Methodology of media analysis of the occupied territories in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions (UCBI 2017)

IMI plans to establish the number of local online, electronic, and printed media in the occupied territories. Out of them, IMI will launch the monitoring of 4 informational websites (if available), and 2 printed editions from each occupied region (Donetsk and Luhansk).

The internet media will be monitored simultaneously during 1 week, every day, from January 17 to January 25. Printed media will be monitored once a week (weekly editions) during the same period.

The content of media will be evaluated by the following categories:

1. Hate speech. The number of informational materials containing hate speech, will be compared with the total number of materials. The types of hate speech will be established and assessed.

Hate speech is speech that attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as gender, ethnic origin, religion, race, disability, or sexual orientation. In the context of Ukrainian conflict, IMI will monitor in this category:

· Direct calls to violence;

· Veiled calls to violence;

· Calls for discrimination;

- Naming of specific groups of population;

· Justification of violence and discrimination;

· Allegations about criminal nature of specific territorial or ethnic groups;

· Charges against a certain group of population, ethnic group, or state;

· Creation of a negative image of certain group of society;

· References to a certain group of society in humiliating or offensive context;

· Contrasting one group of society to another;

· Direct or veiled assertion that one group creates inconvenience for the existence of the other.

2. Fake news. When analyzing the reliability of news, it is necessary to pay attention to:

· Source of information - finding primary sources;

· Questionable quotes and pictures;

· Other publications that write about the same topic;

3. Materials about the self-proclaimed local authorities. The total number of these materials (indicator 1) and the number of materials that are positive, negative or neutral about the self-proclaimed local authorities of the occupied territories.

4. Materials about the Russian government. The total number of these materials (indicator 1) and the number of materials that are positive, negative or neutral about the Russian government.

5. Materials about the Ukrainian government. The total number of these materials (indicator 1) and the number of materials that are positive, negative or neutral about the Ukrainian government.

The results will be processed in Excel tables and summarized in analytical materials.