Russian disinformation in Eastern Europe. Vaccination media frames in ro.sputnik.md

Mogoș, Andreea-Alina and Grapă, Teodora-Elena and Șandru, Teodora-Felicia Russian disinformation in Eastern Europe. Vaccination media frames in ro.sputnik.md. Comunicar, 2022, vol. 30, n. 72, pp. 33-46. [Journal article (Paginated)]

[img]
Preview
 Text (Research article (English))
c7203en.pdf - Published version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.
Download (5MB) | Preview
[img]
Preview
 Text (Research article (Español))
c7203es.pdf - Published version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.
Download (6MB) | Preview

English abstract

The news site ro.sputnik.md is the Romanian language version of the Sputnik news website platform, owned by the Russian government, one of the main channels used by the Kremlin to disseminate mis- and disinformation across Russian borders. The current research aims to identify the frames associated with anti-COVID-19 vaccines, and the news values employed in constructing news discourse on vaccination in ro.sputnik.md media texts. To map the media frames and the lexical and discursive constructions, the research proposes a mixed methods content-based approach, where automated text analysis (frequency, co-occurrence, n-grams) is combined with thematic and discourse analysis. Six emphasis frames are identified in the corpus (N=1,165): Superiority of the Russian Sputnik V Vaccine, Fatal/Side Effects of EU Authorized Vaccines, Limitations of Individual Rights and Freedoms, EU and/or Romanian Authorities’ Struggle, Children and Teenagers’ Protection, and Big Pharma Conspiracy. The findings show that specific discursive patterns are associated with the negative news value: death, side effects (blood clot, thrombosis, coagulation), restrictions, and interdictions or warnings (serious, risk, negative, panic, etc.), while the conflict news value is associated with warfare vocabulary (defense, threat, battle, fire, gunpowder, etc.); and eliteness, with well-known actors (state leaders, European leaders, famous 'conspirators'') and countries (powerful international actors, meaningful neighbours).

Spanish abstract

El sitio de noticias ro.sputnik.md es la versión en lengua rumana de la plataforma web de noticias Sputnik, propiedad del gobierno ruso, uno de los principales canales utilizados por el Kremlin para difundir información errónea y desinformación a través de las fronteras rusas. La presente investigación pretende identificar en los textos mediáticos de ro.sputnik.md los marcos asociados a las vacunas anti-COVID-19 y los valores noticiosos utilizados para construir el discurso informativo sobre la vacunación. Para mapear los marcos mediáticos y las construcciones léxicas y discursivas, la investigación propone un enfoque mixto basado en el contenido, en el que el análisis automatizado del texto (frecuencia, co-ocurrencia, n-gramas) se combina con el análisis temático y del discurso. En el corpus se identifican seis marcos de énfasis (N=1.165): Superioridad de la vacuna rusa Sputnik V, efectos fatales/secundarios de las vacunas autorizadas por la UE, limitaciones de los derechos y libertades individuales, lucha de las autoridades de la ue y/o rumanía, protección de los niños/adolescentes y conspiración de las grandes farmacéuticas. Los resultados muestran que al valor noticioso de negatividad se asocian fórmulas discursivas específicas: muerte, efectos secundarios (coágulos de sangre, trombosis, coagulación), restricciones e interdicciones o advertencias (grave, riesgo, pánico), mientras que al valor noticioso de conflicto se asocian el vocabulario bélico (defensa, batalla, pólvora) y al elitismo, actores conocidos (líderes estatales, «conspiradores» famosos) y países (actores internacionales poderosos, vecinos significativos).

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Media framing; news values; content analysis; textual analysis; COVID-19 vaccine; Sputnik News; Marcos mediáticos; valores noticiosos; análisis de contenido; análisis textual; vacuna COVID-19; Sputnik News
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
G. Industry, profession and education.
G. Industry, profession and education. > GH. Education.
Depositing user: Alex Ruiz
Date deposited: 28 Jul 2022 14:42
Last modified: 28 Jul 2022 14:42
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/43427

References

Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2014). Why do news values matter? Towards a new methodological framework for analysing news discourse in Critical Discourse Analysis and beyond. Discourse and Society, 25(2), 135-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926513516041

Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2017). Language and news values. In M. Bednarek & H. Caple (Eds.), The Discourse of News Values (pp. 77-106). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190653934.003.0004

Carrasco-Polaino, R., Martín-Cárdaba, M., & Villar-Cirujano, E. (2021). Citizen participation in Twitter: Anti-vaccine controversies in times of COVID-19. [Participación ciudadana en Twitter: Polémicas anti-vacunas en tiempos de COVID-19]. Comunicar, 69, 21-31. https://doi.org/10.3916/C69-2021-02

Claussen, V. (2018). Fighting hate speech and fake news, The Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) in Germany in the context of European legislation. Media Laws, 3(3), 110-136. https://bit.ly/3sGwepa

Cvjeticanin, T., Zulejhic, E., Brkan, D., & Livancic-Milic, B. (2019). Disinformation in the online sphere: The case of BiH. Citizens’ Association ‘Why Not’. https://bit.ly/3HLVk9T

de-Vreese, C.H., Boomgaarden, H.G., & Semetko, H.A. (2011). (In)direct framing effects: The effects of news media framing on public support for Turkish membership in the European Union. Communication Research, 38(2), 179-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650210384934

Demjanski, A. (2020). Framing the news: Deutsche Welle, Sputnik News, and Macedonia’s Colorful Revolution [Unpublished Master dissertation]. University of Texas at Austin. https://bit.ly/3q5BPmR

Deverell, E., Wagnsson, C., & Olsson, E.K. (2021). Destruct, direct and suppress: Sputnik narratives on the Nordic countries. Journal of International Communication, 27(1), 15-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/13216597.2020.1817122

Druckman, J.N. (2001). The implications of framing effects for citizen competence. Political Behavior, 23(3), 225-256. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015006907312

Entman, R.M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x

Entman, R.M., & Rojecki, A. (1993). Freezing out the public: Elite and media framing of the U.S. anti?nuclear movement. Political Communication, 10(2), 155-173. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.1993.9962973

Galtung, J., & Ruge, M.H. (1965). The Structure of foreign news. Journal of Peace Research, 2(1), 64-91. https://doi.org/10.1038/166923b0

Harcup, T., & O’Neill, D. (2016). What is news?: News values revisited (again). Journalism Studies, 18(12), 1470-1488. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1150193

Higgins, A. (2021, November 9). In Romania, hard-hit by COVID, doctors fight vaccine refusal. The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/3EALCp9

Innes, M. (2019). Techniques of disinformation: Constructing and communicating 'soft facts' after terrorism. The British Journal of Sociology, 71(2), 284-299. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12735

IRES – Institutul Român pentru Evaluare si Strategie (Ed.) (2021). Vaccinarea in România. Perceptii. Atitudini. Comportamente. Opinion poll. https://bit.ly/32Ji8Zd

Ireton, C., & Posetti, J. (2018). Journalism, 'fake news' & disinformation: Handbook for Journalism Education and Training. UNESCO. http://bitly.ws/oXHE

Joye, S. (2010). News discourses on distant suffering: A critical discourse analysis of the 2003 SARS outbreak. Discourse & Society, 21(5), 586-601. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926510373988

Joye, S., Heinrich, A., & Wöhlert, R. (2016). 50 years of Galtung and Ruge: Reflections on their model of news values and its relevance for the study of journalism and communication today. Communication and Media, 11(38), 5-28. https://doi.org/10.5937/comman11-9514

Kaiser, J. (2020). Emphasis framing effects in political communication - An experimental approach to the role of issue-specific argument strength, cross-thematic salience emphasis frames, and political value preferences in citizens’ attitude formation. [Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Zurich]. https://bit.ly/3tciYbG

Kang, G.J., Ewing-Nelson, S.R., Mackey, L., Schlitt, J.T., Marathe, A., Abbas, K.M., & Swarup, S. (2017). Semantic network analysis of vaccine sentiment in online social media. Vaccine, 35(29), 3621-3638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.05.052

Kottasová, I. (2021, October 1). They have all the vaccines they need, but these EU nations are still miles behind their neighbors. CNN. https://cnn.it/3sFOr6f

Kragh, M., & Asberg, S. (2017). Russia’s strategy for influence through public diplomacy and active measures: The Swedish case. Journal of Strategic Studies, 40(6), 773-816. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2016.1273830

MacFarquhar, N. (2016, August 28). A powerful Russian weapon: The spread of false stories. New York Times. https://nyti.ms/33TJY5k

McCombs, M.E., & Shaw, D.L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176-187. https://doi.org/10.1086/267990

Müller, P., & Schultz, A. (2021). Alternative media for a populist audience? Exploring political and media use predictors of exposure to Breitbart, Sputnik, and Co. Information, Communication and Society, 47(4), 124-134. https://doi.org/10.31857/S013116462104007X

Nossier, S.A. (2021). Vaccine hesitancy: The greatest threat to COVID-19 vaccination programs. Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association, 96(1), 18-20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42506-021-00081-2

Our World in Data (Ed.) (2019). Skepticism to vaccines and what to do about it.Oxford Martin School/University of Oxford.. https://bit.ly/3z5ToGp

Palm, R., Bolsen, T., & Kingsland, J.T. (2021). The effect of frames on COVID-19 vaccine resistance. Frontiers in Political Science, 3, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.661257

Rosenberg, H., Syed, S., & Rezaie, S. (2020). The Twitter pandemic: The critical role of Twitter in the dissemination of medical information and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, 22(4), 418-421. https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2020.361

Salaverría, R., Buslón, N., López-Pan, F., León, B., López-Goñi, I., & Erviti, M.C. (2020). Desinformación en tiempos de pandemia: Tipología de los bulos sobre la Covid-19. Profesional de la Información, 29(3), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.may.15

Salmon, D.A., Dudley, M.Z., Granz, J.M., & Omer, S.B. (2015). Vaccine hesitancy: Causes, consequences, and a call to action. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(6), 391-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.06.009

Scales, D., Gorman, J., Leff, C., & Gorman, S. (2021). Effective ways to combat online medical and scientific misinformation: A hermeneutic narrative review and analysis. [Unpublished Pre-print]. https://doi.org/10.33767/osf.io/rcugs

Scannell, D., Desens, L., Guadagno, M., Tra, Y., Acker, E., Sheridan, K., Rosner, M., Mahieu, J., & Fulk, M. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine discourse on Twitter: A content analysis of persuasion techniques, sentiment and mis/disinformation. Journal of Health Communication, 26(7), 443-459. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2021.1955050

Scheufele, D.A. (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication, 49(1), 103-122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1999.tb02784.x

Semetko, H.A., & Valkenburg, P.M. (2000). Framing European politics: A content analysis of press and television news. Journal of Communication, 50(2), 93-109. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2000.tb02843.x

Snegovaya, M. (2015). Russia Report 1: Putin’s Information Warfare in Ukraine. Institute for the Study of War. http://bitly.ws/oVf6

Sputnik. (2020a). Un virolog explica riscurile unui vaccin creat prea repede. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/32Hw7ym

Sputnik. (2020b). Orban si Arafat, calcati in picioare de un RENUMIT om de afaceri! Ponta, reactie ironica. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3Jr7APe

Sputnik. (2020c). George Soros rupe tacerea: Interviu fulminant – interese si strategii in spatele Pandemiei. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3qwsio3

Sputnik. (2021a). Gamaleia: Sputnik V poate proteja de toate tulpinele cunoscute. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3FvGoMN

Sputnik. (2021b). Noi date: Sputnik V, eficient in proportie de 97,6%. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/32ERhgI

Sputnik. (2021c). Scandal urias: trei decedati dupa vaccinarea Pfizer! ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3mH4k8F

Sputnik. (2021d). Eleva de liceu decedata dupa vaccinul Pfizer – familia devastata, Sofia era sanatoasa. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3Ey20qn

Sputnik. (2021e). Un europarlamentar român compara vaccinarea obligatorie cu nazismul. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3FDo7wW

Sputnik. (2021f). Cristian Terhes, attacks European Parliament’s 'democracy' harshly – Video. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3mE5Fgg

Sputnik. (2021g). Chitic: Our freedom’s winter began. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3FNdB6k

Sputnik. (2021h). Norvegia cere procurarea vaccinului Sputnik V pe fondul unui numar record de infectari. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3z40N9o

Sputnik. (2021i). Scandalul infectarii stranii a lui Mirel Curea. Reactia dura a dr. Razvan Constantinescu. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3etN9mn

Sputnik. (2021j). Medicii, avertisment legat de o decizie a Ministerului Sanatatii: creste riscul de deces. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3Evi1gN

Sputnik. (2021k). Indonezia suspenda un lot de AstraZeneca dupa moartea unei victime a vaccinului. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3ew9gJ6

Sputnik. (2021l). Kremlinul a raspuns la acuzatiile The Sun despre furtul formulei vaccinului AstraZeneca. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/32Hx6P4

Sputnik. (2021m). 'Rusia nu urmareste banii'. Sputnik V a inceput sa fie aparat in Europa. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/32Hxayi

Sputnik. (2021n). Expertii din India: Sputnik V, eficient in combaterea tulpinii Delta. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3etOjyf

Sputnik. (2021o). Analist: 'Ceea ce se intâmpla in România, in Europa si in lume miroase a praf de pusca'. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3sCh2cw

Sputnik. (2021p). Ungaria pune NATO la punct: Nu vede Rusia ca o amenintare. ro.sputnik.md. https://bit.ly/3z9CEOz

Stefan, B. (2020). Understanding Sputnik news agency internet traffic analysis. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov, 13(1), 113-124. https://doi.org/10.31926/but.scl.2020.62.13.1.12

Voicu, M. (2018). Matrioska Mincinosilor: Fake news, manipulare, populism, Humanitas. https://bit.ly/3sQ2juq

Westerståhl, J., & Johansson, F. (1994). Foreign news: News values and ideologies. European Journal of Communication, 9(1), 71-89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323194009001004

White, J. (2016). Dismiss, distort, distract, and dismay: Continuity and change in Russian disinformation. Institute for European Studies: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 13. [Policy Paper]. https://bit.ly/3sE5y8l

World Health Organization (Ed.) (2019). Top threats to global health in 2019. WHO.Int. https://bit.ly/3qvEjtX

Yablokov, I. (2015). Conspiracy theories as a Russian public diplomacy tool: The case of Russia Today (RT). Politics, 35(3-4), 301-315. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9256.12097

Zarocostas, J. (2020). How to fight an infodemic. The Lancet, 395(10225), 676. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30461-X


Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item
Contact us
Send email Sponsors
Sponsor: AIMS Sponsor: D&P Sponsor: UniNa CAB Get connected
Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Linkedin LinkedIn RSS RSS