Media framing of "zapad-2017" military exercise: analysis of "sputnik" online news portal coverage in the baltic states

The concept of information management has been growing in significance for a period of time. It has been listed as one of the most relevant unconventional definitions of power in the context of modern conflicts. As the nature of war changes, information politics of the state became closely linked to its military strategy, eventually leading to both sources of power being recognized as crucial elements in maintaining the security of the state. The two elements of power are especially intertwined in the case of joint military exercise. However, on the level of analysis the traditional military assets of the country are still being prioritized, while information strategy is granted a secondary role. As a result, conclusions about ongoing military exercise are being drawn on the international scale based solely on the conventional military aspects such as scenario of the exercise, military assets assembled, and general international political climate. The argument presented in this work claims that this perspective limits the level of comprehension regarding the military exercise, as it disregards the information strategy which has deep roots in the security concepts of some states, namely Russia. The aim of the case study presented in this work was to uncover and list the elements of the Russian information and military strategy related to the joint military exercise „Zapad 2017“, based on their appearance on the online news coverage by Russian news agency „Sputnik“ in the Baltic states. Question of the study: what elements of the Russian information and military strategy are reflected in the media communication supported by Russian state on the topic of „Zapad 2017“ military exercise? Object of the analysis: media frames regarding the „Zapad 2017“ military exercise in the Baltic states, found in the online news coverage by „Sputnik“ news agency that is being sponsored by the Russian state. The following steps were performed in order to complete the case study: 1) Discussing Russian military strategy and information politics in the Baltic states, as well as the relevance of „Zapad“ military exercise in the European political background; 2) Discussing the idea of information framing and its role in the field of media effects research; 3) Presenting the method of the media analysis; 4) Performing the framing analysis of the media coverage on the topic of „Zapad 2017“; 5) Presenting the results of the analysis and comparing the results to the known information about Russian military and information strategy in the Baltic states; 6) Discussing the importance of the analysis. The analysis followed the framing research model proposed by H. A. Semetko and P. M. Valkenburg. The authors proposed five media frames that were found to be used most frequently when presenting news, based on the previous research. The five frames were named as conflict, attribution of responsibility, human interest, economic consequences and morality. After conducting news framing analysis of „Zapad 2017“, the results showed that the most commonly used frame was conflict, followed by attribution of responsibility, morality, human interest and economic consequences. The research design was also modified to allow for more specific descriptions of each frame. The framing analysis revealed that researching the media communication related to the “Zapad 2017” military exercise resulted in a more comprehensive understanding of Russian political goals related to the military exercise. Several additional elements of the Russian foreign military and information strategy were named, which would not have been very difficult by analyzing only the conventional military aspect of the exercise. Therefore, the case study provides better understanding of strategical importance of Russian joint military exercise “Zapad 2017” and may provide helpful insights for further studies of Russian military strategy