The image of a politician in french and lithuanian mass media /

The image of a politician significantly influences public opinion. The existing research undercovers the media’s influence in shaping public’s perception, however, studies on media portrayals of French President Macron and Lithuanian President Nausėda are lacking. Therefore, the subject of this bachelor thesis is the image of a politician in French and Lithuanian media outlets. The aim of the research is to conduct a comparative analysis on the portrayal of French and Lithuanian presidents in media. To achieve the aim, three objectives have been set. The research methods applied in the paper are qualitative focusing on the interpretation and understanding of lexical expressions and their connotations within the political discourse. The data was categorized according to associative field theory (Jackson and Amvela, 2007, p. 14-15). We discovered that in both countries a negative image of politicians was prevalent. The Lithuanian mass media portrayed Nausėda in a negative light more often (43 expressions, 61.4%) than the French media depicting Macron (37 expressions, 52.9%). Nausėda’s most prominent associative field “distrustful” consists of 5 examples, while Macron’s “unpopular” consists of 6 examples. The positive representation was higher for Macron (25 expressions, 35.7%) than for Nausėda (22 expressions, 31.4%) with 4 associative fields overlapping in their portrayal. In terms of neutral portrayal, both countries had the smallest number of expressions. Nausėda encompassing 5 examples (7.1%) and Macron 8 examples (11.4%). Two associative fields “cautious” and “conservative” matched. The research question 1 was answered by stating that Nausėda in Lithuanian media and Macron in French media mostly have been portrayed negatively (Nausėda - 61.4%, Macron - 52.9%). Additionally, question 2 has been answered by indicating that both presidents have similarities in being depicted negatively through the same number of associative fields – 21, both portrayed through “weak” associative field. Furthermore, in positive portrayal both were depicted through 4 same associative fields. Neutral portrayal was the lowest amongst both presidents (Nausėda - 7.1%, Macron – 11.4%) and two associative fields were the same. Overall, in negative, positive and neutral portrayals the number of associative fields and examples differed. Nausėda was depicted negatively in 43 (61.4%), positively in 22 (31.4%) and in neutral light in 5 (7.1%) examples. Meanwhile Macron was portrayed in a negative light in 37 (52.9%), positively in 25 (35.7%) and in neutral light in 8 (11.4%) examples. The hypothesis of the research was confirmed, as Nausėda’s and Macron’s portrayal varied with the negative being the most prominent (Nausėda - 61.4%, Macron - 52.9%).

Grantor dc:publisher

Institutional Repository of Vilnius University

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Kuosaitė, Kornelija,

• The image of a politician, media framing, media bias, associative field theory, Nausėda, Macron, French media, Lithuanian media, politiko įvaizdis, žiniasklaidos rėminimas, žiniasklaidos šališkumas, asociacinio lauko teorija, Prancūzijos žiniasklaida, Lietuvos žiniasklaida

Statement dc:rights

• info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Language dc:language

eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://repository.vu.lt/VU:ELABAETD210587509&prefLang=en_US

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vu.lt:elaba:210587509