Diversionary News: Media Coverage of Economic Conditions on Russian TV

• In Event: Strategies of Authoritarian Rule

Abstract

How do authoritarian governments use media to shape perceptions about economic performance? We argue that authoritarian governments have both the incentive and the ability to reduce news coverage of economic performance during protracted periods of economic decline or crisis. In this paper, we analyze 14 years of nightly news broadcasts from a state-controlled television station in Russia, Channel One, to examine how the composition of pro-governmental news coverage changes to divert attention away from souring economic conditions.

Authors

• Quintin H. Beazer, Florida State University

• Charles David Crabtree, Dartmouth College

• Holger Lutz Kern, Florida State University