The Russian Food Import Ban (2014) and its Representation in the Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Recent events related to the crisis in Ukraine have made information sources essential for the international public to thoroughly understand the events connected to it objectively, and this is why it is fundamental to read news critically. This thesis aims to critically analyse the food import ban introduced by Russia on 6 August 2014 in response to the targeted economic sanctions employed by the Western countries in February-March of the same year through the means of Critical Discourse analysis and the way it has been represented by four different news media divided by country: TASS (Russia), The Moscow Times (Russia), BBC News (UK) and Der Spiegel (Germany). First, an overview of the historical background of sanctions is provided. Then, the discipline of CDA the works published by prominent scholars Van Dijk, Wodak and Reisigl, Ibarra and Kitsuse are introduced. After the general discussion, a critical analysis of selected articles from the news media is conducted. The articles that contained opinionated language or biased information on the topic were selected for the final research. The analysis is divided into two macro topics: the impact of the Russian ban and the destruction of Western food by the Russian authorities. Finally a comparison between the different editorial choices by the four media is made. Since the news media claim to be independent and impartial, the critical discourse analysis aims at discovering whether linguistic and discursive strategies are employed and to what extent their content is biased.