Representation of the phenomenon of a special military operation in the mass media
https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6401-2025-2-105-118
Abstract
The article considers the issues of representing the phenomenon of a special military operation (SMO) in the mass media. The empirical basis was data from 443 articles in 3 socio-political publications of the Russian Federation in 2022–2023. The content analysis of the press made it possible to obtain information about the evolution and nature of the information picture formed by the media. Firstly, news and information notes predominate in the period under study, which indicates the high dynamics of events and their intensive media coverage, whereas publications by military analysts with scientific, empirical and analytical understanding of the events and results of a special operation are less common. Secondly, the discourse of power dominates among the subjects of journalistic writing, in which political figures act as actors to a greater extent. Thirdly, the emotional tonality of the information picture is characterized by uncertainty and instability of the content. Fourthly, materials are published that can be divided into 5 clusters: reflection of SMO, military reports, events around SMO, mobilization and daily life under SMO.
Keywords
representation,
mass media,
special military operation,
consolidation,
Russian society,
public opinion
Supporting agencies: This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project № 23-18-00438
About the Author
A. A. Zaytseva
Institute of SocioPolitical Research – Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anastasiya A. Zaytseva, Cand of Sci. (Sociology)
bldg. 1, bld. 6, Fotievoi Street, Moscow, Russia, 119333
References
1. Castells, M. (2010), “The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Vol. 1: The Rise of the Network Society”, 2nd ed., Wiley Blackwell, Oxford, UK.
2. Ershov, Yu.M. (2024), “Representation of a special military operation in the media of Southern Russia”, Izvestiya Ural’skogo federal’nogo universiteta. Seriya 1: Problemy obrazovaniya, nauki i kul’tury [Proceedings of the Ural Federal University. Series 1. Issues of education, science and culture], no. 30 (1), pp. 5–18.
3. Galba, J. and Spišák, J. (2023), “A Special Military Operation in the Context of Russia’s Interpretation”, Vojenské rozhledy, no. 32 (1), pp. 50–68.
4. Habermas, J. (1983), “Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action”, MIT Press. Cambridge, Mass.
5. Il’in, V.A. and Morev, M.V. (2022), “The special military operation reveals new features of civil society”, Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forecast, no. 15 (5), pp. 9–32.
6. Kazakov, A.A. (2022), “The attitude of Russian youth towards SMO. The role of media support for state policy”, Izvestiya of Saratov University. Sociology. Politology, no. 22 (4), pp. 460–467.
7. Levashov, V.K. (ed.) (2023), Rossiiskoe obshchestvo i gosudarstvo v usloviyakh global’noi mnogopolyarnosti. Sotsial’no-politicheskoe polozhenie Rossii v 2022 godu [Russian society and the state in the context of global multipolarity. The socio-political situation of Russia in 2022. Monograph], Berezina, N.V., Bogdanov, I.Ya., Velikaya, N.M. et al., FNISTs RAN, Moscow, Russia.
8. Shushpanova, I.S. (2022), “Features of the socio-political consolidation of Russian society and the state in the conditions of a special military operation: sociological analysis”, Science. Culture. Society, no. 28 (4), pp. 97–108.
9. Tsvetkova, G.A. (2023), “Russians in a special military operation situation”, RSUH/ RGGU Bulletin. “Philosophy. Sociology. Art Studies” Series, no. 4, pp. 111–120.
10. Velikaya, N.M. and Zaitseva, A.A. (2022), “Representation of the special military operation in print mass media in the context of consolidation of Russian society”, Caucasian Science Bridge, no. 5 (4), pp. 160–172.
Review
For citations:
Zaytseva A.A. Representation of the phenomenon of a special military operation in the mass media. RSUH/RGGU BULLETIN. Series Philosophy. Social Studies. Art Studies. 2025;(2):105-118. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6401-2025-2-105-118
Views:
6
Email this article 