(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
The dichotomy of small: big with regard to Georgia: Russia is kept in the title of the article
published in the Washington Post in 2006 “David and Goliath.” Interpreting the macrostructure
(Van Dijk, 1985) and semantic meanings given, this metaphor in the title conveys an idea of the
dichotomy and provides implications to the theme. The western media has also been quite
eloquent in description of the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili referring as: young, pro-
American, pro-democracy, US-educated, Columbia-educated lawyer, pro-western, and western-
educated president.
As mentioned above, the study showed there is no dramatic shift in the attitude of the English
language media with regard to territorial integrity of Georgia. However, ironically, back in 2006
the western media elaborated on the idea of a war to regain separatist regions and rejecting it by
assuming that it is Russia that stands behind them.
Conclusion
“War, though, would be crazy-because, it would in effect be war against Russia, whose support helped the
two enclaves to achieve their quasi-secession and sustains them in it.” (The Economist, August 3, 2006)
The study showed that the statements of western politicians and international organizations had
distinct influence on the messages of newspaper articles published in the U.S. press and western
media. Due to the analysis of 2008-2009 U.S. media on Georgia, the political support spotted in
earlier years through the English language media analysis (2006-2007) has remained similar,
however, some factors have undergone more scrutiny.
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