Russia Today's coverage of Euromaidan

Abstract

As I was writing this response to the forum about Euromaidan, the clashes on 18 February 2014 erupted. As there should be a cut-off point for analysing this ‘winter of discontent’ in Ukraine, I will concentrate on the events as they unfolded until 21 February 2014. I approach the issue of Euromaidan from a Media and Cultural studies perspective. After a brief insight on how Euromaidan is seen in Russia, I will analyse how Russia's soft power tool – a multi-language Russian-based TV network called Russia Today (RT) – constructs a narrative of Euromaidan. I will do that by looking at RT's reports on Euromaidan available online. As M. Simonyan, an editor-in-chief, said, RT is set to combine a ‘professional format’ of the BBC, CNN and Euronews and to ‘reflect Russia's opinion of the world’ and present a ‘more balanced picture’ of Russia (RIA Novosti, 2007). It is hypothesised that there might be discrepancies in the coverage of Euromaidan, as RT needs to combine principles of an international broadcaster targeting a global audience with the need to reflect Russia's stance and improve Russia's image aboard.