Диссертация (1136841), страница 15
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In addition, in today’s society opportunities tocontrol mass communications are limited, because of the emergence of newcommunication channels and the increasing extent of information on the internet.In this context, more complex mechanisms for reducing public attention to theissues have partly replaced bans and taboos. One of the possible strategies forconfronting problematization is something like a rethinking of priorities. It ispossible to focus on issues more convenient for the government and not payattention to other negative facts. As result federal TV channels paid particularattention to the problems of terrorism, crime and drug abuse, and ignored theproblems of alcoholism and corruption (Yasaveev, 2006a).
A possibleexplanation of such an effect is government media policy.Similarly, in the case of the debate on Russia’s accession to the WTO, wemay assume that attempts by interest groups to attract attention to certain aspectsof this decision and ignore others contributed to the formation of the desiredimage of this problem. Emphasis on the benefits of WTO accession and neglectof the potential risks may be important for deproblematizing the situation.However, when the discussion involves several interest groups, silencing thenegative aspects of the problem may not have a significant impact on the debate,as the groups pursue different interests.
In this case, a wide range of counterrhetoric strategies may be used (Ibarra & Kitsuse, 2003). Empirical research intothe Russian print media and TV channels, analyzing the deproblematizationstrategies, has focused on a variety of issues, from the excess of glamour in thepublic space (Nim, 2010) to Russia’s accession to the WTO (Kazun, 2015). Ingeneral, we can say that all the strategies proposed by Ibarra and Kitsuse, areused in Russian public debate (Yasaveev, 2006b).However, it is a false assumption to think that the mass media only passivelybroadcasts the agendas of the authorities and social movements. Various mass mediacontinuously struggle for market share, which forces them to react only to those issuesthat particularly excite their real and potential audiences (Graber, 1980; Leighley,2004; Picard, 2005; Berelson, 1960).
The choices that the mass media make among29. One of the most prominent examples of the government’s influence on the media is the case ofNTV channel. In 2001, the management of the channel was changed by action by the authorities(raids on its HQ and persecution of the channel Head) and financial pressure. The potential reasonfor the pressure on the channel was its critical assessment of the authorities’ work and particularpolitical events.
Another prominent example is the case of Lenta.ru, a popular news website. Themanagement of the website has changed under pressure from RosKomNadzor (the federal agencyoverseeing telecommunications, information technologies and mass media). Key managers left thecompany and the tone of the website has significantly changed.VOL. 47 / N°4 – DÉCEMBRE 201650Russia’s Accession to the WTOthe numerous competing narratives and interpretations of the same issue are exactlyhow they contribute to shaping the public agenda (Berelson, 1960; Hilgartner & Bosk,1988).This orientation towards public appeal, however, leads to negative selection:in making an issue comprehensible to a wider audience, the mass media oftenfall into the trap of over-simplifying content and exploiting people’s mostprimitive reactions.
This is the case, for instance, with modern Russian television(Zvereva, 2009). The oversimplification triggers feedback from the audience,which not only passively absorbs information but also attempts to criticallyassess it. Thus, realistically speaking, setting an agenda involves several partiessimultaneously, i.e., experts, authorities, the media themselves and individuals(Dearing & Rogers, 1987).The tendency to oversimplify and sensationalize issues at the expense ofproviding serious analysis was particularly noticeable in the discussions relatedto the WTO. For instance, some observers note that the popular (mass) mediapaid too much attention to protests related to the WTO summits, whereas thecontent and results of discussions that occurred at those summits were largelyneglected (Swinnen & Francken, 2006).
Simultaneously, in publicizing theseprotests, the mass media also appeared to be mostly supportive of the WTO andgovernment’s position (McFarlane & Hay 2003; Hendershot, 2004). Incommenting on anti-globalist protests against WTO accession in Seattle in 1999,the mass media made sharp remarks about the protesters’ lack of education, loweconomic literacy and unkempt appearance (McFarlane & Hay, 2003). Thus, byexpressing the interests of political elites, the mass media tried to devalue boththe protests and the arguments of the protesters.Comparative analysis of the public debate on the WTO in other countries hasshown how deeply this problem is situated within the context of national policies.For instance, public discussions about protection of intellectual property withinthe WTO agreement have revealed striking differences between China and theUSA (Creemers, 2012).
However, significant differences in viewpoints towardsthe WTO can also be observed within countries, rather than just between them.Media in three American states (North Carolina, Illinois and California) haveexpressed significantly different opinions about China’s accession to the WTO,depending on how that event would most likely impact their state’s economy(Kong, 1997).VOL. 47 / N°4 – DÉCEMBRE 201651Russia’s Accession to the WTOIn our work, we pay attention to the way in which the opponents of the WTOproblematize Russia’s accession to this organization, and supportersdeproblematize it.
In addition, we analyze the positions of the various interestgroups and their role in the debate.1.3.Russian print media on the WTOOur analysis of the debate about Russia’s accession to the WTO in theRussian mass media spans three years: from December 2010 to December 2013.This timeline was chosen for specific reasons. First of all, the debate about WTOwas most intense in this period. Furthermore, our task in this paper is to comparethe debates that took place before and after Russia’s accession to the WTO, whichis why we study the content of those debates over a period encompassing one anda half years before and after the accession.Our analysis focuses on the debates that unfolded in the Russian printed massmedia, i.e., those publications that have high circulation and target a wideraudience.
In particular, we have avoided the use of the following media: 1)academic journals, 2) foreign mass media, 3) radio and television discussions,and 4) online publications for which there are no printed versions. Moreover, weanalyze the print media of various ideological positions because our intent is toanalyze as many different opinions as possible about Russia’s accession to theWTO.Russia has more than 90,000 registered media outlets, including central,regional and sectoral media outlets 30.
Russians’ trust in Russian printed massmedia is typically higher than their trust in radio and foreign media, butsomewhat lower than their trust in on-line resources and television31. We selectedthe most influential newspapers, journals and magazines using the TitlePopularity Ranking (TPR) of Russian print media32. This ranking is calculatedfrom the following three parameters: circulation, advertising prices and citationratios (i.e., citation of one media outlet in other print media outlets). Thus, TPR30.
http://www.fapmc.ru/rospechat/docs/newsmi.html?maincustom0=1&. This is the distribution of answers to the question “Which sources of mass media do you think mostaccurately depict our country’s current situation?”: 13% selected federal newspapers, 40% centraltelevision, and 45% the Internet (June 2013; LEVAŠOV, 2013, p. 257).3132. TPR for Russian media is calculated on a quarterly basis by using available open data. AccessVOL. 47 / N°4 – DÉCEMBRE 201652Russia’s Accession to the WTOevaluates the popularity of a media outlet among the general population,advertisers and journalists.In TPR, the print media are classified into certain information categories. Weselected three leaders in each of the following three information categories:popular newspapers, popular business publications and popular publicationsfocusing on politics and public affairs.
Thus, our sample included 9 publications,which represent different political views and sufficiently reflect the diversity ofopinions on public issues.As expected, the WTO issue was quite actively discussed in the selectedpublications: it was mentioned in 1,636 articles during the 18 months before and1,179 articles during the 18 months after the accession. It must be admitted,however, that the majority of these publications printed no opinions or commentson Russia’s accession to the WTO and only mentioned the accession as a symbolof economic integration and globalization. Such articles were excluded fromfurther analysis.
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