The image of the teacher in the Russian socio-political press (based on publications in “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” and “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”)

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Ksenia D. Kolesnikova

Advisor to the President of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Russian Academy of Education”, postgraduate student at the Department of Media Theory and Economics, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; ORCID 0009-0003-0260-1598

e-mail: mogana.ks@gmail.com

Section: Modern Journalism: Subjects and Issues

This article examines the media representation of teachers in Russian socio-political press, analyzing publications from Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Nezavisimaya Gazeta in 2010 and 2023. The study employs critical discourse analysis and framing theory as its methodological framework. A corpus of 349 publications was analyzed. Content analysis identified eight media frames that establish interpretive schemas for perceiving the teaching profession, ranging from «hero-mentor» to «object of reforms». Results demonstrate that by 2023, the state-owned outlet shifted toward a more positive representation of teachers, including portraying them as active agents; however, the proportion of materials featuring teachers’ direct speech remained unchanged (approximately 27%). The study reveals a phenomenon of «voiceless agency»: teachers are described as active professionals but rarely given the opportunity to speak for themselves.

Keywords: teacher image, socio-political press, frame, content analysis, direct speech, professional prestige
DOI: 10.55959/msu.vestnik.journ.2.2026.7396

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To cite this article: Kolesnikova K. D. (2026) Obraz uchitelya v publikatsiyakh rossiyskikh obshchestvenno-politicheskikh izdaniy «Rossiyskaya gazeta» i «Nezavisimaya gazeta» [The image of the teacher in the Russian socio-political press (based on publications in “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” and “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”)]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika 2: 73–96. DOI: 10.55959/msu. vestnik.journ.2.2026.7396