Abstract
The Instrumentalisation of Mass Media … is part of the Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society book series founded in 2004 and edited by Andreas Umland, a German political scientist currently living and working in Ukraine. The series’ aim is ‘to highlight so far understudied themes in East European Studies’, and Akhrarkhodjaeva’s research of media manipulation strategies in electoral authoritarian regimes contributes to the project as Volume 164.
The book’s five chapters can be divided into two sections where the first three chapters focus on analysing different regime typologies, patterns of electoral manipulation and media instrumentalisation across different regimes, and the remaining two evaluate media landscape in Russia examining content bias during the election campaigns of 2000 and 2008.
In Chapter 1 ‘Hybrid regimes: types and measurements’, Akhrarkhodjaeva argues that hybrid regimes (which are ‘spread … across the globe’ (p. 19)) such as ‘competitive’ and ‘hegemonic’ authoritarian regimes should be ‘studied separately as distinct types of regimes’ (p. 13). Both types are ‘electoral’ (p. 45) with total suffrage but are characterised by compromised electoral integrity whereby incumbent governments finds ways to instrumentalise media for the pro-government candidate’s sake. According to Akhrarkhodjaeva, hybrid regimes should be treated as relatively stable regime types rather than as transition forms necessarily leading to the eventual democratisation of a given state. Drawing on existing research on, for example, African and Post-Communist Eurasian countries, the author asserts that ‘semidemocracy possesses some intrinsically stable characteristics’ (p. 19). However, Russia’s ‘competitive authoritarian regime’, she claims, ‘reverted to hegemonic authoritarianism’ (p. 19), although she admits that ‘there is no agreement among scholars as to which category the post-Soviet states should be assigned’ (p. 33).
As ‘[t]he expansion of electoral authoritarian regimes set in motion a whole new set of election manipulation strategies’ (p. 45), the author examines criteria of electoral integrity in Chapter 2 ‘Electoral manipulations’, diagnosing electoral malpractice is not easy, however, as ‘definitions of fraud vary depending on the principles used as a benchmark for detecting it’ (p. 78). Electoral integrity could be evaluated from the standpoint of, for example, international standards, legal framework or democratic principles – the latter being used in Akhrarkhodjaeva’s evaluation of Russian electoral practices with the special focus on ‘the intentionality of misconduct’ (p. 79). After examining the theoretical framework of defining electoral fraud, the author concludes that competitive regimes (as a sub-type of electoral authoritarian regimes) ‘mostly use disguised strategies of manipulations, whereas hegemonic regimes not only manipulate elections more often but also use more overt practices in doing so’ (p. 80).
Akhrarkhodjaeva finds that media manipulation is ‘the strategy used most often in both sub-types of electoral authoritarianism’ (p. 80), and Chapter 3 ‘Instrumentalisation of the media’ investigates various aspects of media’s functioning. Although ‘the media cannot be considered a primary or sufficient reason to cause any effect’ (p. 81), [m]edia manipulation is one of the frequently used tactics in competitive regimes’ (p. 108), the author observes following McFaul, and Bunce and Wolchik. She lists ‘distorted … coverage of current political affairs; a biased pre-election news environment; … self-censorship of broadcasting media; … restrictions on media operations and media content’ (p. 110) and a number of other ‘forms of electoral malpractice’ (p. 110) that ‘reduce[…] the opposition forces’ chances to voice their views and opinions, let alone win elections’ (pp. 110–111).
The 21st-century post–Soviet Russia, classified by some authors as ‘electoral democracy’ (p. 33), in Chapter 4 ‘Strategies of media manipulation: the case of Russia’, is presented as a ‘typical case of a competitive authoritarian regime that later slides into hegemonic authoritarianism’ (p. 131). Akhrarkhodjaeva finds that while the former period was marked by ‘relatively free media’ (p. 135), the latter shows ‘a higher degree of media instrumentalisation’ (p. 135). The author uses a wide range of sources to substantiate her claims such as analysis of data provided by Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House and OSCE (Organization for security and Co-operation in Europe); secondary literature review; interviews with journalists and media professionals; and opinion polls. Akhrarkhodjaeva admits, however, that interviews which she conducted ‘with print media journalists working in Moscow’ (p. 174) contradict her findings. Most interviewees (speaking anonymously) did not admit any constraints in the choice of topics or self-censorship and argued that ‘it [was] possible to print reports on controversial but worthwhile topics’ (p. 174), provided that there was evidence to support their claims.
Chapter 5 ‘Analysis of news content: presidential election campaigns 2000 and 2008’ examines the media coverage of two presidential electoral campaigns in order to evaluate ‘the effect of the incumbent’s media manipulations strategy on news content’ (p. 187). Akhrarkhodjaeva focuses on specific periods preceding the elections and her painstaking analysis reveals exactly what strategies presidential candidates used. She notes Putin’s refusal to take part in TV debates or use the media time available to all candidates as ‘[o]ne of the most notable aspects of … [his] campaign’ (p. 213). Instead, media widely covered his ‘travels and activities’ (p. 213) as the then Prime Minister and Acting President performed his duties in different parts of the country. The same strategy was used by Medvedev in 2008 who, instead of taking part in debates, travelled across the country ‘controlling the execution of national projects’ (p. 226). Other candidates were left to debate and attack each other, which made some of them look ridiculous and untrustworthy.
In her illuminating conclusion, Akhrarkhodjaeva summarises key points made in the book. In particular, she concludes that ‘in competitive authoritarian regimes, the manipulation is more subtle’ (p. 248) than in hegemonic regimes where ‘the strategies used by the ruling elite are less disguised’ (p. 248). In the case of Russia, the author claims to have demonstrated the evolution of media control and content bias from being ‘lower when the regime is competitive’ (p. 248) to the situation with a more constraining regulatory framework when Russia ‘becomes more authoritarian’ (p. 248).
As Holden and Michailova’s (2014) warn, ‘[t]here are countless examples of factors that impede the quest to find common cognitive ground’ (p. 9) when it comes to Western-Russian knowledge transfer. If the reader takes their warning on board and extends it to the understanding of Russian society and the trajectory of its development, then The Instrumentalisation of Mass Media … will be an invaluable resource for historians and political scientists as well as East European Studies specialists. The book is written in a clear and accessible language and is easy to use despite typos and the absence of an index. However, a deeper investigation of Russian culture–specific trends and practices is required for a better understanding of Russian people’s voting behaviour and their perception of media content.