Making Sense of Media at the Times of Geopolitical Crisis: The Case of Ethno-Linguistic Majority and Minority Audiences in the Baltics

• In Event: Geopolitical Crisis, Memory, and Media: Navigating Identity and Political Engagement in the Baltic Sea Region

Abstract

This paper examines how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shaped folk theories of journalism among audiences in Latvia and Estonia, focusing on their broader sociopolitical perceptions. Using an innovative methodology of essay writing and qualitative interviews with 30 participants, it takes a non-media-centric approach to understanding media-related sentiments. The study argues that to grasp how people think and feel about media and journalism, we must first understand how they make sense of their own lives, society, and politics.

Author

• Janis Juzefovics, Riga Stradins U (Latvia)