Media and Conflicts: a Study of Their Mutual Interaction in Current Academic Discourse

Section: Theory of Journalism and Media

The paper discusses theoretical issues of interaction between the media and conflicts. The paper studies what types of conflict have become the subject of research by leading Russian and foreign academic journals in the field of media, on which theoretical and methodological approach the study of the conflict was based, which subjects of the conflict are key in the analyzed articles. It was revealed that the main role in the escalation of the conflict belongs to completely different actors: the media, the government, civil society or communities, specific individuals. Ethical principles become the most significant factors in conflict development. This applies both to the media and to the specific communication practices of individuals. The study of academic discourse has highlighted the fundamental importance of ethics and morality as key determinants of conflict development. The discussion raised the question of the need to cultivate ethical and moral values as opposed to the anti-value of “conflict” in accordance with the theory of communicative action by Jurgen Habermas.

Baden C., Tenenboim-Weinblatt K. (2017) Convergent News? A Longitudinal Study of Similarity and Dissimilarity in the Domestic and Global Coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Journal of Communication 67 (1): 1–25. DOI: 10.1111/jcom.12272

Baum M. A., Zhukov Y. (2019) Media Ownership and News Coverage of International Conflict. Political Communication 36 (1): 36–63. DOI: 10.1080/ 10584609.2018.1483606

Baychik A. V. (2020) Massmedia. Tsennosti. Konflikt [Mass Media. Values. Conflict]. St. Petersburg: RKhGA Publ. (In Russian)

Bodrunova S. S., Blekanov I., Smoliarova A., Litvinenko A. (2019) Beyond Left and Right: Real-World Political Polarization in Twitter Discussions on Inter-Ethnic Conflicts. Media and Communication 7 (3): 119–132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i3.1934

Budka P., Brauchler B. (eds.) (2020) Theorising Media and Conflict. New York: Berghahn.

Couldry N., Hepp A. (2017) The Mediated Construction of Reality. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Curran J. (1996) Media and Democracy. London: Routledge.

Dahrendorf R. (1994) Elementy teorii sotsial’nogo konflikta [Elements of Social Conflict Theory]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya 5: 142–147. (In Russian)

Dunas D. V., Vartanov S. A. (2020) Emerging Digital Media Culture in Russia: Modeling the Media Consumption of Generation Z. Journal of Multicultural Discourses 15 (7): 1–18. DOI: 10.1080/17447143.2020.1751648

Eskjaer M., Hjarvard S., Mortensen M. (eds.) (2015) The Dynamics of Mediatized Conflicts. New York: Peter Lang. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3726/978-1-4539-1620-9

Galtung J. (2002) Peace Journalism – a Challenge. In K. Wilhelm, L. Heikki (eds.) Journalism and the New World Order. Vol 2. Studying War and the Media. Göteborg: Nordicom.

Gol’braykh V. B. (2015) Ekologicheskiy konflikt na rossiyskom televidenii: diskursivnye vozmozhnosti protestnogo dvizheniya [Ecological Conflict on Russian Television: Discursive Potential of the Protest Movement]. Mediascope 3. (In Russian). Available at: http://mediascope.ru/1774 (accessed: 22.07.2021).

Gol’braykh V. B. (2019) Sotsial’nye media v lokal’nykh ekologicheskikh konfliktakh [Social Media in Local Ecological Conflicts]. Vestn. S.-Peterb. un-ta. Sotsiologiya 12 (4): 368–384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu12.2019.405 (In Russian)

Gorbacheva E. N., Dubenets N. B. (2019) Vyrazhenie obvineniya v amerikanskom diplomaticheskom diskurse v situatsii mezhdunarodnogo konflikta [Expression of Accusation in American Diplomatic Discourse in the Situation of International Conflict]. Kommunikativnye issledovaniya 4 (6): 990–1002. DOI: 10.24147/2413-6182.2019.6(4).990-1002 (In Russian)

Gvirsman S. D., Huesmann L., Dubow E. F., Landau S. F., et al. (2016) The Longitudinal Effects of Chronic Mediated Exposure to Political Violence on Ideological Beliefs about Political Conflicts Among Youths. Political Communication 33 (1): 98–117. DOI: 10.1080/10584609.2015.1010670

Habermas J. (2006) Moral’noe soznanie i kommunikativnoe deystvie [Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action]. St. Petersburg: Nauka Publ. (In Russian)

Hjarvard S. (2013) The Mediatization of Culture and Society. London: Routledge.

Ivantsova E. V. (2020) Rechevoe povedenie dialektnoy yazykovoy lichnosti v konfliktnykh situatsiyakh [Speech Behavior of a Dialect Linguistic Persona in Conflict Situations]. Vestn. Tomsk. gos. un-ta. Filologiya 66: 26–44. DOI: 10.17223/19986645/66/2 (In Russian)

Ivantsova E. V., Chernykh Z. V. (2016) Narushenie norm rechevogo povedeniya kak prichina konfliktov v studencheskoy kommunikatsii. Vestn. Tomsk. gos. un-ta. Filologiya 2016 5 (43): 31–45. DOI: 10.17223/19986645/43/3 (In Russian)

John N. A., Dvir-Gvirsman S. (2015) “I Don’t Like You Any More”: Facebook Unfriending by Israelis During the Israel-Gaza Conflict of 2014. Journal of Communication 65 (6): 953–974. DOI: 10.1111/jcom.12188

Kalmoe N. P. (2015) Mixed Emotions: Beyond Fear and Hatred in International Conflict, by Andrew A. G. Ross. Political Communication 32 (1): 179–182. DOI: 10.1080/10584609.2015.987096

Kalmoe N. P., Gubler J. R., Wood D. A. (2018) Toward Conflict or Compromise? How Violent Metaphors Polarize Partisan Issue Attitudes. Political Communication 35 (3): 333–352. DOI: 10.1080/10584609.2017.1341965

Kalyuga A. A. (2015) Osveshchenie pressoy krizisa v Ukraine [Press Coverage of the Ukrainian Crisis]. Nauka o cheloveke: gumanitarnye issledovaniya 1 (19): 61–66. (In Russian)

Kazakov A. A. (2015) Atributivnye povestki dnya i freymy «Rossiyskoy gazety» i «Novoy gazety» v kontekste metodov vozdeystviya na auditoriyu (na primere osveshcheniya konflikta na yugo-vostoke Ukrainy) [Attributive Agendas and Frames of Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Novaya Gazeta in the Context of Methods of Audience Impact (as exemplified by the coverage of the conflict in the South-East of Ukraine]. Mediascope 2. (In Russian). Available at: http://mediascope.ru/1706 (accessed: 14.09.2021).

Kean J. (2020) Demokratiya i dekadans media [Democracy and Media Decadence]. Moscow: State Univ. Higher School of Economics Publ. (In Russian)

Kinash Yu. S. (2017) Rol’ SMI i «novykh media» v sovremennykh politicheskikh konfliktakh [The Role of Mass Media and New Media in Modern Political Conflicts]. Vestn. Mosk. gos. obl. un-ta 4. DOI: 10.18384/2224-0209-2017-4-831 (In Russian)

Khrul’ V. M. (2017) Konflikt povestok: religioznaya zhizn’ Kryma i ee osveshchenie v mestnykh pechatnykh i internet-SMI [The Conflict of Agendas: Religious Life of Crimea and Its Coverage in Local Print and Online Media]. Mediascope 2. (In Russian). Available at: http://mediascope.ru/2302 (accessed: 22.07.2021).

Kostareva E. V., Strinyuk S. A. (2017) Kontsept «Severoirlandskiy konflikt» («The Troubles»): metodika issledovaniya i reprezentatsiya na materiale mediynogo i khudozhestvennogo diskursov [“The Troubles”: Methods of Studying and Representation Based on Media and Literary Discourses]. Vestn. Tomsk. gos. un-ta. Filologiya 48: 19–47. DOI: 10.17223/19986645/48/2 (In Russian)

Labush N. S., Puyu A. S. (2019) Mediatizatsiya ekstremal’nykh form politicheskogo protsessa: voyna, revolyutsiya, ekstremizm [Mediatization of Extreme Forms of the Political Process: War, Revolution, Extremism]. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg St. Univ. Publ. (In Russian)

Manning P. (2001) News and News Sources. London: Sage. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446218082

Marx K. (1960) Grazhdanskaya voyna vo Frantsii [The Civil War in France]. In Marks K., Engel’s F. Soch. 2-e izd. T. 17 [Marx K., Engels F. Works. 2nd ed. Vol. 17]. Moscow: GIZ polit. lit. Publ. Pp. 317–370. (In Russian)

Moody S. J. (2018) Fitting in or Standing out? A Conflict of Belonging and Identity in Intercultural Polite Talk at Work. Applied Linguistics 39 (6): 775–798. DOI: 10.1093/applin/amw047

Merkley E. (2020) Are Experts (News) Worthy? Balance, Conflict, and Mass Media Coverage of Expert Consensus. Political Communication 37 (4): 530–549. DOI: 10.1080/10584609.2020.1713269

Ndinojuo B. E., Ihejirika W. C., Okon G. B. (2020) Prevalent News Frames in News Reports About Military Operations Against Boko Haram in North-East Nigeria. World of Media. Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies 1: 51– 72. DOI: 10.30547/worldofmedia.1.2020.3

Neumann R. (2015) Transforming Media Coverage of Violent Conflicts: the New Face of War, by Zohar Kampf and Tamar Liebes. Political Communication 32 (1): 177–179. DOI: 10.1080/10584609.2015.987095

Novgorodova A. I. (2019) Osveshchenie voyny 2003 goda v Irake v materialakh «N’yu-York Tayms» [Coverage of the 2003 War in Iraq in The New York Times]. Vestn. Mosk. un-ta. Ser. 10: Zhurnalistika 3: 141–162. DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.3.2019.141162 (In Russian)

Novgorodova A. I. (2020) Otrazhenie irakskikh konfliktov v The New York Times (na primere osveshcheniya dvukh operatsiy (1991, 2003 gg.) v Persidskom zalive) [Reflection of Iraqi Conflicts in The New York Times (a case study of coverage of two operations (1991, 2003) in the Persian Gulf)]. Mediascope 1. (In Russian). Available at: http://www.mediascope.ru/2600 (accessed: 22.07.2021). DOI: 10.30547/mediascope.1.2020.4

Ovodova S. N., Zhigunov A. Yu. (2018) Voyna soobshchestv: reprezentatsiya konflikta v urbanisticheskom diskurse [The War of Communities: Conflict Representation in Urbanistic Discourse]. Kommunikativnye issledovaniya 4 (18): 112–127. DOI: 10.25513/2413-6182.2018.4.112-127 (In Russian)

Prokhorov E. P. (2011) Vvedenie v teoriyu zhurnalistiki: uchebnik dlya studentov vuzov. 8-e izd., ispr. [Introduction to Journalism Theory: a Textbook for University Students. 8th ed., revised]. Moscow: Aspekt Press Publ. (In Russian)

Simmel G. (1996) Izbrannoe. T. 1, 2 [Selected Works. Vol. 1, 2]. Moscow: Yurist Publ. (In Russian)

Smirnova O. V., Shkondin M. V. (2021) Issledovaniya media i zhurnalistiki v kontekste konfliktologii: sistemno-teoreticheskie aspekty [Media and Journalism Studies in the Context of Conflict Resolution Studies: the Systemic and Theoretical Aspects]. Voprosy teorii i praktiki zhurnalistiki 10 (1): 5–21. DOI: 10.17150/2308-6203.2021.10(1).5-21 (In Russian)

Tai Y., Fu K. (2020) Specificity, Conflict, and Focal Point: A Systematic Investigation into Social Media Censorship in China. Journal of Communication 70 (6): 842–867. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqaa032

Tyshetskaya A. Yu. (2021) Inflyuensery vs traditsionnye media: novye institutsional’nye konflikty mediaprostranstva [Influencers vs Traditional Media: New Institutional Conflicts of the Media Landscape]. In A. A. Malyshev (ed.) Media v sovremennom mire. 60-e Peterburgskie chteniya: sb. mat. Mezhdunar. nauch foruma (30 iyunya – 2 iyulya 2021 g.): v 2 t. T. 2 [Media in the Modern World. 60th Petersburg Readings. Proceedings of the International Scientific Forum (June 30 – July 2, 2021): in 2 vol. Vol. 2]. St. Petersburg: Mediapapir Publ. Pp. 148–150.

Ugwuoke J. C., Erubami J. A. (2021) Old War, New Battleground: Deconstructing the Potency of Social Media for Community Engagement in Nigeria’s Human Rights Advocacy Efforts. World of Media. Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies 2: 56–74. DOI: 10.30547/worldofmedia.2.2021.3

Valenzuela S., Piña M., Ramirwz J. (2017) Behavioral Effects of Framing on Social Media Users: How Conflict, Economic, Human Interest, and Morality Frames Drive News Sharing: Framing Effects on News Sharing. Journal of Communication 67 (5): 803–826. DOI: 10.1111/jcom.12325

Vartanova E. L. (2014) Postsovetskie transformatsii rossiyskikh SMI i zhurnalistiki [Post-Soviet Transformations of Russian Mass Media and Journalism]. Moscow: MediaMir Publ. (In Russian)

Vartanova E. L. (2019) Otechestvennaya teoriya media: osnovnye ponyatiya. Slovar’ [Russian Media Theory: Basic Concepts. A Dictionary]. Moscow: Moscow St. Univ. Faculty of Journalism Publ. (In Russian)

Vartanova E. L. (2021) Media i sotsial’nyy konflikt: k voprosu o dvoystvennoy prirode vzaimosvyazi [Media and Social Conflict: Towards the Dual Nature of Interrelation]. In Zhurnalistika v 2020 godu: tvorchestvo, professiya, industriya [Journalism in 2020: Creativity, Profession, Industry]. Moscow: Moscow St. Univ. Faculty of Journalism Publ. Pp. 307–309. (In Russian)

Vartanova E., Gladkova A. (2020) Old and New Discourses in Emerging States: Communication Challenges of the Digital Age. Journal of Multicultural Discourses 15 (2): 119–125. DOI: 10.1080/17447143.2020.1780244

Vartanova E. L., Gladkova A. A., Dunas D. V. (2021) «Konflikt» v aktual’nykh mediaissledovaniyakh: problemno-tematicheskoe pole v otechestvennom i zarubezhnom akademicheskom diskurse [“Conflict“ in Current Media Studies: Problematic and Thematic Field in Russian and Foreign Academic Discourse]. In A. A. Malyshev (ed.) Media v sovremennom mire. 60-e Peterburgskie chteniya: sb. mat. Mezhdunar. nauch. foruma (30 iyunya – 2 iyulya 2021 g.): v 2 t. T. 2 [Media in the Modern World. 60th Petersburg Readings. Proceedings of the International Scientific Forum (June 30 – July 2, 2021): in 2 vol. Vol. 2]. Pp. 133– 135. (In Russian)

White C. J. (2018) Agency and Emotion in Narrative Accounts of Emergent Conflict in an L2 Classroom. Applied Linguistics 39 (4): 579–598. DOI: 10.1093/applin/amw026

Yakova T. S. (2018) Massmedia i konflikty sovremennogo mira [Mass Media and the Conflicts of the Modern World]. Mediascope 4. (In Russian). Available at: http://www.mediascope.ru/2488 (accessed: 22.07.2021). DOI: 10.30547/mediascope.4.2018.6.