Диссертация (Конструирование дискуссии по экономическим вопросам в печатных СМИ (на примере вступления России в ВТО и введения экономических санкций)), страница 13

18, no 3, pp. 97–129. Available at:https:// ecsoc.hse.ru/2017-18-3.html (in Russian).40Revue d’études comparatives EstOuesthttp://www.necplus.eu/RECAdditional services for Revued’étudescomparatives Est-Ouest:Email alerts: Click hereSubscriptions: Click hereCommercial reprints: Click hereTerms of use : Click hereRussia’s Accession to the WTO. The Debate in theRussian Mass MediaAnastasia Kazun et Svetlana BarsukovaRevue d’études comparatives Est-Ouest / Volume 47 / Issue 04 / December 2016, pp 149 - 177DOI: 10.4074/S033805991600406X, Published online: 30 January 2017Link to this article: http://www.necplus.eu/abstract_S033805991600406XHow to cite this article:Anastasia Kazun et Svetlana Barsukova (2016). Russia’s Accession to the WTO.TheDebate in the Russian Mass Media.

Revue d’études comparatives Est-Ouest, 47, pp149-177 doi:10.4074/S033805991600406XRequest Permissions : Click here41RUSSIA’SACCESSION TOTHE WTOTHE DEBATE IN THE RUSSIAN MASS MEDIAAnastasia Kazun & Svetlana BarsukovaResearch Fellow, Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology at the NationalResearch University Higher School of Economics (HSE),Lecturer at the HSE Department of Economic Sociology, adkazun@hse.ru.Deputy Head at the Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology at theNational Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), Professor atthe HSE Department of Economic Sociology, sbarsukova@hse.ruABSTRACT – The paper focuses on the debates about Russia’s accession to theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) that unfolded in Russia’s print media fromDecember 2010 to December 2013. The authors highlight the initial argumentsof supporters and opponents of this accession, the ways in which those argumentsare presented in the media, and the differences in the standpoints of the business,government and expert communities.

The authors further analyze changes in thecontent of this discussion and its discursive space following Russia’s accessionto the WTO. Our research on print media shows that positive assessments ofRussia’s accession to the WTO prevailed before it entered into force. However,after the accession negative assessments started to dominate. This may beexplained by the fact that before the accession it was mainly politicians andofficials who expressed support for the act, while after the accession the negativeviews of the business community became more prevalent.

Politicians andofficials supported the accession by relying on abstract values of “progress” and“open markets”, while businessmen’s (mainly agribusiness) views took intoaccount the non-competitiveness of their industries. Media campaigns helpedsome industries to create images of “victims” (resulting from enforcement of thetreaty) in order to legitimize the industry lobby and the need for governmentsubsidies to compensate for the damage caused by the WTO.42Russia’s Accession to the WTOKEY WORDS – risks and potential benefits of Russia’s WTO accession, publicdiscussion, agenda-setting in mediaREVUE D’ÉTUDES COMPARATIVES EST-OUEST, 2016, VOL.

47 / Nº 4, P.149-177The study was carried out in 2016 as part of theBasic Research Program at the National ResearchUniversity Higher School of Economics (HSE)INTRODUCTIONResearchers into mass communication recognize that debates in the media oneconomic issues are poorly understood (see for example Carroll, 2012). Usually,the attention of researchers has focused on the media reflection of political eventsor social problems.

The most popular approaches to the study of masscommunication are constructivism and agenda-setting theory. Theconstructionist perspective suggests that interest groups with access to the mediaconstruct the perception of dysfunction as a problem, mobilize forces to solve itand legitimize their participation in this process (Blumer, 1971; Spector &Kitsuse, 1987). This approach was a reaction to the crisis in the objectivistunderstanding of social problems (for example Merton, 1968). The agendasetting theory maintains that the media do not facilitate the understanding of theissues as much as they simply distribute the audience’s attention across differentevents. The media make some of the events “invisible” to the wider audience,while they highlight other events through their dominance of the informationspace, making these events “important” in the eyes of the population (McCombs& Shaw 1972; Erbring, Goldenberg & Miller, 1980; Boydstun, 2013).

In otherwords, “the press may not be successful much of the time in telling people whatto think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about”(Cohen, 1963, p. 13).Discussions of economic issues have a number of characteristics that are lesstypical in discussions on other topics. In particular, journalists need to simplifythe information and make it clear to a wider audience, as well as to selectattractive, humorous titles for serious news. In addition, economic debatesinvolve aVOL.

47 / N°4 – DÉCEMBRE 201643Russia’s Accession to the WTOwide range of different interest groups that try to legitimize their actions and gainpublic support for the implementation of desirable scenarios of economicdevelopment. Thus economic discussions in the media are a promising field forinvestigation. However, they long remained outside researchers’ focus.One serious limitation for this study is the relatively low level of mediafreedom in Russia. For example, the Press Freedom Index characterizes thesituation in Russia as unfavorable. In the period covered by the study, Russia wasranked 140th of 179 countries.25 Many researchers have also written about thepressure felt by the media in Russia (for example Vartanova, 2000; Koltsova,2006).

However, there are a few things that make our research possible andaccurate. First of all, the greatest pressure on the Russian media is in the coverageof political issues. So stricter limitations on freedom of speech are related topolitical topics (for example, the Crimea annexation and Chechen war). Theauthorities “compensate” for this censorship by “playing democracy” duringdiscussions of economic issues. Russia’s accession to the WTO may beconsidered as an example.

To some extent this move is related to politics.However, for most parties involved (national producers, consumers, importers,etc.) it was related more to their economic interests than their political views.In addition, the largest quantity of propagandizing material is put out onfederal television channels, rather than in the print media. This may be explainedby the fact that television has a broader coverage, while the print media target amore educated population. Moreover, the print media’s points of view are morediverse, due to large number of various newspapers and magazines, includingopposition publications. In this way, we partly solve the problem, by focusing onan analysis of the press.

In addition, the sample of newspapers and magazines forthis research includes opposition publications (for example Novaja Gazeta).This paper analyzes the discussion of Russia’s accession to the World TradeOrganization (WTO) that unfolded in the Russian print-media from 2010 to 2013.This topic was selected as an object of study because Russia’s accession to theWTO affected the interests of a variety of groups, for example businessmen,politicians, officials, consumers. All of these tried to influence the agenda andperception of risks and opportunities connected with this decision, participatingin the media discussion. So, for the Russian authorities WTO membership wasan opportunity to show a willingness to cooperate with Western countries,develop the Russian economy and implement a policy of “open economy”.

For25. Press Freedom Index. URL: http://rsf.org/index2014/en-index2014.phpVOL. 47 / N°4 – DÉCEMBRE 201644Russia’s Accession to the WTOopposition politicians WTO accession became a way to extend their support,showing concern for the interests of domestic producers, threatened by WTOmembership. Representatives of some business sectors sought to preventaccession to the organization (for example, they created the advocacy groupcalled ANTI-WTO and tried to obtain a referendum on this issue), using therhetoric of emerging threats as a legitimate framework for the implementation ofindustry lobbying. The media discussion was extremely active and intensive.Evidence for this is the fact that, according to opinion polls, Russia’s accessionto the WTO was among the most important events (Levada.ru, 2012).26In this case, the media reflected reality as much as they formed it.

Inparticular, the public discussion attracted the attention of citizens to Russia’saccession to the WTO (Kazun, 2015). Articles in the press allowed certaininterest groups to transmit their opinions of important public events to a wideraudience. Our analysis spans a period of three years—one and a half years beforeand after Russia’s official accession to the WTO in 2012. In this paper, we firstcontrast the arguments in the Russian media of the supporters and opponents ofthe accession decision; next, we reveal the particular standpoints of the business,government and expert communities; and finally, we compare the state of thediscussion of the WTO before and after Russia’s accession. Also, we drawconclusions about the factors that influenced the discussion on Russia’saccession to the WTO and the purposes of participants in the debate.Media discussion of Russia’s accession to the WTO is an important topic forstudy for several reasons.

First of all, Russia’s accession to the WTO is a relevantevent for the country and attracted considerable attention. In addition, discussionon this issue was led by representatives of various interest groups and it may beuseful to analyze their purposes. Another reason for attention to the topic is theidea that, normally, when people are poorly informed about a question (as in thecase with the WTO) there is a high correlation between public opinion and debatein the media. Thus, the discussions of economic issues such as sanctions mayhave very important role. However, this topic is insufficiently researched.Researchers of the media often focus on the debate on social issues (such as drugaddiction, social exclusion, etc.) and have hardly ever studied economicdiscussions.