In the information age, media has come to be recognized as a credible mean and foreign policy tool to pursue soft power. Authoritarian states like Russia are competing in the realm of ideas through state-funded news outlets such as Russia Today (RT). This by reaching out to global and foreign public spheres and by reporting on an alternative reality of events, issues and problems. This thesis studies the role of the media news outlet RT as a mean to promote Russian soft power. This with a focus on how the channel attempts to persuade and attract an international audience based on the construction of a compelling narrative. To approach this theme empirically, a media frame analysis is conducted utilizing five news frames including; morality, human interest, responsibility, conflict and economic consequences. The overall results suggest that RT attracts and persuades largely by providing an alternative Russian perspective on events, issues or problems. It attracts by appealing both in the direction of the western- and eastern world. It appeals to the west by emphasizing how the West needs Russia to find answers to the pressing issues in global politics. It appeals to the east by suggesting an alternative model of development. RT attempts to persuade are made through the construction of counter-narratives which delegitimizes the Western approach in international affairs. The channel devotes efforts to boost these narratives by selective news porting and handpicking statements made by intellectuals from the perceived “other” western camp.

The dissertation called 'Framing of Mental Illness in Selected Media Outputs Focused on Destigmatization' explores how the documentary series 'Life Behind the Wall', online documentary series 'You are not alone', an audio documentary series 'My therapy' communicate the theme of mental health. The work aims to find out how selected journalistic projects framed the issue of mental illness. The theoretical part of the work first deals with mental illness, the concept of stigma and the role of the media in its transmission. It also focuses on destigmatization and defining the most important destigmatization approaches. The next part presents the theoretical basis of concepts such as the influence of the media, agenda-setting and framing. The analytical part presents 10 frameworks, which have been identified using the method of grounded theory. The results are summarized in a discussion, where found frameworks and their limits are being evaluated and compared with best practices based on manuals for journalists and professional publications on mental illness.

The thesis analyses the reflection of the Czechoslovak freedom movement within the English and American daily press during the World War I (1914 - 1918). In its theoretical part the thesis provides the chronological framework of the Czechoslovak movement and discusses its main challenges as well as essential milestones and achievements. It also introduces the reader to the most popular theoretical concepts regarding the idea of the Czech national independence existing at the brink of the war. With regard to the historical perspective the thesis also elaborates on the development and timeline of Masaryk's exile endeavour as well as personal relations, the latter contributing greatly in promoting the Czechoslovak cause abroad. In its analytical part the thesis deals with the sample of media articles related to the issue of Czechoslovaks and their pursuits. Using the qualitative approach it reconstructs the media frameworks through which the theme of the Czechoslovaks was presented and interpreted in a variety of British and American dailies during the Great War. Besides the daily press it also builds its findings upon the historical literature, archival documents and correspondence. Focusing on the identified media frameworks the thesis strives to identify themes, ideas, concepts and arguments that...