Flashmob as a Form of Solidarity in Journalism

Abstract

The article is devoted to the values and practices of solidarity in Russian journalism related to the law on foreign agents in the second half of 2021. Its significance lies in the need to analyze the contemporary value spectrum of Russian journalism with its discreteness. The aim of the survey is to analyze new formats for expressing solidarity on an ambiguous point for the media community (the law on foreign agents), using the example of the flash mob #banned profession (August 2021). Through more than 50 Facebook posts with the hashtag #bannedprofession and user comments, the author explores professional and civic value narratives. The qualitative thematic analysis of the texts is used as a research method. The flash mob brought personal stories of professional development and compared different time and socio-political contexts of the profession. Solidarity showed itself in the form of concern for colleagues who had lost their jobs and their source of income. Attempts to monetize solidarity are noticeable features. The social geography of participation expanded, and former journalists also took part in the flash mob. They used it as an opportunity to mark their belonging to the journalistic community. At the same time, in a number of cases the hashtag was used for indirect purposes. The main outcome of the flash mob #banned profession is seen in the personification of the profession of journalism and the articulation of its importance in the modern context. Solidarization is traced not in the texts of the participants of the flash mob, but in the very fact of joining it. Ideas of solidarity are articulated through indignation and rejection of the situation. At the same time, the texts themselves are dominated by individual professional and personal narratives, their own emotions and feelings in the tradition of “new ethics”.The practical significance of the study can be traced back to the development of a theoretical and practical basis for the similar campaigns. Solidarity in journalism as a research topic touches on the intersectional areas of media, activism, relations with power, digital participation, and the axiology of journalism, and may appeal to researchers from various specialties.