Religious risks and stabilization strategies in the discourse of regional information agencies of the lower Volga region

• Published in: Diskurs pi : filosofii͡a︡, politika, vlastʹ, svi͡a︡zi s obshchestvennostʹi͡u︡ : Di pi = Discourse P : philosophy, politics, power, public relations no. 1 (38)
• Main Author: Suslov I.V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Publishing House Discourse-P 01.07.2020
• Subjects: discourse analysis; interfaith tension; religious risks
• ISSN: 1817-9568
• DOI: 10.24411/1817-9568-2020-10111

The 2000s became a time of growing ethnopolitical crisis. The Russian government, in the framework of the implementation of the Strategy of State National Policy, has begun to strengthen the sense of all-Russian unity in a multi-ethnic society, which also implied the formation of positive interfaith relations. However, the surge in terrorist activity in the context of globalization processes and the digitalization of society has become a factor in the growth of interfaith tensions associated with a negative perception of Islam. The process of creating a media image of inter-confessional relations in the Lower Volga region was studied using content, intent and discourse analysis of the contents of printed and online publications of regional media (Astrakhanpost.ru, Volga, Punkt-a. info, IA Vysota 102, V1.ru, Bloknot-volgograd.ru, Region 64, View of Saratov, RBC Saratov) for 2010-2019. The focus of the analysis was on articles and reports on interfaith relations, tension and conflict, religious extremism and fundamentalism, Islamism and proselytism of new religious movements. Keywords helped select articles that appeared in the media of the Lower Volga. Thus, a total of 410 publications were posted on nine information portals from January 2010 to July 2019. The object of the study is the information agenda related to the problems of religious threats and security. The unit of content analysis was political actors (government agencies, religious, research and other public organizations), whose activities actualized religious issues in the information space of the region. The unit of discourse analysis is the image of the subject of religious threat. The analysis revealed that in the 2010s there was an evolution of ideas about the source and form of danger relevant to the religious sphere. A serious influence on the formation of Islamophobia is provided by the media. In the framework of this article, the information space of the Lower Volga Region will be analyzed, the intensity and nature of information messages affecting the topic of religious security, as well as the features of the representation of Islam as a threat, will be determined. The media can both increase interfaith tension and offer readers a media image of trusting interfaith interactions. For example, the mention of terrorist religious affiliation in articles contributes to the increase of Islamophobia in public opinion. On the contrary, news reports covering events related to the prevention of religious risks contribute to the formation of a positive agenda, the appearance of readers' hope for the creation of positive interfaith relations in the future.