Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1629
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item MIKHAIL LESIN’S ROLE IN SHAPING THE RUSSIAN MEDIA LANDSCAPE(2023) Rostova, Nataliya; Yaros, Ronald; Dolbilov, Mikhail; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis is one of the first academic attempts to evaluate the career path of Mikhail Lesin (1958-2015), former Minister for Press, Tele- and Radio Broadcasting, and Mass Communications, shortly – Press Minister (1999-2004), Presidential adviser on media (2004- 2009), and one of the founders of Video International, a pioneer in Russia’s nascent advertising market. Lesin used his powerful post to enable the State to wrestle control of the national TV channels – NTV and ORT – from two prominent media tycoons, Vladimir Gusinsky and Boris Berezovsky. The thesis includes four case studies that illustrate Mikhail Lesin methods of influence, as well as 14 qualitative interviews with prominent leaders in journalism. The thesis describes how members of the political elite can influence and create media systems in countries where governing institutions are absent or weak. The interviewees for this thesis provide us with valuable insight into Russian media after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and how crucial the media's role is to the political culture.Item Riot on the Hill: International Coverage of a U.S. Insurrection Attempt(2021-08) Mulupi, Dinfin; Clements-Housser, Keegan S.; Friedman, Jodi M.; Rostova, Nataliya; Ujčić, Gea; Wilson, Matt; Wong, Frankie H.C.; Steiner, LindaOn January 6, 2021, thousands of protesters violently breached the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress convened to certify the election of Joe Biden. This study interrogates how the riot was covered by international media, particularly in countries accustomed to U.S. lectures on democracy, governance and human rights. Using strategic narratives and soft power as theoretical underpinnings, we qualitatively examined 122 articles from 71 media outlets across 31 countries and regions. We focused on narratives regarding America’s reputation, depiction of the event, underlying causes and political implications. Findings indicate media around the world overwhelmingly cast the riot as evidence of a weakening U.S. democracy. Most of the blame was directed at Trump, but also at the political class, failed economic policies, U.S. racism, and the fallibility of democracy. Chinese and Russian media narratives implied a fundamental failure of democratic governance and the West’s waning strength.