Ninth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

The study aims to explore how the Russian television deconstructs the image of Ukrainians as brothers by repositioning them inside the imagined social reality where Ukrainians are represented as threatening Others. The study is designed to explore the forms and the process of this transformation. The research material was extracted from the website of Channel One, Russia. The source was selected due to its exceptional role in the media landscape in Russia. This is the only media in Russia which can be accessed by up to 98 percent of population and it has been the leading news source since 2009. The research material was collected from 1.11.2012, a year before EuroMaidan started, to 1.11.2014, when Crimea got already included into the Russian Federation, nearly 50 people were killed in fire and clashes in Odessa, Malaysian airline was shot down and the conflict in the Eastern part of Ukraine got in its active and most violent phase. In total, the study covers 2 years and 480 news stories sampled and analysed.