Media conflictology as a field of research: working out theoretical approaches

Abstract

The authors discuss both the main approaches in existing media and conflict studies that examine the relationship and interaction between media and conflict, and using theoretical mapping construct the media conflictology as a field of knowledge. The conceptual blocks of media conflictology as an integral field of research are defined and its structure is proposed. Thus, media conflictology as an emerging field of research includes the study of groups involved in media conflict, counting various Internet communities and other subjects of media communication; the stages of conflict represented in the media and the influence of media communication on the “life cycle” of conflict; the totality of the causes of media representation of conflict, with political, ideological and ethno-cultural factors; the analysis of the external context of conflict representation in the media, as well as the national media system, politics and regulation, communication culture and axiological aspects of conflict. A key feature of media conflict studies is the focus of academic attention on media representations and media effects of conflicts, rather than on the conflicts themselves.