"Send pretty girls to the White House": the role of gender in journalists - politicians' interactions

Interrelations between politics and media are often described as a power-play, a rumba or even a danse macabre, and the key question of political communication is “who leads and who follows” in the “power-play between politicians and journalists” (Ross, 2010, p. 274). As today “[m]eaning, media and politics become blurred, but arguably in highly gendered ways” (Holmes, 2007, p. 12), gender inevitably enters the discussion of the journalists – politicians’ interactions. Based on interviews with 40 Russian and Swedish political reporters working for the “quality” press, this paper discusses the role of gender as a social practice (Löfgren Nilsson, 2010) in journalists – politicians’ communication in different political and cultural contexts, which Russia and Sweden represent. The paper answers the following questions: Do journalists perceive the interrelations with politicians as gendered? Do they use gendered interrelations strategically to acquire information efficiently? How do the gendered political communication practices differ dependent on the political and cultural context

Russian-language media space: features, tendencies and typology

There are more than 30 million Russian speakers living outside of the current borders of the Russian Federation. “Russian abroad” can partly be viewed as diaspora (e.g. Cohen 1997, Hoyle 2013, Safran 1991, Sheffer 2003, Vertovec 1999) and partly as a cultural macro-social group. Its specificity is its multilayered (different waves of migration) and multiethnic character (see Pivovar 2008, 2010). “Russian abroad” consists of two groups: Russian migrants who left the country in different periods and their descendants, and Russian-speakers who found themselves abroad after the collapse of the USSR. In eighty countries of the world, there are published around 3.5 thousand media in Russian language. The printed media of the three first waves of the Russian emigration are thoroughly studied (e.g., Bogomolov 1994, 2004; Esin 2003; Mikhalev 2009; Suomela 2014; Zhirkov 2003). There are as well several studies on the online space of the “Russian abroad” (e.g., Morgunova 2014; Reut and Teterevleva 2014). Yet, the currently existing printed Russian-language media, their role, political orientation, functions, professional views of the journalists, diapason of influence, audiences - remain somewhat of a blind spot on the map of the diaspora studies and media studies alike, despite the scale of this media segment. Empirical studies of these media are challenged by the fact that not all of these media have their online versions and absence of a common catalogue (see O. Voronova 2016). The existing studies are either country-based or focus on the linguistic aspects exclusively. This study focuses on the printed media segment and suggests a typology of the Russian-language press abroad. The study is based on a twelve-year long monitoring of Russian-language press that consisted of a basic content analysis of 65 printed media and survey of 64 journalists working for 50 outlets. The materials were collected during the trainings for these journalists organized by the Universal Association of Russian Press (VARP) and Faculty of Journalism, Moscow State University. The study maps the space of the Russian-language press abroad, describes the tendencies characteristic for it, and highlights the typological models within this segment. On the one hand, the Russian-language media abroad are influenced by global processes, which lead to their commercialization, standardization, concentration and integration with non-established media online. On the other hand, these media are oriented at specific audiences, united by the Russian language, culture, traditions; for the post-Soviet countries – by the common experience of living in the same state. These media have features of both global and national media, as their audiences are influenced by at least two cultures. Being spread in the world, these media have the same language, similar functions and, often, a common agenda. The current challenges of these media are related to the political events (such as Ukrainian conflict), as well as the broader problem of self-identification of the Russian-language diaspora. The study suggests viewing the Russian-language media abroad as a cultural phenomenon that should be analyzed in dynamics and in the context of the geopolitical changes and challenges

Gendering in political journalism : a comparative study of Russia and Sweden

The news media are expected to provide equal space to female and male political actors, promoting the idea of equal access to political power, since they are recognized as a holder of power with a social responsibility to respect gender equality. However, as previous research shows, political news coverage is characterized by so-called “gendered mediation” (Gidengil and Everitt 1999), i.e., gender imbalance, stereotypes, and a lack of discussions about gender inequality. Scholars point to media logic, organization, and individual characteristics of journalists as the main reasons for this pattern, but still very little is known about how and why gendered mediation is practiced and processed in political news. This dissertation focuses on gendering understood as the perceived imprint of gender on the media portrayal of politics and politicians, as well as the processes by which gendered representations materialize. By applying a perspective of comparative journalism culture studies (Hanitzsch 2007; Hanitzsch and Donsbach 2012), it examines the processes and modes of origin of gendering as they are perceived and experienced by journalists. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with 40 journalists working for the quality press in Russia and Sweden. The results show that the national culture of political journalism, and the context it is located within, are of crucial importance for understanding gendering and its modes of origin. Gendering may cause problems to the democratic development of society and the position of the quality press in it; however, it also offers a potential for promoting gender equality. The choice of the form of gendering does not fully depend on journalists. It depends on the contextual possibilities for journalists to fulfill the gender-ethical ideal of the quality outlet as long as they need to meet the demands of society and market, and to face the challenges of political communication

Local, national, transnational: shifting audiences in Ukraine

Since 2013, scholars have been discussing events happening in Ukraine from the perspective of the “war of narratives” (Khaldarova and Pantti 2016). In this war, information has become one of the main weapons (Hoskins and O’Loughlin 2010), and fight for the publics has crossed the borders of the ordinary economic and political struggles. Previous research has mainly focused on the attempts of the Russian mainstream state-controlled media and other actors (e.g. trolls on social media) to influence the Russian-speaking audiences in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere by spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda (see Pantti 2016). Less attention has been given to the Ukrainian media community and the internal processes in it in the period of crisis (Bolin, Jordan & Ståhlberg 2016). Being a part of the research project ”From nation branding to information war”, this paper focuses on the visions of the publics by the Ukrainian media community today. How do representatives of the media community imagine and perceive their audiences? What are the changes that have occurred along with the territorial changes – loss of Crimea to Russia and establishment of selfproclaimed ”people’s republics” in the East of the country? And which language do media producers choose today to speak to their audiences? Through the prism of “imagined audiences” (e.g. Litt and Hargitai 2016, boyd 2008) and “imagined communities” (Anderson 2006), this paper discusses several aspects of the changes in the visions of the audiences by the Ukrainian media community. First, it focuses on the visions of the audiences by the journalists who due to the crisis had to move geographically and, thus, work for a different audience today. As such, it takes up the cases of journalists who moved from Crimea and the socalled LPR and DPR to Kyiv or other Ukrainian regions. Another case is journalists from Russia who moved to Ukraine for ideological reasons. Second, the paper discusses the reactions of the media community to the need for reaching out to the audiences in Crimea and so-called DPR/LPR, the technological and ideological challenges of this communication. Third, it focuses on a serious challenge and change concerning the language, in which the audiences are addressed. Due to new legislative proposals and, according to some media experts, economic reasons, Ukrainian language is becoming more and more dominant both in broadcast and printed media. Yet, simultaneously Ukraine is one of successful producers of transnational entertainment products in Russian language (e.g. popular travel show “Oryol i Reshka” by TeenSpirit Production which is broadcast in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan).Propaganda and management of information in the Ukraine-Russia conflict: From nation branding to information wa

Between Dialogue and Confrontation: Two Countries — One Profession Project and the Split in Ukrainian Journalism Culture

In a process of continuously adjusting to and counteracting the circumstances of conflict since 2014, the Ukrainian media community has become polarized (Budivska & Orlova, 2017). Nygren et al. (2018) observe a confrontation between the ideal of neutrality in coverage and favoring “patriotic journalism” in practice among Ukrainian journalists. This article takes this discussion further and highlights the role of professional journalism associations and international organizations in the struggles within the journalism culture in the situation of conflict. The article uses Ginosar’s (2015) interpretation of Hanitzsch’s (2007) model of journalism culture and Mouffe’s (2013) conceptualization of agonistic vs. antagonistic struggle to discuss the project Two Countries — One Profession is initiated and supported by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Finally, it draws on the reactions by the Ukrainian media community.In a process of continuously adjusting to and counteracting the circumstances of conflict since 2014, the Ukrainian media community has become polarized (Budivska & Orlova, 2017). Nygren et al. (2018) observe a confrontation between the ideal of neutrality in coverage and favoring “patriotic journalism” in practice among Ukrainian journalists. This article takes this discussion further and highlights the role of professional journalism associations and international organizations in the struggles within the journalism culture in the situation of conflict. The article uses Ginosar’s (2015) interpretation of Hanitzsch’s (2007) model of journalism culture and Mouffe’s (2013) conceptualization of agonistic vs. antagonistic struggle to discuss the project Two Countries — One Profession is initiated and supported by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Finally, it draws on the reactions by the Ukrainian media community

Local, national, transnational: shifting audiences in Ukraine

Since 2013, scholars have been discussing events happening in Ukraine from the perspective of the “war of narratives” (Khaldarova and Pantti 2016). In this war, information has become one of the main weapons (Hoskins and O’Loughlin 2010), and fight for the publics has crossed the borders of the ordinary economic and political struggles. Previous research has mainly focused on the attempts of the Russian mainstream state-controlled media and other actors (e.g. trolls on social media) to influence the Russian-speaking audiences in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere by spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda (see Pantti 2016). Less attention has been given to the Ukrainian media community and the internal processes in it in the period of crisis (Bolin, Jordan & Ståhlberg 2016). Being a part of the research project ”From nation branding to information war”, this paper focuses on the visions of the publics by the Ukrainian media community today. How do representatives of the media community imagine and perceive their audiences? What are the changes that have occurred along with the territorial changes – loss of Crimea to Russia and establishment of selfproclaimed ”people’s republics” in the East of the country? And which language do media producers choose today to speak to their audiences? Through the prism of “imagined audiences” (e.g. Litt and Hargitai 2016, boyd 2008) and “imagined communities” (Anderson 2006), this paper discusses several aspects of the changes in the visions of the audiences by the Ukrainian media community. First, it focuses on the visions of the audiences by the journalists who due to the crisis had to move geographically and, thus, work for a different audience today. As such, it takes up the cases of journalists who moved from Crimea and the socalled LPR and DPR to Kyiv or other Ukrainian regions. Another case is journalists from Russia who moved to Ukraine for ideological reasons. Second, the paper discusses the reactions of the media community to the need for reaching out to the audiences in Crimea and so-called DPR/LPR, the technological and ideological challenges of this communication. Third, it focuses on a serious challenge and change concerning the language, in which the audiences are addressed. Due to new legislative proposals and, according to some media experts, economic reasons, Ukrainian language is becoming more and more dominant both in broadcast and printed media. Yet, simultaneously Ukraine is one of successful producers of transnational entertainment products in Russian language (e.g. popular travel show “Oryol i Reshka” by TeenSpirit Production which is broadcast in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan).Propaganda and management of information in the Ukraine-Russia conflict: From nation branding to information wa

Crisis and journalism culture transformation: The case of Ukraine

Journalism culture is described by scholars as “one of the resources journalists draw upon to coordinate their activities as reporters, photographers, and editors” (Zelizer 2005, p. 204). Importantly, journalism cultures should be analyzed not only in connection to the contexts, but also in and as processes (Voronova 2014, p. 221). While most journalism cultures in the world face similar challenges, such as commercialization and digitalization, some of them are challenged by more radical challenges, such as war conflicts. Ukrainian journalism culture since 2013 is undergoing a painful process of continuously adjusting to and counteracting the circumstances of conflict, with external and internal propaganda (e.g. coming from the so-called “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk), economic pressure being a consequence of the more general crisis, and guidelines coming from the state institutions, such as the Ministry of Information Policy (MIP) (e.g. Bolin, Jordan & Ståhlberg 2016, Pantti 2016, Nygren & Hök 2016).  Nygren et al. (2016), based on content analysis and interviews with journalists, conclude that one of the main challenges for the Ukrainian journalists today is a conflict between the ideal of neutrality in coverage and favoring of “patriotic journalism” in practice. This paper takes this discussion further and suggests to look at how the professional journalism organizations in Ukraine reflect upon this conflict, which journalists themselves define as a split between journalists and “Glory-to-Ukraine-journalists” (Sklyarevskaya 2016, October 20th). How does the participation of Ukrainian journalism organizations in the discussion of objectivity vs. patriotism look like on different levels – international, regional, national and local? Is there a possibility to retain a national culture of journalism in the situation of crisis, or does it inevitably end up in splitting to many journalism cultures that have their own rules, beliefs and ideals?  Using Hanitzsch’s model of deconstruction of journalism culture (Hanitzsch 2007, Nygren et al 2016), and focusing specifically on the dimension of epistemological beliefs, this paper analyzes a specific case: project ”Two countries – one profession” initiated and supported by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. The project consists of regular round tables where senior representatives from Ukrainian and Russian professional journalism organizations meet to discuss ways to improve professional standards and safety of journalists, as well as collaborative projects between young journalists from the two countries. The project is perceived as contradictory and provocative by a part of the Ukrainian media community (e.g. Rudenko 2016, December 15th). The paper is based on analysis of observations of meetings between the National Union of  Journalists of Ukraine and the Russian Union of Journalists, interviews with representatives of these and other media organizations and experts in Ukraine, focus groups with the young journalists involved in the project, and negative and positive reactions to this project by the Ukrainian media community.Propaganda and management of information in the Ukraine-Russia conflict: From nation branding to information wa

Gendering in political journalism in the framework of other “ing-s” : Russian and Swedish political journalists about gender, ethnicity and sexual identity as politicians’ characteristics and political categories

This paper explores gendering in political journalism – the perceived imprint of gender on the media portrayal of politics and politicians, as well as the processes whereby gendered media representations materialize. Gendering here is understood as an ambiguous process, which can be either discriminatory or promoting, depending on its manifestations (e.g. gender stereotypes or counter-stereotypes, gender-spotlighting or gender-aware story). Moreover, this paper suggests to study this phenomena from intersectionality perspective (Davis 2008, McCall 2005) in order to understand gendering in the framework of other discriminatory and promoting mechanisms in political news. The paper is based on forty semi-structured interviews with political journalists working for the quality press in Russia and Sweden. The choice of the countries is driven by the wish to explore the difficulties and similarities of the journalists’ conceptualizations of gendering in two very different political and cultural contexts. The paper shows that the journalists in both countries highlight the importance of not only gender mainstreaming, but diversity in the content in general as a democratic value, where gender stands in the same row with other difference-making categories (such as ethnicity, sexuality etc.). The paper highlights the difficulties and contradictions the Russian and Swedish political journalists face trying to achieve their diversity ideal. As such, the paper discusses the reasons for the “double othering” of foreign women politicians in the Russian press and the ridiculing of Russian male politicians in the Swedish press, the attempts of the Russian journalists to remain gender-neutral in the current homophobic context and their Swedish colleagues’ striving for keeping gender as an issue on the media agenda when it is being replaced from the political agenda by the discussions of race and ethnicity issues.Panel: Media, Democracy and Politics in a Perspective of Intersectionality</p

Russophone Diasporic Journalism : Production and Producers in the Changing Communicative Landscape

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