Sincere or Strategic: Probing Russian Journalists’ True Convictions Behind Ukraine War Coverage

How sincere is Russian war journalism? This study investigates whether reporters support Moscow’s Ukraine narrative because they believe it, fear dissent, or already share nationalist convictions. Integrating cultivation theory and spiral of silence logic with a third, ideological pathway, we fielded an encrypted survey of journalists and collected self-submitted articles for frame analysis. Latent class modelling revealed three clusters: internalizers, strategic compliers, and ideological supporters, with texts linked to each class displaying distinctive linguistic signatures that matched survey profiles. By tying motive to discourse, the study offers a transferable template for diagnosing information control and tailoring support for journalists under authoritarian pressure.