The Representation of the Presidential Elections of 2018 in Russia by the Major National Television Channels

The dissertation examines the case of the presidential elections of 2018 in Russia, significant not only in the development of electoral culture, but also affecting various political, social and communication processes in Russian society. The theoretical part of the work reveals the features of the representation of electoral processes on television, examines the current state and trends in the development of electoral communications in Russia, determines the role of the leading federal television channels (First, Russia-1, NTV) in the information campaign for the presidential elections in 2018, representation of presidential candidates on TV. In the practical part, the features of coverage of the electoral campaign in the news of the three analyzed TV channels are investigated: "First", "Russia-1" and "NTV." The methodology of the work is based on the application of quantitative and qualitative content analysis, content analysis, as well as comparative and secondary analysis of statistical data.