Information wars: Eastern Ukraine military conflict coverage in the Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. newscasts

The war in Eastern Ukraine is happening on the battlefield as well as in the informational realm. The two sides of this military conflict, Russia and Ukraine, are trying to shape public opinion in their own countries as well as abroad. Depending on the leaning of a media outlet, its audiences see very different pictures of this crisis. This study examined a year’s worth of coverage dealing with the Eastern Ukraine military conflict in major Russian, Ukrainian, and American newscasts. The analysis revealed significant differences in the choice of on-camera sources, reporting of civilian and military fatalities, and framing of the different sides of this conflict in these media.