Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space: September 2020
Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space as exemplified by the articles published by ria.ru, rbr.ru and russian.rt.com between 31 August and 27 September 2020.
Below are presented the partial results of the monitoring conducted by the Center for Propaganda and Disinformation Analysis as a part of the “Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space” project and implemented during the period of 3 August 2020 to 28 February 2021.
Source: Own elaboration, Center for Propaganda and Disinformation Analysis
Quantitative analysis:
Monitored media outlets: ria.ru, rbc.ru, russian.rt.com
Subject area: Poland, European Union, United Kingdom, Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia)
Time frame: 31 August-27 September 2020
Total number of news published on ria.ru, rbr.ru and russian.rt.com: 29512, namely 21319 news from ria.ru (from 5065 to 5428 news per week), 3075 news from rbr.ru (from 710 to 827 news per week) and 5118 news from russian.rt.com (from 1250 to 1304 news per week). There was an increase in total number of published news compared to August 2020.
Total number of news about Poland, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) in the monitored media: 1834, namely 930 news from ria.ru, 508 news from rbc.ru and 396 news from russian.rt.com. The news about Poland, the EU, the UK and Baltic states accounted for 4,4% of all the news published on ria.ru, 16,5% on rbc.ru and 7,7% – on russian.rt.com. This news together accounted for 6,2% of all the news published in the monitored websites in September 2020. There was an increase in total number of news on monitored topics, whilst the percentage of all published news has decreased compared to the previous month. September 2020 saw the highest total number of published news about Poland, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) in the monitored media.
Total number of the monitored news: 1834, including 542 news on the European Union (which accounts for 1,8% of all the news published in the monitored media in September 2020), 522 news on the United Kingdom (1,8%), 426 news on Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) (1,4%) and 344 news on Poland (1,2%).
Source: Own elaboration, Center for Propaganda and Disinformation Analysis
Qualitative analysis:
In case of the monitoring of articles referring to the European Union, it was noticeable that Russian media and Russian officials were more reserved towards the political actions of the EU Member States.
Russian information space in the context of the European Union was characterized by a great diversity of topics that were of interest to the media. Political, economic and COVID-19-related issues were the three dominant subject areas.
During the analysed period, among the prevalent topics the political situation in Belarus after the presidential elections, the case of Alexei Navalny and the issue of Nord Stream 2 construction can be listed.
Quantitatively, the monitoring of information on the European Union included a significantly larger number of articles per week compared to, for example, Poland, which also indicates a considerable interest of Russian media in the issue of the relations with the EU and the internal situation of the EU Member States.
An important theme was building the image of Russia as a key player in the European international relations and highlighting that it is the European leaders – E. Macron and A. Merkel – that have been reaching out to V. Putin regarding the stabilisation of the situation in Belarus. Invariably, Russian diplomacy was invoking the international law and emphasizing that Russia upholds the international order, including the sovereignty of states.
The monitoring and analysis was conducted by: Adam Błonowski, Bartosz Gralicki
Project coordinator and editorial supervision: Marta Kowalska
Graphic layout and editorial supervision: Katarzyna Rogala
READ THE FULL REPORT: This article is part of the “Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space: the image of Poland, NATO, European Union, United Kingdom, Baltic states and Belarus in the Russian online media outlets”.
See related:
- Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space between 3 and 30 August 2020
- Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space between 28 September and 1 November 2020
- Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space between 2-29 November 2020
- Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space between 30 November 2020 and 3 January 2021
- Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space between 4-31 January 2021
- Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space between 1-21 February 2021
- Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space between 31 August 2020 and 14 February 2021
The publication is part of the report: “Monitoring and analysis of the Russian information space”. The project was carried out in cooperation of the Center for Propaganda and Disinformation Analysis (CAPD) and Open Information Partnership (OIP). The publication solely reflects the authors’ opinions and should not be equated with the official position of the Open Information Partnership. The publication serves as contribution to the public debate.