The Media Coverage of the South Ossetian Conflict
The media coverage of the South Ossetian conflict in 2008
In order to understand the ins and the outs of the South Ossetia conflict, this paper will be focused on the information war waged by both parties: the Russian media propaganda and the pro-Georgian bias in the Western coverage of the conflict. For this, I have selected different reports – from TV or newspapers – in the Russian, American and French press. With regards to the Russian press, I will try to cover the spectrum of the Russian media and to show how the pro-Russian bias is noteworthy even in the most liberal publications. All Russian journalists seem to take part in the “war effort”. I will analyze the TV news reports that were broadcast on evening, August 12, 2008, on the Channel One Pervyi Kanal, the Russian TV Channel with the widest audience. This channel, which is majority owned by the Russian government, has been criticized for the pro-government bias. I will also study a report in Kommersant, a commerce-oriented daily newspaper with a large circulation, which is generally considered as one reliable source of information. The article, written by Olga Allenova on August 9, 2008 is entitled “The first peace-building war”. Then, I will examine a report “Georgia-200” done by an embedded journalist, Arcady Babchenko and published on August 13, 2008, in Novaya Gazeta, a Russian opposition newspaper well-known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian affairs. As for the Western press, I think that the American and French coverage are of particular interest because the United States is a strong ally of Georgia and France claimed to be a more neutral actor in the conflict as its President Nicolas Sarkozy – at this time President-in-Office of the European Union – negotiated the cease-fire. Thus, I have selected two TV reports: “Georgia and Russia fight to control South Ossetia” broadcasted on August 9, 2008, on France 24, an international news channel, which aims to present a
In order to understand the ins and the outs of the South Ossetia conflict, this paper will be focused on the information war waged by both parties: the Russian media propaganda and the pro-Georgian bias in the Western coverage of the conflict. For this, I have selected different reports – from TV or newspapers – in the Russian, American and French press. With regards to the Russian press, I will try to cover the spectrum of the Russian media and to show how the pro-Russian bias is noteworthy even in the most liberal publications. All Russian journalists seem to take part in the “war effort”. I will analyze the TV news reports that were broadcast on evening, August 12, 2008, on the Channel One Pervyi Kanal, the Russian TV Channel with the widest audience. This channel, which is majority owned by the Russian government, has been criticized for the pro-government bias. I will also study a report in Kommersant, a commerce-oriented daily newspaper with a large circulation, which is generally considered as one reliable source of information. The article, written by Olga Allenova on August 9, 2008 is entitled “The first peace-building war”. Then, I will examine a report “Georgia-200” done by an embedded journalist, Arcady Babchenko and published on August 13, 2008, in Novaya Gazeta, a Russian opposition newspaper well-known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian affairs. As for the Western press, I think that the American and French coverage are of particular interest because the United States is a strong ally of Georgia and France claimed to be a more neutral actor in the conflict as its President Nicolas Sarkozy – at this time President-in-Office of the European Union – negotiated the cease-fire. Thus, I have selected two TV reports: “Georgia and Russia fight to control South Ossetia” broadcasted on August 9, 2008, on France 24, an international news channel, which aims to present a
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