Media and Democracy in Crisis. A Comparative Analysis of Images of the Riots in the USA in the Public Media of Germany, Poland, and Russia

• Authors: Dagmara Głuszek-Szafraniec , Patrycja Szostok-Nowacka

Abstracts

EN

This article presents a diverse European perspective on democracy and freedom of expression. The research was conducted on 73 public television materials after the storming of the Capitol in Germany, Poland, and Russia. The content analysis employed 75 categories in the categorization key. The German perspective focused on stabilizing the democratic system after Biden’s win and on respect for democratic values in the USA. The narrative style is centered around change, a natural process in a democracy. Polish public television dominated an atmosphere of anxiety, but the criticism of the democratic opposition in Poland found an analogy between the actions of media corporations and opposition politicians. The materials in the Russian service were biased and directed against American democracy in general. Criticism was levelled at the hypocrisy of the authorities, the inefficiency of democratic procedures, and the lack of respect for political traditions. The portrayal of crisis events in the USA depended on the level of democracy in the country and, to varying degrees, also served as a pretext for criticizing democracy in general and referencing events in the country being analyzed.

Keywords

EN

crisis of democracy; public media; media narrative; riots at the Capitol

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek
• Journal: Polish Political Science Yearbook
• Year: 2025
• Issue: 2(54)
• Pages: 33-50

Dates

published

2025

Contributors

author

Dagmara Głuszek-Szafraniec

• University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland)

• https://orcid.org/000000029411197X

author

Patrycja Szostok-Nowacka

• University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland)

• https://orcid.org/0000000225317237

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Identifiers

DOI

10.15804/ppsy202517

Biblioteka Nauki

62644808