Think tanks and war reporting How selected German media outlets deal with the US think tank ISW in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war
By Matteo Emmanuello | Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which violates international law, the conflict has had massive humanitarian consequences and poses particular challenges for war reporting: Complex information situations, strategic influence and the role of non-governmental think tanks shape public perception. This study examines how the German national newspapers Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Die Zeit and the public broadcasters’ news outlet tagesschau.de use reports (2022–2025) of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), and what consequences this has for journalistic quality and framing. The ISW engages in strategic communication by presenting the conflict as a resource conflict with clear »good versus evil« dichotomies through selective frames of problem and responsibility as well as economic and military interpretations.
Media often adopt these frames uncritically, presenting the ISW as a neutral authority requiring no plurality of sources, without a transparent classification of its political stance, or reflection on its proximity to the US arms industry. Although ISW information is usually labelled transparently, what dominates are paraphrases without contextualisation, especially in map material. This practice can undermine the democratic function of journalism in times of war when media act as amplifiers of strategic communication rather than critical mediators. This study, which was part of a bachelor’s thesis, contributes to media and conflict research, calls for reflective source criticism and the development of standards for dealing with geopolitically positioned actors.