Date of Award

8-20-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Mass Communication

First Advisor

Kwasi Boateng

Abstract

The mass media system in Belarus is characterized by the coexistence of two types of mass media - state-run and independent. This study looks at the difference in characteristics of coverage in these two types of media outlets in terms of diversity of perspectives, argument construction, and propaganda framing. A significant difference in the nature of discourse on the major events in Belarus in 2011 in state-run and independent media exposed their distinct ideological viewpoints. State-run media favored a pro-government perspective and widely presented anti-opposition and anti-revolutionary opinion. Lack of plurality and rational arguments, anti-globalization and Soviet nostalgia rhetoric were combined with multiple occasions of visual falsehood in the state-run television program. Coverage in the independent media presented diverse perspectives and different aspects of the events. The frames of the authoritarian regime with the idealized representation of the opposition forces could have influenced the objectiveness of the reporting in the independent outlets.

Download

Share

COinS