Making Liberation Boring Again: How Russian Television Normalizes the War

• In Event: War and Opposition in Russia’s Media Narratives

Abstract

While the launching of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was perceived by many in the West as a shock to the international system. By contrast, Russian television—the most trusted source of information in Russia—presented the Special Military Operation as a logical, even banal continuation of degenerating relations with Ukraine and the West since 2014. This paper examines the ways that Russian TV normalizes the war for domestic audiences, gradually diminishing its coverage and even turning topics like the supposed liberation of Ukraine into background noise. This analysis draws upon research from the Russian Media Observation and Reporting (RuMOR) project, which has examined broadcast news transcripts and video from Russian national and regional television stations since the start of the war.

Author

• Paul Goode, Carleton U (Canada)