| Popis: |
This paper analyzes the evolution of Russian and Belarusian state-owned and state- influenced media coverage of the 2020 pro-democracy protests in Belarus. The pro-democracy protests came during a difficult time in Belarus-Russia relations, as President Lukashenka had become closer to the European Union and was blaming Russia for his declining popularity, but the two countries rapidly renewed close ties in the aftermath of the protests. My analysis finds that Russian coverage was overall consistently negative but shifted from focusing on the election and protests themselves to framing them as part of geopolitical conflict with the West. Belarusian media coverage shifted from positive to negative and converged with Russian media coverage as journalists were brought into Belarusian state media from Russia after hundreds of Belarusian journalists walked out in support of the pro-democracy protests. |
