The creation of Russia’s new image in the Western press between 2014 and 2019

Abstract

The article presents the analysis of Russia’s image in the Western press for the last six years — from 2014 to 2019. It explains the main factors that have an impact on the country’s perception in American and European journalism, with the author identifying five semantic patterns within the Russia narrative in American and European media outlets. The first one describes Russia as “a revisionist country,” the second presents it as “a global threat,” the third sees it as “an authoritarian country,” the forth views it as “an aggressor in the post-Soviet space,” and the fifth is about Russia being “an initiator of a new cold war.” The abovementioned semantic patterns define the tone and attitude of Western journalists toward Russia, as indicated by a qualitative and quantitative analysis of materials, which were published in American and European press from January 2014 to December 2019. On the other hand, Russia’s behavior on the international stage confirms the fears of Western media and leads to the creation of the country’s new representation in the US and Europe. One should keep in mind that a country’s image depends on other numerous factors, including political, journalistic, ideological and historical ones. The personality of a political leader also has an impact, because the press equates Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his predecessors to the entire country. The novelty of the article is an attempt to classify and make sense of emerging stereotypes about modern Russia.