Abstract Kazun A.D. (1136840), страница 5
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Thus, the arguments of theopponents of these measures are shown in a negative light as distorting theinformation about their real consequences for personal purposes and, therefore,untrustworthy for the population.4.When covering the WTO accession and economic sanctions by the press awide range of counter-rhetoric strategies was used. However, the discussion wasdominated by a non-sympathetic counter-rhetoric, which denies the existence ofproblems related to sanctions. In part, the lack of population's anxiety about thecurrent situation can be explained namely by the conducted information campaign.The topics related to international relations and the world economy are quite difficultfor the population, therefore the mass media play an important role in the shaping ofthe public opinion on these topics.
Initially, a significant number of informationcommunications about sanctions contained references to the annexation of theCrimea as the cause of this problem. However, over time, the consequences ofeconomic sanctions began to be discussed. And the active use of strategies ofdeproblematization of the situation led to the fact that the press also outlined thepotential positive effects of the sanctions, including the probability that they willbecome an impetus for development in Russia.5.The intensity of discussion in the mass media influences the attention ofpeople to various topics. In this case, the discussion a week before the date of thesurvey influences public opinion stronger than media communications for a longerperiod. The population better remembers events that happened shortly before thebeginning of the survey, as well as those events, which in this period enjoyed a moreintense discussion.
Thus, the influence of news on public opinion is unstable: peopleperceive as the most important the events happening just now, with the exception ofindividual incidents that have attracted a high attention of the population. Regionalprint media play an important role in attracting public attention to various topics.The problems covered by federal newspapers but ignored by the regional press areremembered by the population to a much lesser extent. Problems that remain in theinformation agenda for a long time attract more attention.
The concentration ofpublic attention used in the model as a control variable is positively associated withthe memorability of various events.General conclusions of the researchThe cases of economic sanctions and Russia's accession to the WTO wereperceived by the population differently. In the case of Russia's accession to the WTOopinion polls showed low awareness of the population regarding the activities of theorganization and the prospects of the accession for the country, while the level ofapprehension associated with this decision was very high24.
In case of economicsanctions, the opposite situation is observed: given a sufficiently high level ofawareness about the event, most respondents are not concerned by itsconsequences25. These issues also have significant substantial differences: if in thefirst case it is a question of opening of the domestic market and implementation offree trade policies, the introduction of economic sanctions leads to a reduction in thenumber of international economic operations and, in a sense, protectionism reflectedin the reduction of the number of competitors for the domestic producer. In addition,accession to the WTO was an internal decision formed on the basis of a longnegotiation process, while the situation of sanctions exchange was rather imposedfrom outside and is a reaction to circumstances rather than a meaningful economicpolicy of the state.However, these cases are bought together by the political component in theircoverage.
In the case of economic sanctions, their political significance seemsobvious: in addition to direct economic restrictions, a number of image sanctionswere introduced, measures directed against specific individuals. The ideologicaltone of the coverage of WTO accession is less visible, but the fact of use by theparties to the discussion of such arguments as "threat to the sovereignty of thecountry" or "opportunity to increase the prestige of Russia on the world stage"confirms that economic consequences are not the only relevant topic. In part, somedeparture from economic arguments in the coverage of the cases in question resultedfrom a broad representation of positions of politicians and officials, as well as in thecase of economic sanctions ‑ of opinions of non-expert groups (writers, artists etc.),which could be disinterested in focusing only on economy or were not competentenough to comment in a competent manner on such consequences.It can be assumed that in Russia the role of representatives of largecorporations in the building of public economic discussions is less important than in24For example, "FOMnibus".
At the door of the WTO. About positive and negative consequences of accession ofRussia to the WTO. Access regime: http://fom.ru/Ekonomika/10580#25For example, Levada Center survey. Access regime: http://www.levada.ru/28-08-2014/sanktsii-otsenki-iozhidaniyathe Western countries. Studies conducted in the US and EU demonstrate the highrole of business representatives in the coverage of economic events. However, basedon the analyzed Russian cases we can conclude about a significant contribution tothe discussion of other interest groups that use different arguments.
In addition,contrary to the results of individual studies26, the positions of experts do not coincidewith the position of the business.According to the agenda-setting theory, the maximum correlation between thediscussion in the mass media and the public opinion can be achieved in the case oftotalitarian states, where freedom of mass media is virtually inexistent 27. From thispoint of view, the limited independence of Russian media emphasized byresearchers28 and the World Press Freedom Index should contribute to a greaterintersection of the public and individual agenda.
However, the rate of correlationbetween the number of articles in the press on a particular topic and the share ofRussians that considered this topic as important is comparable to similar indicatorsobtained by the researchers in the United States29. Probably, this can be explainedby the gradually increasing role of the Internet as a source of information 30, as wellas the existence in Russia of independent or opposition printed publications.26Berry M. 2013. The Today programme and the banking crisis // Journalism14 (2): 253–270.McCombs M., Shaw D., Weaver D. H. 2014.
New Directions in Agenda-Setting Theory and Research // MassCommunication and Society. 17(6): 781–802.28Fredheim R. 2017. The loyal editor effect: Russian online journalism after independence // Post-Soviet Affairs.33(1): 34–48. Gehlbach S. 2010. Reflections on Putin and the Media // Post-Soviet Affairs. 26(1): 77–87. Vartanova,E. 2012. The Russian Media Model in the Context of Post-Soviet Dynamics. In Comparing Media Systems Beyond theWestern World (pp. 119–142).
New York: Cambridge University Press.29Benoit W. L., Hansen G. J., Verser R. M. 2003. A meta-analysis of the effects of viewing U.S. presidential debates// Communication Monographs. 70(4): 335–350. Swanson L., Swanson D. 1978. The agenda‐setting function of thefirst Ford‐Carter debate // Communication Monographs. 45(4): 347–353. Wanta W., Golan G., Lee C. 2004. AgendaSetting and International News: Media Influence on Public Perceptions of Foreign Nations // Journalism and MassCommunication Quarterly.
81(2): 364–377. Wanta W., Ghanem S. 2007. Effects of agenda setting. In R. W. Preiss, B.M. Gayle, N. Burrell, M. Allen & J. Bryant (Eds.) Mass media effects research: Advances through meta-analysis (pp.37–51). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.30Hollander B. 2008. Tuning out or tuning elsewhere? Partisanship, polarization, and media migration from 1998 to2006 // Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. 85: 23-40. Meraz S. 2011.
Using time series analysis tomeasure intermedia agenda-setting influence in traditional media and political blog networks // Journalism & MassCommunication Quarterly. 88(1): 176–194. Stroud N. 2011. Niche news: The politics of news choice. New York, NY:Oxford University Press. Vargo C., Guo L. 2017. Networks, Big Data, and Intermedia Agenda Setting: An Analysis ofTraditional, Partisan, and Emerging Online U.S. News // Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 94(4): 1031–1055.27The retention of high public attention to events that were actively covered bythe mass media in the previous periods but were gradually forced out of publicdiscussion, which happened in some cases, can be explained in the logic of the twostage communications model.
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