Szostek, J. (2018) News media repertoires and strategic narrative reception: A paradox of dis/belief in authoritarian Russia. New Media and Society, 20(1), pp. 68-87. (doi: 10.1177/1461444816656638)
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Abstract
With Internet access, citizens in non-democracies are often able to diversify their news media repertoires despite government-imposed restrictions on media freedom. The extent to which they do so depends on motivations and habits of news consumption. This article presents a qualitative study of the motivations and habits underlying news media repertoires among a group of digitally connected university students in authoritarian Russia. Interviews reveal awareness and dissatisfaction vis-a-vis the ‘propagandistic’ nature of state-controlled news content, resulting in a preference for using multiple different sources – including foreign websites and ‘non-official’ citizen accounts – to build a personal understanding of what is ‘really’ going on. The article then examines how the students make sense of conflicting narratives about international affairs which they encounter in state and non-state sources. Paradoxically, low reported consumption of distrusted, ‘propagandistic’ state television is often accompanied by reproduction of the overarching strategic narrative which state television conveys.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | This work was supported by postdoctoral fellowships from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme. A grant from the Centre for East European Language-Based Area Studies (CEELBAS) also facilitated the fieldwork in Moscow. |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Szostek, Dr Joanna |
| Authors: | Szostek, J. |
| College/School: | College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics |
| Journal Name: | New Media and Society |
| Publisher: | SAGE |
| ISSN: | 1461-4448 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1461-7315 |
| Published Online: | 07 July 2016 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2016 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in New Media and Society 20(1):68-87 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher |
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