About me
I am a Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Political Science at UC San Diego.
My research interests lie between human rights and political violence, with focus on authoritarian regimes, repression in autocracies, and media control. My dissertation uses machine learning and natural language processing to study causes, consequences, and strategies of targeted repression of the independent media in non-democracies. This research is generously supported by the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and Princeton’s Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice.
I grew up in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and I received my BA in political science and economics from Nazarbayev University (Astana, Kazakhstan) in 2017. I then spent two years working at the EU Criminal Justice project in Kazakhstan and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Astana, while completing my MA in Political Science and International Relations at Nazarbayev University. I enjoy working out, sewing, and dabbling in fashion design.
I can be reached at mtalgato@ucsd.edu. My Google Scholar profile is here.
CV
Please find my CV here.
Media Control in Non-Democracies: Causes, Strategies, and Consequences
To control the flow of information and reduce the likelihood of backlash from the public, modern-day autocrats often resort to targeted, almost surgical attacks on media and media professionals. What do autocrats consider to be a threat? What are they afraid of? Which voices get silenced? My dissertation seeks to analyze this interaction between repressive regimes and free press through a series of pointed questions:
- What are the causes of targeted repression of the journalists in non-democracies?
- What are the tactics of targeted repression of the journalists in non-democracies?
- What are the consequences of targeted repression of the journalists in non-democracies?
- What are the sources of resilience of media professionals in the face of repression?
To investigate how free press and repressive governments interact, I apply my arguments to the Russian context, using large collections of online text data, leaked data from the Russian censoring agency, Roskomnadzor, and in-depth fieldwork. My dissertation builds on two original datasets: 1) corpus of all publications produced by 12 Russian independent media between 2012 and 2021 (> 1,500,000 articles), and 2) dataset of all attacks reported by the media professionals in Russia between 2012 and 2021 (> 1,000 incidents). Such micro-level observational data allows to observe the variation in the attack status across journalists in Russia and provides important insights into who gets attacked, why, and how. My methodological approach, which relies on cutting-edge tools and methods from machine learning, natural language processing, and statistical analysis, helps extract fine-grained information about journalists and their publications.
Working papers:
Strategies of Authoritarian Media Control: Delaying Repression
This paper explores the dynamics of state repression against journalists in authoritarian regimes, focusing on the timing and nature of repressive actions. I theorize that repressive governments can choose to strategically delay their response to sensitive, threatening information. Using a comprehensive dataset of the journalists affiliated with independent media in Russia and their publications between 2011 and 2021, large-scale hand-labeling o text data, and large language models (LLMs), I categorize articles into Sensitive and Non-sensitive publications . Using a novel dataset on media repression, the analysis reveals that while the works of repressed journalists still align with the predictions made in the literature, the timing of these publications does not predict the timing of repression. This finding supports the proposed hypothesis on the use of delaying and highlights the regime’s approach to responding to sensitive information.
Consequences of Media Repression: Role of Networks in Maintaining Resilience
The paper explores the consequences of media repression for journalists in authoritarian regimes, focusing primarily on the factors that can help explain resilience in the face of repression. I theorize that while repression has a chilling effect, relying on professional networks can promote resilience among journalists. Using two novel datasets 1) on publications produced by independent media outlets in Russia and 2) on attacks reported by the media professionals between 2011 and 2021, I explore both consequences and the role of professional networks.
Work in progress:
Theory of Government Repression of the Independent Press
Do Journalist Investigations Work?
Damage Control Strategies: State Reactions in the Media
Published articles:
Slade, Gavin, Alexei Trochev, and Malika Talgatova. "The limits of Authoritarian Modernisation: Zero Tolerance Policing in Kazakhstan." In Justice, Crime, and Citizenship in Eurasia, pp. 178-199. Routledge, 2022.
Gavin Slade, Alexei Trochev & Malika Talgatova (2021) The Limits of Authoritarian Modernisation: Zero Tolerance Policing in Kazakhstan, Europe-Asia Studies, 73:1, 178-199, DOI: 10.1080/09668136.2020.1844867
Talgatova, Malika. "Anna Karetnikova, Marshrut. Obshchestvennyi kontrol’za mestami lisheniya svobodi–vosem’let bez prava ostanovki. Moscow: Pravozashchitnii Tsentr, 2017, 268 pages." The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies. Pipss. org 19 (2018).
Resources
Stay tuned!