“No better heroes”: focus-group findings about political images, parties and voting in Russia

Many Russians are dismissive of political advertising. Yet as they talk about it, they give clues to the broad influence the media have in shaping their political values. In times of elections, this effect is particularly important, as the dearth of long-standing political parties or even well-established leaders can make voting difficult and confusing. Russians often would like to think they are impervious to media cues, particularly those that they perceive as Western in style, yet they have relatively few other points of reference. As the parties, leaders and even entire governments change with great rapidity, they have been forced to collect a great deal of political information from the media.