During the week of August 26, 2019, as the protests in Moscow stretched into their sixth week, keyword analysis of media coverage showed that pro-Kremlin outlets and their pro-Western counterparts used different key phrases to refer to them.

The DFRLab used the social media listening tool BuzzSumo to investigate which terms various media outlets used to describe the protests. Pro-Western outlets, such as the Independent and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, preferred neutral descriptors such as “protests” or “rallies.” Meanwhile, pro-Kremlin outlets opted for negative value-loaded expressions, such as “unsanctioned action” or “unlawful action.”

Methodology

The DFRLab used BuzzSumo to identify the most engaged-with articles on the Moscow protests. The following key phrases were used in the search: “протесты в москве” (“protests in Moscow”), “Митинг в Москве” (“rally in Moscow”), “несогласованной акции” (“uncoordinated action”), “незаконной акции” (“unlawful action”), “несанкционированной акции” (“unsanctioned action”), and, in English, “protest in Moscow” and “rally in Moscow.”

In Russian, the same phrase can have several conjugations; thus, only the most engaged-with conjugation of each phrase was used. An examination of the most popular pieces of content confirmed that the BuzzSumo search was identifying protest-related material. Similarly, the DFRLab confirmed that, for all of the keywords, at least four out of the top five articles discussed the Moscow protests in the month of August.

Negatively Biased Coverage Appears Less Effective

The most popular key phrase in English, according to BuzzSumo, was “protests in Moscow.” In total, the DFRLab identified 1,739 articles with 317,182 total engagements. Most of the articles were published at end of July or in August. The most engaged-with media outlet was the English-language Moscow Times, which is considered an independent media outlet. APNews, Apple News, RFE/RL, and CBS News were among the most engaged-with outlets as well. The only propaganda media outlet using these keywords was RT, but it failed to amass significant engagement.