Framing the U.S. and Russia Coverage: The Limited Agency of Foreign Correspondents and the Reproduction of Bias in the News

Abstract

Media representations have long reinforced Russia’s negative impression in the U.S. and that of the U.S. in Russia, shaping public opinion and foreign policy. While content analysts examine stereotypical frames in American and Russian news, questions remain about the relational dynamics steering these journalistic outcomes. This comparative study draws on 20 semi-structured interviews with Russian and American reporters stationed in the U.S. and Russia, respectively, prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Situating journalists in their sociopolitical contexts reveals and explains the extent to and ways in which their relationship with other actors and institutions (re)produces and/or disrupts biases in news production. Foreign correspondents express dissatisfaction with dominant frames and deploy two main strategies to alter and enhance coverage—negotiating the narrative on the two countries and maximizing their purpose “on the ground”—yet their work often fortifies oversimplified and/or distorted messaging. While state regulation and ownership of the media disproportionately affects Russian journalists, both groups lack the agency to refine and rectify representations of Russia and the U.S. because of three shared challenges: the marketization of the news, the complexity of communicating foreign affairs, and the intensification of bilateral tensions.