Axiological Culture of a Journalist in the Digital Era

Abstract

The values of modern journalism are directly related to the era of a special informational narrative conditioned by ratings and the economic factor combined with the dominant information technology and the current confrontation between the traditional and the new. The research results are based on data from a three-stage survey conducted in 2018–2022 with the participation of more than 240 journalists of the Transbaikal Region and other regions of Russia aged 18 to 75.The survey was focused on identifying the civil, ethical and spiritual-moral views of journalists, the dominant axiological strategies of professional activity, determining the role of moral guidelines in the professional consciousness of the journalistic community and the specifi cs of ethical norms’ infl uence on the daily work of a journalist. The purpose of this article is to present a characteristic of a journalist’s axiological culture in the digital era, to identify the value dominants of his professional activity, determining their signifi cance, meaning and levels of experience, based on the conducted sociological survey. The research has been conducted within the framework of the linguocultural approach, which emphasizes the unity of culture and language in the process of creating and perceiving a media text, as well as the sociocultural approach, focused on the integrative potential of the media and the translation of values, which contribute to national identity. The article offers a defi nition of the “axiological culture of a journalist” as a hierarchical system of professional values, refl ecting unifi ed and socially signifi cant ideals and meanings, normative bases for acts of consciousness and behavior that provide the context for the journalist’s interpretation of reality and organize reality through an evaluative implication. The results of the sociological study have made it possible to identify the causes and conditions of professional ethics violations by journalists. The predominant motivations for informational interaction are formulated, value priorities in journalists’ work are identifi ed, and typical cultural markers demonstrating the actualization of memories in the “past-present-future” paradigm are singled out. The present article is the fi rst experience of systematization of the integral system of journalistic axiological culture on the basis of sociological material, which implies further interdisciplinary research of this issue.