Reflections of Ukraine in the lens of of the French edition of Le Monde

DOI 10.17721/2522-1272.2024.85.9

Nataliia Zhelikhovska,
Ph.D, Associate Professor,
Head of the  Department of Print Media and Journalism History
Educational and Scientific Institute of Journalism,
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv,
0000-0002-0093-9507

Maryna Hrytsoiko,
4-th grade student Educational and Scientific Institute of Journalism,
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv,
0009-0002-7170-055X

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the article is to trace the coverage of events in Ukraine by the French edition of Le Monde during Russia’s full-scale invasion. To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been set: to analyse the attitude of the French media to Russia’s armed aggression on the territory of Ukraine; to determine the number of Le Monde publications devoted to the war in Ukraine; to find out the problematic and thematic aspect of Le Monde’s materials covering the image of Ukraine.

The method of analysing the scientific literature was used to determine the views of Ukrainian scholars on the problem of objective and accurate media coverage. The method of media monitoring helped to identify Le Monde publications (41 in total) that covered Ukrainian issues. The content analysis method identified the topics of the relevant publications and the presence of Russian propaganda narratives in them.

We analysed 41 publications covering various areas of Ukrainian and international realities in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war. In February-April 2022, publications on military (50%), economic (25%) and socio-political (25%) topics prevailed. In February-April 2023, the trends in the coverage of topical issues related to Ukraine changed somewhat, which affected the distribution of the number of stories on different topics: military (60%), economic (30%), and socio-political (10%).

Analysing the way Le Monde covers Ukraine, it can be concluded that this newspaper treats Ukrainian events with great attention and objectivity. By offering its readers a thorough and objective analysis of the circumstances of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Le Monde plays an important role in shaping the image of Ukraine in the international arena.

Keywords: war in Ukraine; French media Le Monde; problematic and thematic aspect.