Dr. Anna Tashchenko of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv writes here about her research that identifies dominant visual value patterns in the images that accompany media reports on the Russian war in Ukraine and the media stories of Ukrainian refugees.   ——————————————————— To my beloved mother Alla, grandfather Kazymir, and foster father Iurii, who are already invisible for me. Nothing new under the moon An interview with Ukrainian public philosopher Andrii Baumeister on June 23 proclaimed ‘a post-value world’ due to the unprecedentedly high level of uncertainty, uring the ..read more

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the death of civilians, destruction of lives and livelihoods, and displacement of millions of people. It has also attracted unprecedented media coverage, explains Dr Eva Połońska-Kimunguyi, a Research Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications. This article is based on her research project that explores political and media constructions of the war and highlights their contradictions, racism, and open hypocrisy.  The distinct character of the coverage of the war in Ukraine suggests that whether the war is covered or not, whether civilian ..read more

Myria Georgiou, LSE, and Marek Troszyński, Collegium Civitas, Warsaw recently travelled across the routes followed by many Ukrainian refugees: from the Poland-Ukraine borders to Polish cities and towns. Here, they recount their observations and findings about the nature of the border in wartime. Conducting research at a wartime border is anything but ordinary. Yet, after an intense week of travel and engagement with its Polish and Ukrainian actors, the border reveals itself as somehow “ordinary”, peculiarly expansive, and fundamentally contradictory. The border, we repeatedly recorded in our e ..read more

LSE’s Professor Bart Cammaerts discusses the contrast between the Ukrainian and Russian approaches to the information war that has emerged alongside the physical acts of war taking place. The idea that “in war, truth is the first casualty” is regularly evoked during conflict, with noted attributions from Greek dramatists to Samuel Johnson [1]. A war is never only fought on the physical battleground, but also on the battleground of public opinion, both internal and international. This gives rise to information wars being waged, both by the aggressor and the victim, to justify and legitimate the ..read more

Stephen Cushion, Professor at Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture, at Cardiff University, explains just how different the media landscape is in Russia in comparison to that of many western countries, and the implications of this. Many western countries have a wide range of news sources that are free from direct government interference. From the development of multi-channel television, rolling 24-hour news journalism, to the ever-expanding choice, immediacy and reach of online and social media, the infrastructure of western national media systems makes it hard for states to seize co ..read more

Taner Dogan, Guest Teacher at the LSE, looks at how a set of Turkish drones have become a symbol of resistance in the Russia-Ukraine war, and the implications of this for diplomatic relations. It’s not just Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s signature military t-shirt or social media videos in English, Russian and Ukrainian languages that have played a critical symbolic role in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine: Turkish drones have also became an aesthetic symbol of emotional resistance (Bourdieu) for the Ukrainian people since a song called “Bayraktar” was composed in March 2022, w ..read more

It was announced at the end of February that Kremlin-backed media outlets Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik would be banned in the EU, and the decision was confirmed by the Council of the European Union on 2 March 2022, meaning that no broadcasters or online platforms are permitted to distribute RT/Sputnik content within the EU, and regulators are expected to monitor compliance. The ban had led to heated discussions regarding the potential consequences for freedom of expression and access to information online, and to a proposal for a new crisis mechanism in the latest version of the Digital Servi ..read more

Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems at Michigan State University, explains how and why the Ukrainian president’s unusual communication tactics are succeeding in rallying support for his cause. It seems straight out of an action movie: As the capital city becomes a war zone, the defiant president looks into the camera and delivers a clear and compelling message: “I am here. We will not lay down any weapons.” That’s exactly what Ukrainian President and onetime actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy did on Feb. 25, 2022, in a selfie-style video viewed 3 million times within an hour – part of an e ..read more

More than 100 days after Russia invaded Ukraine, King’s College London’s Gregory Asmolov argues that the power of Russian propaganda to prevent any serious opposition from within Russian society remains a key aspect in understanding this ongoing war. Russian propaganda has become one of the core topics on the agenda since the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. It seems that Russia lost the information war in the global information space (or has not even tried to win it there, despite the existence of state-sponsored global information media outlets like RT). Howe ..read more

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the death of civilians, destruction of lives and livelihoods, and displacement of millions of people. It has also attracted unprecedented media coverage, explains Dr Eva Połońska-Kimunguyi, a Research Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications. This article is based on her research project that explores political and media constructions of the war and highlights their contradictions, racism, and open hypocrisy.  The distinct character of the coverage of the war in Ukraine suggests that whether the war is covered or not, whether civilian ..read more