Comparative Representations of the Middle East: National Values and Russian State-aligned Media

Abstract

Situating its analysis post-cold war and post-9/11, this paper examines how Russian state-aligned media coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2006-08) not only reports the events as they unfold but also reveals specific national values as the state seeks to establish an international and diplomatic role for itself. It provides the example of a country in the process of transition a decade and a half after the collapse of the Soviet system and discusses findings from both quantitative and qualitative investigations conducted over a two-year period of analysis. Using news values and agenda-setting as the methodological framework, the paper draws on additional comparative research into similar coverage by France’s 20 Heures and BBC’s News at Ten to emphasize how, in portrayals of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Russian state-aligned media is widely employed as an instrument within Putin’s nation-building campaign.

Key words:

• news values
• foreign conflict
• television
• Russia
• France
• BBC

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This followed increased levels of anti-Semitism in France leading to a call by Ariel Sharon in 2004, and again in 2005, for French Jews to emigrate to Israel (For further details see Lichfield and Jacquet 2004; LeMonde.fr 2005).

2. The question about whom Russia, as a state, is claiming authority and rights over is discussed by Ryazanova-Clarke (2013). A similar attitude is emerging, albeit to a different extreme, during the crisis in Ukraine in 2014.