On its path to become ‘North European’ : political climate change narrative in Latvia

The European Green Deal is the European Union’s latest expression of its ambition to become a world leader in addressing climate change. This study seeks to examine how Latvia – an EU member state – deals with the change brought about by a changing climate and the EU’s response to it. Informed by a strategic narrative approach, this study demonstrates that Latvia – originally hesitant to address climate change – has rebranded and repositioned itself as an active promoter of carbon neutrality, meanwhile constructing an identity narrative of Latvia as a pragmatic and reliable EU partner by embracing an image of a North European country at the government level. The narrative seeks to appeal to a Nordic life-style and resonates with levels of social welfare that Latvia aspires to achieve. By exploring how EU member states construct identity narratives around the EU’s institutional constraints, this study adds the dimension of narratives and perceptions to processes of Europeanisation.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic

Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, Republic of Latvia, as part of the project “Life with COVID-19: Evaluation of overcoming the coronavirus crisis in Latvia and recommendations for societal resilience in the future” [grant number VPP-COVID-2020/1-0013]. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Vineta Kleinberga. Published by Rezekne Academy of Technologies.Perceptions play a pivotal role in assessment of efficiency of government communication. Informed by the strategic narrative conceptual framework this study looks at perception of government communication in Internet comments during three essential dates in conquering the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia: introduction of emergency situations on March 12 and November 6, 2020, and introduction of a curfew on December 29, 2020. The study uncovers how often and how the main spokesperson in government communication – the Prime Minister of Latvia Krišjānis Kariņš – is framed in comments of three online news media in Latvia (Apollo, Delfi, Tvnet) in Latvian and Russian. Using a digital tool for online comments analysis - the Index of Internet Aggressiveness (IIA), a data set is created of 244 comments, containing a key word “Kariņš” in various cases in Latvian and Russian. Qualitative content analysis is applied to extract and to compare the frequency of appearance and the framing of Kariņš over the course of the pandemic in Latvia. The findings reveal that Kariņš appears in comments significantly more after news in Latvian than in Russian, and has been commented five times more in Delfi than in Tvnet and Apollo together. The comments in Latvian are more aggressive than in Russian, and their emotional tone increases towards the end of 2020. In majority of comments the framing is negative involving attributes of irresponsibility, superficiality, indecisiveness and danger; yet positively framed rigidity and decisiveness of Kariņš can be observed too. IIA is an online comment analysis tool, incorporating a machine learning program, which analyses users’ comments on news on online news sites according to pre-selected keywords to grasp the commenters’ verbal aggressiveness. In March 2021 the IIA data set consists of ~25.08 million comments; ~ 616.62 million word usage in written commenting and ~ 1357.40 thousand news.publishersversionPeer reviewe

The Emergence and Restoration of the State : Latvia in 1918 and 1990

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Andrejs Gusachenko et al., published by Sciendo 2021.On 18 November 1918, the independent Republic of Latvia was declared in an extremely complicated international and domestic environment - the First World War was still going on, empires were collapsing, and ethnically and ideologically diverse military troops were fighting within the boundaries of Latvian territory. Despite the historical context of a previously tense relationship between Latvians and other ethnic groups, representatives of all minorities fought next to Latvians against the enemies of the Latvian state. Up until 11 August 1920, when the Peace Treaty with the Soviet Russia was signed, the prospects of de jure recognition of the newly established state were blurred; yet, the defeat of the White forces in the Russian Civil War opened the long awaited "window of opportunity", as a result of which Latvia managed to achieve its international recognition on 26 January 1921. More than seventy years later, on 4 May 1990, when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Supreme Council of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), the international and domestic situation was no less complicated. Latvia was forcefully incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940 and became part of it, yet the economic and political deterioration of the Soviet Union, the national awakening in the Baltic States and other Soviet republics alongside the fall of the Berlin Wall gave momentum for the regime to change. On 21 August 1991, after the barricades and bloody clashes with the Soviet Special Purpose Police Units (OMON) in Riga on January and the failed coup d'état in Moscow in August, Latvia's independence once again became a reality. In the events of the 1990s, the memories of 1918 and Latvia's independence in the period between the two world wars were crucial. It is manifested by the fact that Latvian statehood in 1991 was not established anew but restored. Acknowledging the importance of history on contemporary identification and policy-making, this article aims to provide an insight into the history of 1917-1922 and its resonance in the contemporary situation. Using the methodology of literature analysis and historical process-tracing it will reveal the complicated process of the state's formation and recognition in the period of 1917-1922, paying particular attention to the role of the minorities and diplomatic efforts. It will also uncover the resonance of the events of 1918-1922 in the 1990s, when Latvia's independence from the Soviet Union was declared, focusing in particular on aspects defining the statehood of Latvia and its citizenship. In this part, it will be argued that the history of 1917-1922 was brought back when the statehood of Latvia was concerned, while overshadowed by fifty years of the Soviet occupation, when the citizenship issue was on the agenda. Indeed, not only ethnic Latvians but also minorities living in Latvia played a decisive role in the efforts of restoring Latvia's independence. However, as a result of the Citizenship Law,1 adopted in 1994, more than one-fourth of the population - in most cases, representatives of the Russian-speaking community - were denied citizenship. This practice contrasts the Act that had been adopted in the interwar period, when Latvian citizenship was granted to all ethnic groups who were living within the borders of the then agreed Latvian territory, notwithstanding their diverse ideological background. Given this fact, the article provides future research opportunities related to perceptions of history in contemporary policy-making.publishersversionPeer reviewe

How to recognise the inevitable : Latvian media narratives on climate change

Political elites over the world face considerable challenges in getting societies into climate change mitigation and adaptation activities. The process is even more complicated by complex media ecologies, into which official strategic narratives are modified and contested. This study explores the media narratives on climate change and their alignment with the official political narrative in a country located on the European Union's eastern border – Latvia, analysing the representation of climate change by the four most popular digital Latvian news platforms in Latvian and Russian languages. Observing that recognition and international cooperation narratives dominate, this study concludes that media only partially project the official political narrative, which focuses on opportunities from climate change. By considering multiple perspectives of scientists, politicians, society and businesses, the media provide an arena of contestation. At the same time, the media narratives lack a domesticated alternative on climate change that is fundamental for an action-encouraging discursive environment. As a result, the image of climate change as a geographically distant, internationally addressed, negotiated and contested phenomenon persists, yet the role of Latvian actors remains unspecified. Illuminating the climate change strategic narrative projection in Latvia, this study complements the research on climate change media coverage in Central and Eastern Europe and provides insights into the communication challenges the region faces.publishersversionPeer reviewe

COVID-19 News and Audience Aggressiveness: Analysis of News Content and Audience Reaction During the State of Emergency in Latvia (2020–2021)

Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, Republic of Latvia, as part of the project “Life with COVID-19: Evaluation of overcoming the coronavirus crisis in Latvia and recommendations for societal resilience in the future” [grant number VPP-COVID-2020/1-0013]. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Anda Rozukalne, Vineta Kleinberga, Normunds Grūzītis. Published by Rezekne Academy of Technologies.This research focuses on the interrelation between news content on COVID-19 of three largest online news sites in Latvia (delfi.lv, apollo.lv, tvnet.lv) and the audience reaction to the news in the Latvian and Russian channels during the state of emergency. By using a tool for audience behaviour analysis, the Index of the Internet Aggressiveness (IIA), for analysis of audience comments, the study aims to uncover how and whether news about COVID-19 affect the level of audience aggressiveness. The study employs two data collection methods: news content analysis and IIA data analysis, in which ten index peaks are selected in each of the two emergency periods (spring 2020, fall and winter 2020/21). The study data consists of content analysis of 400 news items and analysis of ~80,000 comments, identifying the level of aggressiveness, the number and structure of comment keywords. The results show that the level of public aggressiveness is only partially formed by the attitude towards COVID-19 news: less than half of the most aggressively commented news is devoted to information about COVID-19. An increase in the level of aggressiveness of the audience of online news sites can be observed at the end of 2020 and at the beginning of 2021 when it is higher than over the course of 2020. IIA is an online comment analysis platform, which analyses user-generated comments on news on online news sites according to pre-selected keywords, allowing to grasp the dynamics of commenters’ verbal aggressiveness. In addition, IIA exploits a machine learned classifier to recognize not only potentially aggressive keywords but also to analyse the entire comments. In January 2021, the IIA data set consists of ~24.89 million comments (~611.97 million words) added to ~1.34 million news articles.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Constructing thirst for low-carbon transition : an insight into Latvia’s business narratives

The European Green Deal is presented as the EU’s new growth strategy. Successful implementation of this obligation, however, depends not on the regulatory framework but the commitment of all actors to take an active part. Informed by strategic narrative conceptual framework this study explores how the main drivers of economy – the enterprises – internalize the obligation to ensure low-carbon transition. We focus on business narratives in Latvia – a country with up to now low degree of environmental awareness both at political and societal level – to uncover business reception of low-carbon development perspectives. Exploring the public communication of 30 most valuable Latvian enterprises in a two-year period of 2020-2021 in such sectors as energy, transport, agriculture and forestry, waste management, manufacturing and retail, we have built a matrix, which demonstrates similarities and differences in rhetoric across sectors regarding fossil fuel consumption and energy efficiency. Findings show that 10% of all information in the enterprises’ websites is related to climate change or environment. Across the sectors, a narrative of corporate responsibility emerges as the dominant narrative, emphasising that Latvian business environment transforms and the entrepreneurs have already become or aim to become environmentally responsible in the nearest future. However, specifically in the energy sector the aspects of climate change as an opportunity for Latvia's economy alongside the need to comply with the EU policies and to protect the environment prevail. Altogether energy efficiency, transition from fossil to renewable energy resources, state support for low-carbon energy as well as digitalization are the topics, which are discussed the most. This study demonstrates that the enterprises have a potential to lead towards low-carbon economy by constructing an enabling discursive environment. It is particularly important in the post-communist context, where actors other than government may be more trustworthy to foster public demand and change in habits.otherPeer reviewe

What Is the Flag We Rally Around? Trust in Information Sources at the Outset of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latvia

Funding Information: This research was funded by the Latvian Council of Science, as part of the project ?Life with COVID-19: Evaluation of overcoming the coronavirus crisis in Latvia and recommendations for societal resilience in the future? (grant number VPP-COVID-2020/1-0013). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Trust in information sources about COVID-19 may influence the public attitude toward the disease and the imposed restrictions, thus determining the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in a given country. Acknowledging an increase in trust in the government or the so-called rally ‘round the flag’ effect around the world at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study explores possible determinants of this effect in Latvia, looking at such variables as the perceived disease risk, gender, age, education, income, and language spoken in the family. Presuming that risk perception may be amplified by trust in various information sources, we investigate a spill-over of the rally ‘round the flag’ effect on healthcare professionals, media, and interpersonal networks. Studying data from a nationally representative sociological survey conducted in September 2020, we confirm a positive relationship between trust in all information sources, except friends, relatives, and colleagues, and perceived disease risk. Correlations are also strong regarding trust in almost all information sources and the measured socio-demographic variables, except gender. Interpersonal trust seems to be relatively stable, and in most cases the correlations are statistically insignificant. With this study we suggest that increase in trust in government institutions as well as other information sources, even in crisis situations, does not depend on any single element, but instead presents a more complex phenomenon.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Reflection of the EU Climate Policy Strategic Narrative in the Programmes of Latvian Political Parties - External Convergence and Influence on Shaping Public Opinion

Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the Latvian Council of Science, as part of the pro‐ ject “From indifference to making difference in climate policy: improving the interaction Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Climate change, as well as the challenges that come with it, is one of the main issues in international and national politics today. Addressing the threats posed by climate change requires close cooperation at the international level and within each country, creating a dialogue between the political elite and society, thus promoting a common understanding and action across the European Union (EU). The aim of this research is to (1) identify what climate policy narratives are projected to the Latvian electorate (public) and (2) assess how these narratives are aligned with the EU-defined strategic climate policy narrative. The theoretical basis and methodological approach of the study is based on the concept of strategic narrative. It is assumed that the viability and impact of a strategic narrative is enhanced when there is coherence between all stages of the narrative life cycle (i.e., the EU level and the national policy level). The empirical basis of the study is based on the identification of the EU climate policy narrative in the sector’s regulatory documents, as well as an analysis of the election programmes of Latvian political parties (the last European Parliament (2019) and parliamentary (2018) election programmes). The results show that the narrative that the Latvian public receives from its political elite through the European Parliament and the national pre-election programmes is significantly different from the EU strategic narrative on climate policy. Based on the theoretical concept of strategic narrative, it can be concluded that the observed dissimilarity of narratives does not stimulate the inclusion of the Latvian public in the common EU space of climate policy understanding and action.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Globalus dar nereiškia, kad lokalus: klimato kaitos ir su aplinka susijusių iššūkių nušvietimas Latvijos žiniasklaidoje

Media are essential actors in transmitting, contesting and embedding the attitudes towards climate change, yet media performance in post-communist countries has been relatively little researched. Informed by conceptual frameworks of strategic narratives, agenda-setting and framing, this paper investigates the media coverage of climate change and environment related issues in Latvia. The paper demonstrates the representation of climate change and environment related issues in Latvian and Russian-speaking traditional and online media, using quantitative data analysis of 3753 media articles, video and audio broadcasts from August 2020 till January 2021, as well as qualitative content analysis of seven peaks. The findings reveal a significant amount of climate change and environment related articles and broadcasts in Latvian media. News agencies and public broadcasters are the most important media segments in terms of publishing, whereas online media are prior in terms of the audiences reached. International efforts emerge as a dominant theme in the media coverage, while climate change per se receives a minor journalist attention. Both observations confirm a low level of climate change domestication in the Latvian media. Media reliance on political and government information sources and prepackaged material suggests a high potential for official political narratives to spread, yet the persuasive power of strategic narratives remains blurred as the perception side is highly underreported.Žiniasklaida vaidina labai svarbų vaidmenį nušviečiant, paneigiant ir suformuojant požiūrį į klimato kaitą, tačiau žiniasklaidos veikla pokomunistinėse šalyse dar nebuvo pakankamai ištirta. Remiantis konceptualiais strateginio naratyvo principais, darbotvarkės nustatymu ir žiniasklaidos rėmais, šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjamos Latvijos žiniasklaidoje nušviečiamos klimato kaitos ir su aplinka susijusios problemos. Straipsnyje atskleidžiamas klimato kaitos ir su aplinka susijusių problemų aptarimas tradicinėse bei internetinėse latvių ir rusakalbių žiniasklaidos priemonėse naudojant kiekybinę 3 753 žiniasklaidos straipsnių duomenų analizę, vaizdo ir garso transliacijas nuo 2020 m. rugpjūčio iki 2021 m. sausio, taip pat kokybinę septynių populiariausiųjų turinio analizę. Išvados atskleidžia nemažą skaičių su klimato kaita ir aplinka susijusių straipsnių ir transliacijų Latvijos žiniasklaidoje. Naujienų agentūros ir visuomeniniai transliuotojai yra svarbiausi žiniasklaidos segmentai, susiję su leidyba, o internetinė žiniasklaida yra pranašesnė atsižvelgiant į tai, kad pasiekia didesnę auditorijos dalį. Tarptautinės pastangos yra dominuojanti žiniasklaidos tema, o klimato kaita per se sulaukia minimalaus žurnalistų dėmesio. Abu pastebėjimai patvirtina, kad Latvijos žiniasklaidoje klimato kaitos tema dar nėra pakankamai prisijaukinta. Žiniasklaidos priklausomybė nuo politinių ir vyriausybinių informacijos šaltinių ir iš anksto paruoštos medžiagos rodo didelį oficialių politinių naratyvų plitimo potencialą, tačiau strateginių naratyvų įtikinamoji galia išlieka neryški, nes duomenų apie suvokimą nepakanka. &nbsp