments and their Sámi populations significantly shape the wider political will that has framed this process. At the same time, while seeking to shed some light on the diverse Sámi media environment, this article also provides some insight into the professional and personal identities of the individuals working within the Sámi media world. The synergy between the wider media environment and the personal and professional endeavours of Sámi media professionals is central to the future development of the Sámi media environment of Sápmi.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-110
Author(s):  
Jonathan Sullivan

Over the course of democratisation, Taiwan’s communications environment has experienced significant changes. Liberalisation and commercialisation of the media, and the emergence and popularisation of digital, have substantially altered the information environment and the expectations and behaviours of both citizens and political actors. This article explores the implications of these developments for political communications, and the vitality of Taiwan’s democracy. The article combines a conceptual framework rooted in mediatisation and hybrid media logics with empirical case studies on election campaigning, social movements, and other modes of political communication. It demonstrates how a new system of coevolving media, civil society, and political spheres is taking shape, characterised by complexity, heterogeneity, interdependence, and transition.


Author(s):  
I.N. Ponomarenko ◽  
◽  
V.A. Kryzhanovskaya ◽  
N.A. Segal ◽  
◽  
...  

The article analyzes the asymmetrical basis of the antithesis with the opposition self / other in modern mediatexts. The aim is to state and interpret the peculiar linguistic realization of the asymmetrical basis of the antithesis with the opposition self / other in modern mediatexts. The study systematizes theoretical statements arguing asymmetrical relations as basic characteristics of language and text. Besides, it proves dominating role of asymmetry in modelling Russian media space. The article highlights that media discourse asymmetry, which became the object of scientific research only in the last decade, is caused by the manipulative character of media texts. As a result of factual material analysis, there was made a conclusion that early XXI century mediatexts are a priori asymmetrical. They contain both communicative and linguistic asymmetry resting mainly on contrast between linguistic and contextual antonyms which demonstrate diametrically opposite political views and divide political space into self and other. Antithesis self / other is not only a key opposition of political discourse; it also models socio-political relations. The article contains analysis of the opposition self / other as well as its explicators we / they, friend / enemy used in mediatexts. The study proves axiological fixedness of all explicators of the antithesis opposition conditioned by both linguistic and extra linguistic reasons. The authors draw the conclusion that actual mediatext based on the antithesis with the opposition self / other is the crucial way for politicians and journalists to manipulate the subjects of political communication by forming constructive or destructive images of states, political leaders, parties or organizations. A significant result of the study is that interaction of the addresser’s and addressee’s cognitive systems is based on historical and socio-political experience, the system of values, the idea of state’s as well as individual politician’s perspective. It is combination of factors that makes the foundation for coding and decoding information, and routes realities of political world basing on the opposition self / other.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Schimpfössl ◽  
Ilya Yablokov

This collection of articles deals with the history and the current state of Russia’s media elite. It defines three groups of media elites; owners of media outlets, media managers and prominent journalists. All those groups are under pressure of being agreeable to the Kremlin and pleasing their audiences with their products and output. The Kremlin’s tightened control over the media forced some media professionals out, losing their jobs or emigrating. The majority, however, have kept their positions. They are reasonably well networked and integrated into the political system and successfully employ strategies partly inherited from Soviet times. The collection of articles provides insights into the inner working of Russian media, delivering a nuanced understanding of media control, censorship and self-censorship.


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