Vladimir Putini kujutamine Postimehes 2000. ja 2008. aastal
Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Description
In this bachelor’s thesis “Depiction of Vladimir Putin in 2000 and 2008 Postimees” I
examined, how the most read paper publication Postimees depicted Putin from 2000 January
to May and from 2007 December to 2008 May.
In order to get results, I examined the events during 2007 December to 2008 May, during
when the Russian presidential elections took place and when Dmitri Medvedev came to power
as the new president.
96 articles from the period of 2008 and 103 articles from the period of 2000 belonged to the
analyzed material and on that basis I carried through quantitative and qualitative analysis.
During the quantitative analysis I examined four categories, which were general features of
the article, Putin as a character, personal identity of Putin and institutional roles of Putin.
During the qualitative analysis I examined descriptions and quotes, that were used about Putin
and based on that I made categories with different characteristics.
During the quantitative analysis it became obvious that most of the Putin-theme stories
belonged to the domestic and foreign news column that were more widely reflected in the
foreign news column during the period of 2000 and also in the editorial and opinion column
during the period of 2008. A large proportion of articles were written by journalists but also
politicians and analysts gave their contribution.
It was written about Putin mostly concerning Russia’s domestic, foreign and economic policy
and roughly half less times concerning foreign policy. His comments or citations were added
also with the same themes. Assessment given to Putin was mostly neutral.
About his personal identity I found out that Postimees rarely reflected it. Only on a couple of
occasions Postimees intermediated tabloid news from Russian media. Although it was briefly
written about Putin’s private life, he didn’t let that case spread on.
On Putin’s institutional roles I divided the examined periods into three time frames on both
occasions, that I later compared. During the five months of 2000 Putin was talked about most
as a acting president, the (future) president and a presidential candidate. He was rarely
associated with the position of prime minister. Before the election focus was on the Chechenic
War and election campaign when in consideration of Putin. After declaring the results the war
was observed less and the actions of government were observed more.
During the period of 2008 it was mostly written about Putin as a prime minister, former
president and president. The most popular fields covered were government activity and
presidential elections. On many occasions Putin was associated with Medvedev but rarely
with members of the government.
During the qualitative analysis it turned out that Putin was described as a dictatorial, KGBlike
and a beloved leader among the people of Russia. When concerning Putin’s characteristic
features which were reflected already in 2000, such as mysterious, modest and patient but at
the same time strong-armed, decisive and directive behaviour.
Keywords
bakalaureusetööd