Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the results of a research study, led by Warsaw University in the Laboratory of Media Studies, and devoted to the situation in the Crimea in 2014 and 2015. The author introduces cross-sectional conclusions from her own research in media coverage dedicated to the Crimean events, including press comments from four weeks in 2014 and four weeks in 2015. The analysis covered the period from the escape of V. Yanukovych to the annexation of the Crimea by the Russian Federation (February – April 2014) and exactly the same time one year after (for comparative analysis). The study on the Polish press examines how Polish media comment, analyse, and forsee the events associated with the annexation of the Crimea by Russia (with methodology of qualitative and quantitative content analysis and discourse analysis). Articles taken into consideration were editorials, feuilletons, analysis, and comments containing the word “Crimea” and published in Polish newspapers (dailies, weeklies). A total of 430 articles met the criteria and they have been coded with extended code key (almost fifty categories, defined as precisely as possible - dozens of operational definitions made on the basis of pilot research). The author discusses selected topics of the research project, more precisely the place and significance of key actors of this conflict, including the United States, Russia, and international organizations (UN, NATO, and EU). The author also shows how often Polish journalists pointed out these actors as important in the course and resolution of the conflict, in which specific topics and contexts these states and organizations were mentioned, how they were portrayed and framed, and what roles, attributes, and motivations were assigned to them. It is also shown which American and Russian politicians and activists of international organizations have been quoted in the press (who, how often, in what contexts). This analysis shows the place and significance of the United States, Russia, and selected international organizations in the Polish press discourse, addressing whether they are important and whether they are represented positively, negatively, or neutrally. Thanks to this, it is possible to describe how the Polish press explains to readers the ongoing conflict, and whom Polish journalists situate as beneficiaries and victims. Furthermore, there is a possibility to draw some conclusions about the image of these entities (USA, RF, IO) in the Polish press.