"Constitutional Amendments" and "Coronavirus Pandemia" Discourses in the Digital Political Agenda of 2020: Agitation vs Inhibition in the State Media

Abstract

The article presents the results of a large-scale applied study of “Constitutional Amendments” and “Coronavirus Pandemic” discourses as a part of the digital political agenda formed by the state media in 2020. The empirical dataset comprises an array of network data collected by the continuous sampling of news articles published by Interfax, RIA Novosti and TASS agencies on their official websites in 2020 within the March-September period.The obtained data was subjected to network analysis, visual analysis and linguo-discursive analysis. It allowed the authors to identify the dominant topics in the digital agenda created by the state media, determine the techniques used to form and manage the digital political agenda in the online space and assess their effectiveness. The article concludes by the description of the identified features, strategies and techniques used for shaping, maintaining and managing the digital political agenda by the state media regarding the analyzed discourses – "Constitutional Amendments" and "Coronavirus Pandemic". The authors infer that the strategy of pragmatic modeling was used for online agitation with the aim of ideological mobilization of citizens. Оnline-informing strategy was used to neutralize panic sentiment among citizens and form constructive civic behavioral patterns in the context of a pandemic and an internal lockdown.