Media Communications of the Region in the Context of the Spread of Coronavirus: Features of the Media Agenda and Audience Involvement

Abstract

The article considers how the rapid spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 caused transformations in the field of media, in particular in regional journalism, using the example of a specific region ‒ the Republic of Mordovia. The purpose of the study is to study the features of changing the media agenda in the context of the spread of coronavirus, the specifics of the information in the regional media, and also the response of the audience of various types of publications. During the study, general scientific methods were used, such as systemic and structural-functional, as well as empirical ones. The continuous sampling method analyzed about 2,000 materials posted on several information resources ‒ communities of large regional mass media of the VKontakte social network. A qualitative analysis of the content of materials on the coronavirus from January to mid-May 2020 was carried out. At the same time, the coefficient of people’s involvement in the selected publication (ERpost) was analyzed. In the work, the author supplemented the list of groups into which media information about coronavirus can be divided, the situation with fakes was analyzed, three categories of sources were identified for the reliability of the information posted in them: official information of government bodies, relevant ministries, officials; mass media; social networks and Telegram channels. A study of materials on the topic of coronavirus in regional media revealed the following trends: the number of materials on coronavirus and the audience’s response to them have grown since the onset of the disease, but in May there was a general downward trend (this proves that for all the social significance of the topic, it is impossible to keep the audience’s attention at the same level for a long time); the involvement of the audience is consistently higher for materials affecting regional subjects; auditoria interests lose out to public needs, therefore, official reports are viewed more than celebrity messages, and O. Markin, the Minister of Health of the Republic, became the main media person; despite the prohibitions and the negative attitude towards clickbait, it continues to be used, including in materials on the theme of coronavirus; “hate speech” is practically not used by regional publications. Keywords: media, coronavirus, COVID-19, media agenda, audience engagement, Republic of Mordovia