Media Discourse in the 1990s

Abstract

This chapter discusses the media discourse in the 1990s. Between 1989 and 1999, the Russian media experienced new freedom from state censorship but was limited in economic resources. The media had become central in constructing a new sense of self and society after the transformations in post-Soviet Russia. The chapter then notes the formation of national identity in the country as expressed by the Russian media elite in the polylogue it shaped with historical and political developments, Russian language, and Orthodox Christianity. It explores the media discourse circulating around the national identity, war and loss. Critical discourse analysis is used to analyze texts from Moskovskiye Novosti and Nezavisimaya Gazeta.