Date of Graduation

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Sociology (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Sociology and Criminology

Advisor/Mentor

Jeff Gruenewald

Committee Member

Kayla Allison

Second Committee Member

Casey Harris

Keywords

Comparative Analysis;News Framing;Russian News Media;TASS;Ukrainian-Russian War;War Framing

Abstract

This study was conducted with the goal of exploring ways in which American (The New York Times) and Russian (TASS) print news media frame the Ukrainian-Russian War. Along with examining the differences and similarities in primary framing techniques used by American and Russian news, the focal point of this study was to identify who is portrayed as an aggressor and who is illustrated as a victim in this conflict. Informed by the news media framing literature and construction of the social problems perspective, this study was led by two research questions: (1) How do the American and Russian news media frame the Ukrainian-Russian War? (2) How do these two newspapers frame attributions of responsibility and victimhood? The study employed Ethnographic Content Analysis and utilized NVivo software to qualitatively analyze 197 news articles related to the Ukrainian-Russian War from February 24th, 2022, to December 31st, 2022. The central findings of this study suggest that the Russian newspaper applied framing techniques to build a narrative in which Ukraine and the United States are portrayed as aggressors and provocateurs of the War, whilst Russia is presented as a victim. In the case of the American newspaper, Ukraine is depicted as a victim and Russia as the aggressor. This study revealed stark differences in frames and framing tactics used by news agencies. Key findings and implications of this study as well as suggestions for future research are discussed in detail below.

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