Comparative Analysis of Political Agenda-Setting Strategies

The United States and Russia (2014–2020)

Tags: #agenda-setting #media #Russia #USA #political-media
Links: [[Agenda-Setting Theory]] | [[Media Bias]] | [[Frame Analysis]]

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📝 Introduction

The media plays a crucial role in shaping political narratives by determining which topics are covered and which are ignored. This thesis explores agenda-setting strategies in Russian and U.S. media between 2014–2020, particularly in foreign policy and domestic political coverage.

Key Research Question

➡️ What are the specific agenda-setting strategies used in the U.S. and Russia?

Key Concepts

• Agenda-Setting Theory ([[Agenda-Setting Theory]])
• Framing & Issue Salience ([[Frame Analysis]])
• Bias & Censorship in Media
• Noisiness Strategy (Russia) vs. Framing Strategy (USA)

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📖 Theoretical Framework

1. Agenda-Setting Theory ([[Agenda-Setting Theory]])

• Media does not tell people what to think but rather what to think about.
• Concept of Issue Salience: The importance assigned to an issue based on frequency & prominence.
• McCombs & Shaw (1972): Media shapes public discourse by focusing on selected issues.

2. Framing Theory ([[Frame Analysis]])

• How issues are covered matters: media frames shape public perception.
• Example: U.S. media frames Trump-Russia ties differently than Obama-Russia relations.

3. Media Systems Theory

• Hallin & Mancini (2014): Media systems differ by country:
  • 🏛 U.S. = Liberal Model (market-driven, competitive, partisan)
  • 🏢 Russia = Statist-Commercial Model (state-controlled with private influence)

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🎯 Hypotheses

1. Bias Exists in Both Countries
   • Foreign policy coverage is skewed, often silencing certain topics.
2. Post-2014 Tensions Recreated a Cold War Narrative
   • U.S. & Russia amplify antagonistic coverage.
3. Russia Uses "Noisiness" Strategy
   • Overloads media with foreign policy to distract from internal issues.
4. U.S. Media Aligns with Partisan Interests
   • Political coverage favors party priorities.

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🔍 Methodology

📑 Data Collection

• 🇺🇸 U.S. Media: The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, Reuters.
• 🇷🇺 Russian Media: TASS, Vedomosti, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, RBC, Meduza.

🛠 Analysis Techniques

• Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for topic modeling.
• TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency) for topic relevance.
• Chi-Square Tests for bias detection.
• Time-Series Analysis to track agenda shifts (2014–2020).

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📊 Findings & Analysis

🇷🇺 Russia’s Media Agenda

1. Structure & Trends

• Dominant Topics:
  • 📉 Economic Issues (24%) – Oil, Ruble, Sanctions.
  • 🌍 Foreign Policy (15%) – U.S., Ukraine, NATO.
  • 🏛 Domestic Politics (13%) – Government, Duma laws.
  • 🚔 Law Enforcement (7%) – Police, Security forces.

2. Bias & "Noisiness" Strategy

• "Noisiness" Strategy → Foreign policy overshadows domestic issues.
• Example: Navalny:
  • TASS & RBC: Minimal coverage (legal focus only).
  • Meduza: Extensive coverage (protests, arrests).
• Underreporting Key Events:
  • Protests downplayed.
  • Constitutional amendments covered minimally.

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🇺🇸 U.S. Media Agenda

1. Structure & Trends

• 🏛 Domestic Politics Dominate (Largest Share)
• 🌍 Foreign Policy (~20%) – Russia, China, NATO.
• 🚨 Crime & Social Issues – Protests, Immigration, Police violence.

2. Partisan Bias

• Democratic Politicians:
  • 📌 Fox News: Negative coverage (Biden, Obama, Clinton).
  • 📌 CNN/Washington Post: Favorable framing.
• Republican Politicians:
  • 📌 NYT, CNN: Negative coverage (Trump).
  • 📌 Fox News, Breitbart: Positive framing.

3. Framing Strategy

• Foreign events used to reinforce partisan narratives.
• Example: Trump & Russia
  • Liberal media (NYT, CNN) framed Trump’s ties to Russia differently than Obama’s Russia policy.

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🆚 Comparative Findings

Factor	Russia 🇷🇺	United States 🇺🇸
Media Structure	State-controlled, centralized	Market-driven, partisan
Agenda Focus	Foreign policy-heavy (Ukraine, NATO, Syria)	Domestic politics-heavy (elections, party conflicts)
Bias	Underreporting opposition news, focus on geopolitics	Partisan-driven coverage
Strategy	"Noisiness" (Distraction) – flooding with foreign topics	"Framing" (Partisan Narratives)

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🏁 Conclusion

• Russia employs agenda silencing by flooding news with foreign policy.
• U.S. media is highly partisan, shaping narratives for political advantage.
• Both countries manipulate international news to fit domestic objectives.

Future Research:

• Sentiment Analysis: Explore emotional framing of topics.
• Social Media Influence: Role of Twitter, Telegram, and VK.
• Expanding Comparison: Other countries beyond U.S. & Russia.

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📌 References

• [[Agenda-Setting Theory]]
• [[Frame Analysis]]
• [[Media Bias]]

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🔖 Tags & Links for Obsidian

Tags: #media #political-bias #agenda-setting #comparative-analysis
Links:

• 📎 [[Agenda-Setting Theory]]
• 📎 [[Frame Analysis]]
• 📎 [[Media Bias]]

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