TY - JOUR

T1 - The Ukraine conflict and the European media: a comparative study of newspapers in 13 European countries

AU - Fengler, Susanne

AU - Kreutler, Markus

AU - Bastian, M

AU - Brinkmann, J

AU - Veldhoen, H

AU - Alku, M

AU - Barlovac, B

AU - Бодрунова, Светлана Сергеевна

AU - Dingerkus , F

AU - Hájek , R

AU - Láb , F

AU - Knopper , S

AU - Kus, M

AU - Paluch , A

AU - Lees , C

AU - Литвиненко, Анна Александровна

AU - Medeiros , D

AU - Orlova , D

AU - Ozolina , L

AU - Nicoleta Radu , R

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - The crisis in Ukraine was one of the dominant topics in international news coverage of 2014 and the following years. Representing a conflict along the lines of an East-Western confrontation unprecedented since the end of the Cold War, the news reporting in different European countries with different historical backgrounds is an essential research topic. This article presents findings of a content analysis examining coverage of the conflict in the first half of 2014 in newspapers from a diverse set of 13 countries: Albania, Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as Ukraine and Russia. Drawing on prior literature on news values, key events, and news cycles in foreign coverage, this study maps the evolution of the conflict in the course of four key events and identifies specific characteristics of the coverage in different newspapers. The results show that attention for the conflict varies considerably across the countries, which might be traced back to different degrees of geographical and cultural proximity, domestication, and economic exchange, as well as lack of editorial resources especially in Eastern Europe. Russia dominated the news agenda in all newspapers under study with a constant stream of conflict news. Contradicting prior literature, media sought to contextualise the events, and meta-coverage of the media’s role in the crisis emerged as a relevant topic in many countries with a developed media system.

AB - The crisis in Ukraine was one of the dominant topics in international news coverage of 2014 and the following years. Representing a conflict along the lines of an East-Western confrontation unprecedented since the end of the Cold War, the news reporting in different European countries with different historical backgrounds is an essential research topic. This article presents findings of a content analysis examining coverage of the conflict in the first half of 2014 in newspapers from a diverse set of 13 countries: Albania, Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as Ukraine and Russia. Drawing on prior literature on news values, key events, and news cycles in foreign coverage, this study maps the evolution of the conflict in the course of four key events and identifies specific characteristics of the coverage in different newspapers. The results show that attention for the conflict varies considerably across the countries, which might be traced back to different degrees of geographical and cultural proximity, domestication, and economic exchange, as well as lack of editorial resources especially in Eastern Europe. Russia dominated the news agenda in all newspapers under study with a constant stream of conflict news. Contradicting prior literature, media sought to contextualise the events, and meta-coverage of the media’s role in the crisis emerged as a relevant topic in many countries with a developed media system.

KW - Comparative research

KW - content analysis

KW - foreign correspondence

KW - journalism

KW - Ukraine crisis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047410014&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/1464884918774311

DO - 10.1177/1464884918774311

M3 - Article

JO - Journalism

JF - Journalism

SN - 1464-8849

ER -