Coverage of the Russia-Ukraine War by Television News

This article is a condensed presentation of an international study on the way the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, was covered by broadcast news in Russia, China, Finland, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States (on broadcast and cable networks), Brazil, India, and South Africa. The quantitative analysis was based on the main TV news bulletins in each country on 10 days sampled between late February and mid-April 2022 by classifying the news stories according to a common code of topics and national angles. In addition, a qualitative analysis identified the key narratives in the news for each country. The results reveal significant differences between countries, especially between Russia and others but also between the Western and the BRICS countries. The article ends with proposals to follow up on this research.