Communication Gaps Between the Government, Society and Media in Demographic Development of Russia (conference review)

Abstract

Information opponency to Russia’s demographic challenges have gradually shifted to social networks, where many interesting discussions on demographic development of Russia are taking place. Authoritative experts of the state and society hardly participate in these discussions. As a result, a constructive dialogue between representatives of the state, society and the media on the issues of countering demographic challenges has not yet been established, which not only does not reduce the threat of population depopulation itself, but can also significantly exacerbate many of the social conflicts currently existing in Russia. When trying to establish a dialogue between the authorities, society and the media, the technologies of unilateral influence of the authorities on society in order to promote the interests of the authorities usually dominate, which happens without even analyzing and taking into account social opinion. On the one hand, the power of the state in Russia has always sought to subjugate society, and on the other hand, absenteeism and other forms of political passivity, numerous social conflicts and high radicalism among a part of the population of Russia make it impossible to fully harmonize relations between power, society and the media. Therefore, these forces the authorities should take the initiative into their own hands and try to dictate their will to both society and the media. Information policy is sometimes perceived by the authorities only as a means for realizing their own interests and trying to form a favorable impression of their activities among the population of the country. Today’s public information policy does not meet the level of demographic security challenges to the state.Reviewing the materials of the All-Russian scientific and practical conference with international participation “Demographic development of Russia: problems and solutions” of April 26, 2021 on the basis of the South Russian Institute of Management – branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), the authors identify outline the key issues and and provide recommendations for improvement.