The Position of Volunteers in the Emergency Response System: Results of an Analysis of Russian Media Discourse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2024.2.2388Keywords:
rescue volunteering, media image, cross-sector interaction, legitimation of rescue volunteering, frame analysis, emergenciesAbstract
The article presents the results of a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Russian media materials on the emergency / rescue volunteering for 2018-2019, carried out using frame analysis proposed by D. Snow and R. Benford. This approach involves identifying three central frames, diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational, to identify a problem situation, interpret the reasons for its occurrence, evaluate it, and develop recommendations for its resolution.
The diagnostic frame illustrates the scale and functionality of the volunteer movement, the nature of its integration into the emergency response system through a description of the system of interactions with official services, and problematic aspects in the field of emergency response that contribute to the development of the volunteer rescue movement. The latter include a lack of local specialists, large territories, bureaucratic obstacles, etc. Within the diagnostic frame, the authors highlight the image of a volunteer, which is formed in the media dually — as the self-representation of volunteers and as ideas that develop in the minds of other participants in communication. The authors assume that the dual image adapts to the requirements of the current situation in the country, characterized by the need for volunteer participation in emergency response, and is endowed with ideological and social values that meet public needs.
The prognostic frame shows the prospects and conditions for the development of the volunteer movement, as well as its potential in increasing the efficiency of the emergency response system (the official discourse implies increasing support for volunteerism, reducing its spontaneity and transforming it into a competent and controlled resource of emergency response forces).
The motivational frame shows what real benefits it already brings and can bring in the future. Volunteers are considered a necessary «resource» and assistance to professional services due to the geographical scale of Russia, the lack of full-time rescue workers, and the availability of local knowledge and technologies for volunteers.
Acknowledgments. The study was carried out within the framework of the project “Volunteering in emergency situations as a response to natural and man-made challenges in Russia”, supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant No. 19-78-10052.
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