MEDIA FRAMING AND OFFICIAL PROPAGANDA IN ARMENIA DURING THE 45-DAY ARTSAKH WAR

Abstract

Abstract: This study analyzes the role of the media during the 45-day war in Artsakh in 2020. It aims to understand how the local media responded and reacted to official propaganda, particularly to the statements of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The research question of the capstone project is “What was the media framing of the official statements of the Armenian Prime Minister throughout the war?” To answer this question, the study first provides a short timeline of the war and the PM’s statements. Secondly, it conducts a descriptive content analysis of the three local media outlets, which are selected through purposive sampling. The analysis shows that the government-imposed censorship as well as the political economy of the media significantly affected the way the PM’s statements were being framed. The study tries to understand to what extent there was a “rally round the flag” effect and what caused certain behavior from different media outlets. Keywords: Artsakh war, media framing, propaganda, Nikol Pashinyan, rally round the flag