The political framework of different countries influenced the way their television channels reported on Ukraine in the first months of the war.
This is evident after an international team of researchers gathered by the University of Tampere found out what kind of image the television news of nine countries conveyed about the initial phase of the war started by Russia in Ukraine.
The team studied the news for a couple of months, starting from the beginning of the attack on February 24, 2022.
The targets of the inspection were the western countries Britain, Italy, Finland and the United States. In addition, the group studied the TV news of Russia and China, as well as the countries of the Brics group of developing economies, i.e. India, Brazil and South Africa. The TV news of war-torn Ukraine could not be investigated.
The differences found by the researchers are considerable.
– The varying “truths” correspond to geopolitical perspectives, says the professor emeritus of information studies Kaarle Nordenstreng.
Nordenstreng compares Russian media to Nazi Germany
The most quantitatively comprehensive was Russian state television. Its Vremja news broadcast, whose Soviet-era name means time, was completely filled with news about the “special operation”, as the war is called in Russia.
In Russian television news, the proportion of the war rose to 100 percent. According to the report, “all news stories on the nine days were devoted exclusively to war-related topics.”
– The way Russian news reports on the war is unheard of, says Nordenstreng in a phone interview with .
– Hardly even Nazi Germany had such total control of the media as this reporting seen in Russia shows, he compares.
However, the word war was not mentioned. Similarly, talk of economic sanctions was avoided. According to the report, this word was not mentioned, for example, in a news story about getting insulin to Russia.
Russian TV news claimed the reason for the war was “protection of the civilian population”
On the first day of the invasion launched by Russia, half of the news broadcast time was devoted to justifying the military campaign.
The reason for the operation was the protection of the civilian population of Donbas, located in eastern Ukraine. The situation at the front received less attention. Only a tenth of the broadcast time was devoted to it.
In the official media, war events consist of Russia’s victories and its “liberated” territories.
Russian soldiers are portrayed as heroes saving civilians from Ukrainian nationalists and Western mercenaries.
Professor Nordenstreng describes the mobilization of news in the service of war as unique in the history of television.
The report reminds us that the image of the war that Russian television gives to its viewers is completely different from the one that audiences in the West see.
Chinese television does not highlight the war in Europe
China Central Television devoted only seven percent of its news broadcast time to the war in Ukraine.
A researcher working at the University of Tampere Tao Zhang’s according to this, this indicates that domestic events are emphasized more than international issues in Chinese television news.
However, Zhang reminds us that the topic has also been diligently followed in China. A point of comparison must be sought from the time of the US war in Iraq.
According to him, the level of interest of citizens in China cannot be determined from the supply of news, which is defined by China’s official policy.
– Since the beginning of the war, the Chinese government has constantly brought up peace negotiations, reminds Zhang when answering ‘s questions by email.
– This message, which is in line with public policy, is also conveyed to the domestic public
The United States and NATO, on the other hand, get an excuse on Chinese television for expanding the war with arms deliveries.
The situation of civilians rarely comes up in Chinese news. Their plight is usually caused by Russia’s actions, which China does not want to emphasize.
Western Europe has had to notice that the Russian attack is not condemned as strictly in the southern countries as in Europe.
Geographical distance can also be seen in the emphasis on TV news. The television news of the countries studied in the report, Brazil, South Africa and India, shows that the affairs of their own country are closer.
– At the time of the investigation, presidential elections were coming up in Brazil, says Zhang.
– In India, on the other hand, the news usually focuses on the politics and leaders of one’s own country.
According to Nordenstreng, these countries avoid reporting that brings the chaos of war close to the viewer.
– For example, South African television broadcasts few images from the front, but many discussions about the meaning of the war for Africa, says Nordenstreng.
Finnish TV news emphasized national security
The shock caused by the war near Russia has also been seen on TV news.
The report reminds that the threat of war is rooted in Finns’ collective memory due to the country’s history. The geographical position of Ukraine is compared to Finland.
In Finland, ‘s TV news highlighted safety. The country’s national security and the popularity of the defense alliance NATO were topics in more than a quarter of the examined material. There were 26 articles dealing with the theme out of a total of 94 articles examined.
– Finland stands out as a national security highlighter more than, for example, Britain, Nordenstreng points out.
According to the report, seeing Russia as the aggressor of the war explains the negative tone towards it. However, ‘s tradition of striving for objective reporting is also evident in the research material, when a distinction was made between the perspectives of Finland, Ukraine and Russia when examining the events.
According to the report, the display of war victims and startling images started a discussion in Finland about what kind of images are appropriate to publish in the media.
The British BBC hosted the broadcasts from Ukraine
At the British broadcasting company BBC, the emphasis is on news related to civilians and refugees, which made up a third of the offer. Combat incidents and sanctions were also widely reported.
The security policy perspective emphasized in Finland received less attention on the British channel when following the beginning of the war. This topic was covered in every tenth story, often from a British perspective.
The BBC’s most watched news programme, News at Six, followed the Russian attack closely. The duration of the news program was doubled. The report points out that this was not done in Finland, because the news broadcast is usually followed by the A-studio broadcast.
The BBC’s broadcast was broadcast for a week from Ukraine, first from Kyiv and then from Lviv. Even after this, the importance of the correspondents present was considerable.
Professor Nordenstreng interprets that the approach of Western reporting is “quite emotional”.
– In Britain and also here, we focused on the daily news flow, as well as the comments of soldiers and politicians, says Nordenstreng.
– The image of television news takes the viewer with it.