РИЗИКИ НЕЦІЛЬОВОГО ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ТЕРОРИСТИЧНОЇ ПАРАДИГМИ ДЛЯ МЕДІАВИСВІТЛЕННЯ РОСІЙСЬКОЇ ЗБРОЙНОЇ АГРЕСІЇ ПРОТИ УКРАЇНИ
Authors: Myslovskyi I. 
Published: March 2023

<p><strong><em>The purpose of the research: </em></strong><em>to define what signature traits of terrorism correspond to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine after the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, and to analyze the potential communication risks of media coverage of Russia's aggression under the terrorism paradigm.</em></p><p><strong><em>Research methodology. </em></strong><em>The method of comparative analysis is applied to compare the signature traits of the terrorism phenomenon with the nature of Russia's military aggression. The analysis, synthesis, abstraction, analogy, and evaluation methods made it possible to examine and evaluate each signature trait in-depth. The author also used the formalization method to present findings as a table.</em></p><p><strong><em>Results. </em></strong><em>The importance of using correct and relevant concepts in the media to denote objects of reality is emphasized, and the potentially destructive communicative effects on the audience in the case of using inaccurate definitions or blurring objects of reality by broad synonymy of terms with different interpretations are analyzed. This issue is updated in the context of using the terrorism paradigm for media coverage of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine after the February full-scale invasion. It is found that a third of the signature traits of the "terrorism" definition by A. Schmid ("academic consensus") do not fully correspond to Russia's actions and strategy. Therefore, media should consider these features using the terrorism paradigm for covering the ongoing war in Ukraine. The potential harmful communicative effects in case of complete identification of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine with terrorism are outlined.<strong></strong></em></p><p><strong><em>Novelty. </em></strong><em>It is defined which signature traits of terrorism do not fully correspond to Russia's actions and strategy during military aggression against Ukraine after the February invasion (instead of seeking corresponding signature traits). The potential negative communicative effects on the audience by inaccurate, irrelevant, or untargeted using the terrorism paradigm for media coverage of the Russian war are outlined.<strong></strong></em></p><p><strong><em>Practical value. </em></strong><em>The article explains the implications of incorrect definitions usage and the terrorism paradigm in the media coverage of Russia's war against Ukraine, which journalists are recommended to pay attention to in their professional activities. Moreover, the conducted comparative analysis enables journalists to understand better the nature of terrorism and the relevance of this phenomenon to current events in Ukraine. Besides, the study's results contribute to the broader scientific and public discussion about the qualification of Russia's crimes, considering the dimensions of terrorism and genocidal war.<strong></strong></em></p><p><strong><em>Key words: </em></strong><em>media, terrorism, military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, conceptual thinking, journalism, war.</em></p>