In the Eyes of the Russians: Portrayal of American Pullout from Afghanistan in Russian Sputnik for Serbian Audiences

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Abstract

This study examined the portrayal of the United States in news items of the Russian state-sponsored news media Sputnik in the Serbian language. The textual analysis was conducted on 234 news items about the American pullout from Afghanistan. Five dominant themes emerged from the readings of Sputnik news items: Americans as Losers and Taliban as winners, Americans as Incompetent, Americans as Unreliable, Insensitive and Irresponsible, Americans as Duplicitous, and Americans as a Threat to World Peace. These themes correspond to the enemy and failing imperialist images. The findings are interpreted in light of the Image Theory.

Authors

• Ivanka Pjesivac, University of Georgia

• Iveta Imre, University of Mississippi

• Leslie Klein, University of Georgia

• Ana Petrov, University of Toronto