| Abstract [eng] |
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the British press shapes the image of Lithuania. To achieve the result certain questions were raised: how often is Lithuania mentioned in the selected newspapers; what are the major topics/coverage that mention Lithuania; what is the role of Lithuania in those topics; what attitude is being formed towards Lithuania in those topics; what means are used in the image formation. Two major British newspapers The Times and The Guardian were taken for the analysis of the articles. For the research all articles between the period of the 1st January to the 31st December 2008 were used. The methods of content analysis were mostly applied though the comparison of different newspapers was also selected. The paper is divided into two main parts. The first part is used to present the general views on the media, theoretical approach, main research on national image that is formed by the media. The second part reveals the means of how and the reasons why certain sources for the reaseach were selected: the selection of the media, newspapers, articles and periods; defining the variables and formation of the code (coding schemata); gathering of information; data analysis; concluding remarks. The conclusion that was arrived is as follows. Both newspapers presented Lithuania in slightly different ways. The Times had less articles about Lithuania and the country was presented in a quite narrow context (home news) as one of the East European countries, while The Guardian had more articles in which the country was pictured in a more broad context (international events) with more topics to cover (culture, economics) and being part of the western bloc. It was also concluded that Lithuania is mostly presented through the international politics and sport context, while the articles about the crime were quite minor and repetitive of same story. Finally, the tendence of uncertainty is felt. While politically, Lithuania is quite assertive, culturally, the country is still seeking for its identity, therefore, that is felt in most stories about cultural events and that might be one of the reasons why this uncertainty is felt in the press, i.e. the tendency of not having strong opinion or having a contradictory views is present. |
