The war in Ukraine is covered not only by the media of the parties to the conflict, but also by the world press. Elements of Russian propaganda can be observed in foreign media. However, their percentage is low.
The Center for Strategic Communications, together with the social startup LetsData and Detector Media, monitored the coverage of news about the war in Ukraine in German, French and Italian media, Channel 24 reports. In particular, we studied the percentage of Russian propaganda in the news.
What is the percentage of Kremlin propaganda in the European media market
The period from July 1 to July 29 was chosen for the study. If all news about the war in Ukraine is 100% media product, then the share of Russian propaganda in it is quite small. During July 1-15, the share of propaganda was as follows:
- Italy – 1.7%;
- France – 2.5%;
- Germany – 4.21%.
During the second half of the month, the picture was somewhat different:
- Italy – 0.05% propaganda in the news about the war;< /li>
- France – 0.09% propaganda;
- Germany – 0%.
The most cited pro-Kremlin media in July in Germany, Italy and France are TASS and RIA Novosti.
Toxic vocabulary against Ukraine
Among the media France, Italy and Germany also have a problem with the presence of toxic vocabulary. In the first half of July, France was the leader in terms of its number.
What is meant by toxic vocabulary? We are talking about the use of the word “conflict” in the context of the war, or even “special operation”, which Russians love so much. Also, the war in the European media can be called a “crisis”.
Another problem is the transliteration of Ukrainian city names – often those names that reflect the Russian spelling – Kiev, Odessa, etc. are used. In the first half of July, the percentage of toxic language in the media was significantly higher than in the second half of the month.
The media in Germany, Italy and France are actively talking about Russian war crimes, but at the same time, narratives about peace negotiations are popular among the media with Russia.
