POLITICAL ACTORS REPRESENTATION IN NEW MWDIA OF THE STATES WITH TRANSITIONAL AND AUTHORITATIVE REGIMES (CASES OF UKRAINE AND RUSSIA)

Abstract

The criteria for political discourses differentiation in the states of transitional (Ukraine) and authoritative (Russia) regimes are proposed in the paper. Material for the research is telegram-channels of the states’ leading mass media (posts for Autumn 2021). In the political discourses different activity of political actors and different approach for the actors selection is defined. Formal analysis of political content has shown that political actors in Ukraine are much more active, they are constantly present in the news, generate content for new media etc. Instead, in Russia such a situation is not observed. Analysis of the list of the most popular political actors also showed that there is a significant difference in the presence of the presidents: Zelensky appeared in Ukrainian channels in 8.9-38.8% of posts, Putin in Russian - in 2.3 -5.5% of posts. The affiliation of political actors also differed. In Ukraine domestic politicians dominated, while pro-Kremlin channels gave preference to foreign ones, which may indicate constant attempts to divert subscribers' attention to external threats. There is also a difference in the frames of "scandals" and "activities".