The dark double: US media, Russia, and the politics of values
In: Oxford scholarship online
In: Political Science
This work studies the role of US media in presenting American values as principally different from and superior to those of Russia. The analysis focuses on the media's narratives, frames, and nature of criticism of the Russian side and is based on texts of editorials of selected mainstream newspapers in the United States and other media sources. The text identifies five media narratives of Russia - 'transition to democracy' (1991-1995), 'chaos' (1995-2005), 'neo-Soviet autocracy' (2005-2013), 'foreign enemy' (since 2014), and 'collusion' (since 2016) - each emerging in a particular context and supported by distinct frames.