Danish news consumers can access a vast supply of news about Russia and our Russian neighbours.
Albeit being varied and generally of high quality, there are significant weaknesses – or room for improvement – in the selection of news.
This report extracts findings from a broader study of the coverage of Russia in Danish news media.
The analysed news media are: the four daily morning newspapers Berlingske, Børsen, Jyllands-Posten and Politiken; the two largest news websites dr.dk and tv2.dk; and the largest daily TV newscasts of national broadcasters DR and TV 2.
The study analyses three weeks around the presidential election in March 2018 and the full month of May 2018.
From a total of more than 1700 stories, 288 were selected based on relevance.
These 288 stories went through a detailed analysis of genres, sources, authors, subjects, focus. 134 of them were chosen for a more detailed qualitative reading/
viewing.
For this report, we have studied all stories for three weeks on Russia’s presidential election in March 2018. And all news coverage on Russia throughout May 2018.
Smaller selections of other news stories from 2017-2019 have been included for reference.
8.1
COVERAGE IN MARCH AND MAY
On Sunday, March 18, 2018, 77 percent of the Russian voters re-elected Vladimir Putin as president. Everybody knew he would be re-elected. Nevertheless, the Russian election enjoyed massive attention from the Danish news media.
In general, the election is portrayed as a pseudo-election. Russia is seen as a managed democracy with a marginalised opposition and its news media under control; an autocracy with democratic elements and moreover, where the election results are distorted.
In March 2018,
President Putin is everywhere in the Danish news media coverage. Only limited space and airtime are granted to other candidates ormajor point of criticism from the international observers). There is an image of Putin painted as a villain and of Russia, and the Russians, as somewhat hostile neighbours.
However, the election weeks in March 2018 were also a rare opportunity to portray and listen to the Russians, with reports from the vast part of Russia outside Moscow. A recurring theme in these reports is that our neighbours are just like us;
all they want is peace on earth and a good life for their grandchildren.
Close to this, however, is a common description of Russia as a second-rank nation; economically, politically, militarily – even morally. This discourse is most prominent in the more comment-based news analyses and columns and in op-eds and editorials. Especially looking into the future, the answers revolve around corruption, conflict and inefficiency.
May 2018
was a Russian month without one single dominant media event;instead, we counted 16 events that received considerable attention plus a dozen minor ones. Two of the events take place in Russia: President Putin’s reinstatement; preparations for the 2018 Soccer World Cup.
The other events do not physically take place in Russia but are directly related to Russia; among them: the expert report on the shooting down of the MH17 aircraft in 2014; the faked killing of a Russian journalist in Ukraine; continuous news reports on Russian influence on the US presidential elections; the Eurovision Song Contest; the Arctic summit in Greenland; the Ice Hockey World Championship in Herning and Copenhagen; Nord Stream II, the Russian-German gas pipeline;
Danske Bank’s laundering of corrupt (Russian) money; and floating Russian nuclear power plant’s journey through Danish seaways.
Minor media events include Politiken’s birthday portrait of German Mathias Rust, who in 1987 landed his Cessna in central Moscow; and dr.dk’s multimedia report from Helsingør on the capsule from a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, used by the first Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen back in September 2015.
Findings from May 2018:
• Putin is less visible than during the presidential elections in March.
• More than half of the stories have conflict as a news criterion.
• The newsrooms produce their own stories, with substantial inputs from agencies and other news media.
• There are virtually no on-site reports and interviews from Russia in May 2018. And ordinary Russians almost disappear as sources, in favour of Danish/Western sources and official Russian sources.
• The Danish angle is hardly seen in the election coverage; by contrast, in May’s general Russia coverage there is a clear Danish angle in more than half of the stories.
The world’s first floating nuclear power plant sailed trough Storebælt in Denmark in May 2018. It created a lot of Danish media coverage but the power plant was harmless, there was no nuclear fuel on board (Photo: Tim Kildeborg Jensen, Ritzau Scanpix).
8.2
RUSSIA IN THE NEWS – PROVIDES SOFT POWER OPPORTUNITIES
Russian actors’ actions at home and abroad receive considerable attention in the Danish news media.
Russia, for example, is prominent in the coverage of US politics in the spring of 2018, in particular related to President Trump’s fight against the investigation into his Russian relations during his 2016 election campaign. In the coverage of European politics, Russia is also highly visible, for example, during the formation of a new Italian government in May 2018. And after the poisoning of Russian ex-spy Skripal, Russia took over the headlines. The crisis hijacked the political and media agendas in the UK, Europe, NATO and the USA. In Russia, media and politicians brought it into the presidential campaign.
When it comes to Danish affairs, Russia dominates the media coverage of defence, military, cyber warfare.
Danish top politicians, with Minister of Defence Claus Hjort Frederiksen in the lead, generally describe Russia as a threatening and aggressive enemy.
Even the doings of the politically neutral Danish royal family are influenced by the media coverage of Russia. In May 2018, the Danish PM makes breaking news by telling about the government’s tightening in on the Crown Prince’s IOC work;
Frederik created Danish media frenzy by voting in favour of letting the doping-ridden Russian athletes participate in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
The prominence in the media coverage of politics and culture provides Russia with soft power opportunities. The news media become intermediaries between foreign actors, citizens and the political system. And it leaves an impression of what the Russians can and will do (notwithstanding what was the actual impact of the activities). This effect – that media coverage becomes part of soft power diplomacy and hybrid war – is one of the effects of the type and extent of Russia’s coverage in the media.