Formational Features of the Image of Russia on the Serbian Media Platforms

Any network media platform, as an integral multifunctional multimedia system, a priori has a set of technological advantages for broadcasting socially significant information, at the same time, media text is a key element of Internet communications. In this regard, the media platform can be considered as one of the most effective means of state image formation. The authors test this hypothesis on the empirical material of specific media platforms in Serbia: they study media texts for the period of 2020–2021 highlighting Russia (its politics, culture, history). The research question consists in the formational features identification and promotion of the image of Russia on the «digital territory» of the kindred peoples. There is both an interdisciplinary theoretical and practical need to study media text of network platforms as a phenomenon that actively assimilates the multimedia format and various distribution channels. The authors use a linguistic analysis of texts about Russia, revealing the stereotypes inherent in the inhabitants of the Balkans in relation to Russians. It was found out that the modern image of the Russian Federation in this region is influenced by stereotypes reflected in the texts posted on Serbian media platforms. Special attention is paid to media texts reflecting the period of strengthening of the international authority of Russia as an independent state that consistently implements its foreign policy. Our research is relevant for an objective assessment of the attitude of the Balkans to Russia in the context of age-old interstate relations and traditions of the Slavic world. The texts of the Serbian online media demonstrate the authors’ understanding of the value of the common national cultural heritage, linguocultural basics of Russian and Serbian peoples. The functioning of modern media in the Balkan Peninsula, published in the Serbo-Croatian language, is considered in relation to the formation of a national civil society interested not only in the native language, but also in integration into Slavic culture in general, in the development of effective cooperation with Russia. Having used the technological capabilities of media platforms, it was established that the image of Russia in Serbian media modelling in the period of 2020–2021 is an element of the complex multimedia controlled impact on their audience. The results of our research show that the representation of the image of Russia was carried out systematically — taking into account the values, needs and preferences of the South Slavic peoples. Nations in Europe. Translated from English. Petersburg: Stockholm School of Economics in St. Petersburg, (In Russ.). © 2022, RUDN University. All rights reserved.