Talk Show as a Political Phenomenon: Comparative Russian Political Talk Show Discourse before and after Ukrainian Crisis

In this paper, I am conducting a comparative discourse analysis of Russian political talk shows on federal channels, in order to find out why the popularity of such talk shows has increased since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis. The analysis is carried out on the basis of criteria that determine the scenario of the talk show plot, the roles involved in talk shows and the discourse of talk show characters regarding internal and external problems. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that the increased degree of emotionality is one of the most important changes in the plot of political talk shows on Russian television. Other talk show differences before and after the onset of the Ukrainian crisis are designed to increase the emotional and dramatic intensity of the programs. These changes are based on the strategic interests of Russia's foreign and domestic policy. Another reason for the popularity of the talk show and the high degree of manipulation is that, in addition to talk shows, there are other channels of state narrative that work together to reinforce each other’s influence. Thus, political talk shows are one of the most important resources of authoritarian propaganda.