State identity building of the other by the U.S. and Russia as portrayed on VoA and RT : the case of the 2013/2014 conflict in Ukraine

Abstract

Spreading information through media to project an identity of a rival country that could damage its reputation is one of the simplest ways to gain influence, and this technique has been used by both the U.S. and Russia repeatedly. The 2013/2014 conflict in Ukraine involved both Russian and American interests and presented both of these countries with an opportunity to construct a negative identity of the Other. This research used discourse analysis on RT (Russia) and Voice of America (also VoA, U.S.) articles to understand how/which identities are being constructed of the Other (RT on the U.S. and VoA on Russia respectively) in an effort to gain more influence in the region. RT and VoA constructed narratives that painted the Other negatively, portraying them as the ‘evil’ side of the conflict, as opposed to the ‘good’ Self. These efforts proved to have notable similarities in how both channels created the negative identity of the Other. The Russia and the U.S. alike created an unfavourable identity of the Other in attempts to gain influence in the region in which the countries had military, economic and diplomatic interests. This study provides insight into the propaganda efforts made by the U.S. and Russia towards each other using international state-funded channels.