Eesti kajastus välismeedias 2004.-2005. aasta Eesti Päevalehe ja Postimehe rubriikide „Teised meist” põhjal
Date
2006
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Description
Hans Lõugas’ bachelor’s thesis Reflection of Estonia in Foreign Media in 2004 and 2005
Based on Eesti Päevaleht’s and Postimees’ Sections “Teised meist” (Others about us) aims to
throw light on two questions: (1) how Estonia was reflected in foreign media during these two
important years, and (2) how this reflection is presented to readers of two Estonian national
dailies.
It can be concluded, that Estonia’s reflection in foreign media is diverse. News are presented
on the one hand from close countries like Finland (but not other neighbouring Baltic
countries), on the other hand from big and globally influential ones like Germany, Great
Britain and USA. This is still limited by two factors: firstly, what languages are spoken in the
newsrooms of the papers that present the foreign media, secondly, which articles are more
easily attainable for the editors.
The texts published during the two years indicate integration to Europe, in the political as well
as the cultural sphere because Estonia is attractive in the region as a new member of the
European Union. Discourse reflects different modalities in foreign news, because Estonia’s
groundbreaking achievements in tax policy and information technology are presented side by
side with deep social problems and conflicts in international relations.
At first some theoretical and empirical background about the topic is given. Peeter Vihalemm
has rooted the conceptions of social space and the index of social proximity that help to
characterize Estonia’s social relations with other countries. This is important as this paper’s
emphasis is on the years 2004 and 2005 when Estonia joined the European Union.
Furthermore, Jan Ekecrantz’ work about Swedish media is presented. Ekecrantz has analyzed
the representation of the Other in Swedish newspapers and shows some common conceptions
of Estonia as the Other.
The work conducted by the author involves three research methods. To begin with,
quantitative content analysis gave a general overview of the section “Teised meist”. This
method allowed for the analysis of 800 texts published in 2004 and 2005. Secondly,
qualitative analysis gave an insight into the meanings represented in the texts. Finally, an interview with Eesti Päevaleht’s editor Kaarel Tarand threw light on the newsroom work
process and how the texts to be translated were selected from foreign media.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), bakalaureusetööd, Eesti, representatsioon, ajakirjandus, välisajakirjandus,