Trump, Mueller Investigation, and Alleged Russian Election Meddling: Russian Media Coverage in 2017-2019

Abstract

The article analyses Russian media coverage of the charges of Russian meddling in the presidential elections in 2016, including the Mueller investigation and the publication of the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. The research utilizes content analysis of three daily newspapers and one official TV channel, with all the materials matching the relevant keywords being included in the sample. Several questions are discussed, including the following: all accusations in the presidential elections meddling are completely rejected, and the very existence of the accusations is attributed to several factors, such as U.S. internal political confrontation between Democrats and the Republicans, ongoing “Russophobia,” and general incompetence of American politicians and secret services. As a result Russian audiences are groomed to believe that all the accusations are completely false and should not be taken seriously. These accusations, however, are positioned by the media as belonging to a wider category of “fake news” and as such are portrayed as a threat not only to Russia, but to the global security in general.