Репрезентация специальной военной операции в печатных СМИ в контексте консолидации российского общества

Abstract

Introduction. Obtaining up-to-date sociological information about the specifics of the representation of the special military operation currently being carried out by the Russian Federation in the print media is actualized by the tasks of integration and consolidation of Russian society in a hybrid reality. Considering the media as the most important institution for the formation of public opinion, the authors rely on the theory of information society and communicative action, consider the informational and communicative sphere as determining in the construction of trends in the social and political process. Methods. The empirical study was conducted by the method of quantitative and qualitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis in the period from 08/21/2022 to 10/21/2022. The general totality is 484 articles, the sample is 105 articles. Results and its discussion. Based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of publications, the authors identified 4 thematic clusters and their content characteristics: military reports (26%), events around the special military operation (SMO) (30%), partial mobilization (28%) and peaceful life under the SMO (16%). Using the method of critical discourse analysis, the dominant discourses replicated in the media (wars, victories, everyday life and normalization of the military situation, heroization of the SMO, sacrifice, struggle, unity), as well as the main strategies for the representation of the SMO were identified, the emotional load for each cluster was revealed. It is shown that the emotional tone of publications worsened before the announcement of partial mobilization in connection with the Ukrainian counteroffensive, became positively neutral after the announcement of partial mobilization and was further characterized by instability. On the basis of the discursive strategies identified, it is concluded that the dominant image of SMO as a just and liberating action, based on an appeal to the experience of the Great Patriotic War, determines the direction of integration of Russian society and its consolidation with the authorities. Possible risks of consolidation based on the restriction of the space of free discussion may be associated with a decrease in the level of trust in the authorities and an increase in the conflict of society in the future.