Abstract
What stories do states tell about themselves and their neighbours, and how are these narratives challenged? This study takes the case of the European ‘refugee crisis’ of 2015-2016, a period of hostile relations between Russia and the European Union, to examine the vision of Europe disseminated by Russian state-controlled media, and the alternative offered by independent media. It analyses 609 news reports on the ‘refugee crisis’ from state-controlled broadcaster Channel One and 181 news pieces from the independent web-based outlet TV Rain. Adopting the strategic narrative framework proposed by Miskimmon, O’Loughlin and Roselle (2013), this study both provides new detail on the narratives found on Russian state-controlled media, and asks the previously unresearched question: how do independent media outlets react to the dominant narratives seen on state broadcasters? It uses a grounded theory approach to elaborate new findings on the behaviour of independent media. The importance of independent media has traditionally been understood in terms of its ability to hold government to account, but the findings of this study suggest independent media can also act as a watchdog and corrective to state-controlled media. This study thus contributes to the literature on both strategic narratives, and media theory.
Highlights
The narratives states tell about themselves and their neighbours can create shared meaning, identify who "we" are and who "we" are not, and define the type of world order the state wishes to see
The 2015-16 'refugee crisis' in Europe is taken as a case study to investigate how a strategic narrative was developed on state-controlled media at a time of deteriorating relations between Russia and the EU and the alternative offered by independent media
This paper investigates the reporting associated with a particular phenomenon: the 2015-16 European 'refugee crisis'2 as a case study for the deployment of strategic narrative in the Russian media
Summary
The narratives states tell about themselves and their neighbours can create shared meaning, identify who "we" are and who "we" are not, and define the type of world order the state wishes to see These narratives, whether disseminated by political actors or state mass media, can pursue strategic aims: to influence the development of certain policies, to articulate an understanding of the international order, or to determine a shared identity. The single greatest factor in how political actors and states in the modern world project their chosen strategic narrative is the communicative power of the media. In authoritarian regimes – including Russia, in Castells' assessment – media can be 'a potent form of domination' in that it defines the power relationships on which politics is based.. Any social movement must entail 'reprogramming' the cultural codes and values of communication. even in challenging a hegemonic media narrative, alternative media may play the deciding role
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