THE KYRGYZ MEDIA’S PORTRAYAL OF THE CRIMEAN CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON KYRGYZ PUBLIC OPINION

This paper is devoted to the news coverage of the Crimean crisis by the Kyrgyz mass media.
Nearly all Kyrgyz mass media, including popular internet news sources, covered the annexation
of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation. However, despite facts that provide
evidence that an annexation took place some Kyrgyz news institutions and the majority of
Kyrgyz citizens did not call the event an annexation; instead, citizens and media typically used
more ‘neutral’ words to describe this event. Data for this paper is based on a frame analysis of
two popular Kyrgyz internet news sources, Akipress and Vecherniy Bishkek. The aim of this
analysis is to identify the ideological orientation of mass media presentations of the Crimean
crisis. Some Kyrgyz media have a pro-Russia ideological orientation. Data on Kyrgyz public
opinion is based on responses to a questionnaire.