5G-TEEMALISED SÜÜNARRATIIVID VENEMAA STRATEEGILISES KOMMUNIKATSIOONIS: RT, SPUTNIKU, PERVÕI KANALI, NTV, ITAR-TASSi MEEDIAKAJASTUSE VÕRDLEV ANALÜÜS

5G-RELATED BLAME NARRATIVES IN RUSSIAN STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MEDIA COVERAGES BY RT, SPUTNIK, PERVIJ KANAL, NTV, AND ITAR-TASS

Abstract

In this paper, we analysed the ways in which Russian state-funded news portals have used certain articulations of blame regarding the adoption of the 5G cellular technology for strategic purposes. In the Kremlin-backed Russophone and Anglophone media, the coverage of 5G technology has revealed a multilayered blame discourse. In this discourse, the US is depicted as a distributor of false information on the 5G technology, groundlessly slandering China and forcefully pressuring its allies; China has also accused the US for its pressuring politics. Both the Russophone and Anglophone coverages were characterised by the following: even though the US accusations against China originated mainly from American politicians, the stories and their tone were framed by comments (both by experts and journalists), highlighting the groundless nature of these accusations. The main differences between Russophone and Anglophone media are the following. Firstly, the Russophone media over-emphasised the pressure that the US put on its allies. Secondly, at the end of the analysed period, the Russophone media explicitly presented, for the first time, Russian position in the global confrontation between the US and China. Evidently, Russia supports the technological alliance with China because they “trust them more than the USA”. Strategic narratives can be interpreted on three levels: on a policy, identity, and system level. On the level of a strategic policy narrative, the blaming devices used in both Russophone and Anglophone media outlets concerned two aspects. Firstly, it was stressed that the US government has not presented any clear evidence to the public about the security risks accompanying the use of Chinese 5G technologies; thus, the US accusations against China are, in fact, slander. The other aspect concerns a depiction of the confrontation between the US and China in terms of a trade war policy narrative: by smearing China, the US is, in fact, covering up its actual concern about coming off as the second-best from the economic and technological progress race with China.