‘Russia isn’t a country of Putins!’: How RT bridged the credibility gap in Russian public diplomacy during the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Rhys Crilley; Marie Gillespie; Vitaly Kazakov; Alistair Willis

doi:10.1177/13691481211013713

‘Russia isn’t a country of Putins!’: How RT bridged the credibility gap in Russian public diplomacy during the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Rhys Crilley^*, Marie Gillespie, Vitaly Kazakov, Alistair Willis

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In the context of deteriorating relations with ‘Western’ states, Russia’s state-funded international broadcasters are often understood as malign propaganda rather than as agents of soft power. Subsequently, there is a major credibility gap between how Russian state media represents itself to the world and how it is actually perceived by overseas publics. However, based on the study of RT’s coverage of the Russian hosted FIFA 2018 World Cup and the audience reactions this prompted, we find that this credibility gap was partially bridged. By analysing over 700 articles published by RT, alongside social media and focus group research, we find that RT’s World Cup coverage created an unusually positive vision of Russia that appealed to international audiences. Our study demonstrates how state-funded international broadcaster coverage of sports mega-events can generate a soft power effect with audiences, even when the host state – such as Russia – has a poor international reputation.

Original language	English
Journal	British Journal of Politics and International Relations
Volume	24
Issue	1
Pages (from-to)	136-152
Number of pages	17
ISSN	1369-1481
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481211013713
Publication status	Published - Feb 2022
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

audience research
FIFA World Cup
football
public diplomacy
RT
Russia
soft power

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Cite this

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abstract = "In the context of deteriorating relations with {\textquoteleft}Western{\textquoteright} states, Russia{\textquoteright}s state-funded international broadcasters are often understood as malign propaganda rather than as agents of soft power. Subsequently, there is a major credibility gap between how Russian state media represents itself to the world and how it is actually perceived by overseas publics. However, based on the study of RT{\textquoteright}s coverage of the Russian hosted FIFA 2018 World Cup and the audience reactions this prompted, we find that this credibility gap was partially bridged. By analysing over 700 articles published by RT, alongside social media and focus group research, we find that RT{\textquoteright}s World Cup coverage created an unusually positive vision of Russia that appealed to international audiences. Our study demonstrates how state-funded international broadcaster coverage of sports mega-events can generate a soft power effect with audiences, even when the host state – such as Russia – has a poor international reputation.",

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‘Russia isn’t a country of Putins!’: How RT bridged the credibility gap in Russian public diplomacy during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. / Crilley, Rhys; Gillespie, Marie; Kazakov, Vitaly et al.
In: British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol. 24, No. 1, 02.2022, p. 136-152.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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AU - Gillespie, Marie

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AU - Willis, Alistair

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‘Russia isn’t a country of Putins!’: How RT bridged the credibility gap in Russian public diplomacy during the 2018 FIFA World Cup

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Keywords

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