Collected Profiles: Media Ownership and Potential Foreign Influence Channels in Europe & Eurasia

What are the entry points for foreign actors to shape and influence the narrative in the media markets in 17 countries in Europe & Eurasia? This profile seeks to address some of the entry points related to media ownership and Russian state-owned media in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. AidData recognizes that malign influence may affect narrative creation in other ways, including the republishing of foreign content in domestic media outlets, interactions on social media, and through journalist biases. However, this project focuses solely on direct and indirect ownership of traditional domestic media outlets to identify potential entry points for Russian influence through elites and media owners. By better understanding domestic media ownership environment in these countries, including what media outlets citizens consume and who the owners of those outlets are, we can anticipate entry points where malign actors may try to influence domestic narratives.