The Times’ conceptual approaches to covering military coups in Africa

The article presents the results of the study of the British newspaper The Times' approaches to covering the military coups in Gabon and Niger in 2023. The research methodology included quantitative and qualitative content analysis and analysis of publications according to the criteria of the concept of constructive journalism. The empirical base consisted of The Times articles for the first 10 months of 2023. The results of the comparative analysis of the texts showed that the publications do not comply with the principles of the concept of constructive journalism and do not take into account the basic methods of positive psychology. Russia is mentioned in most publications in the context of military cooperation in the region, with half of the publications being neutral and the rest negative. In part of the publications negative characteristics are given without arguments, references to documents, to statements of the Russian leadership with the designation of Russia's position. Such publications are characterized by their focus on discrediting cooperation between African countries and Russia. This cooperation is assessed as a way to lead to crisis and deterioration of security in the region. At the same time, journalists express in their publications only their own views and do not provide assessments and opinions of experts of international organizations and citizens of African states.