The Phenomenon of Trump’s Popularity in Russia: Media Analysis Perspective

Abstract

Russia is the only country in the G20 group of nations where Donald Trump is the preferred choice for the next President of the United States. This article examines a hypothesis that Trump owes his popularity in Russia to the way Russian media frames his image. The media content was analyzed by quantitative parameters and then, these parameters were further complimented with a discourse analysis which, in addition to examining the texts themselves, also appeals to the reality beyond the texts, including social and political circumstances that surround the issue. The results demonstrate that the discourse about Trump in the Russian media possesses all the necessary typological characteristics of propaganda. Russian official media actively supports Donald Trump and deliberately creates favorable opinion of him.