Media Institutions in the Context of Demographic Policy Implementation in Russia: Regional Experience

Abstract

Russian demographic policy is one of the significant components of its social policy, while over the past six years there has been a negative trend in the demographic situation, accompanied by a sharp decline in birth rates and natural increase. At the same time, state bodies have been actively implementing various measures of demographic policy, using mainly financial incentives, but their arsenal was insufficient. As a hypothesis of the study, we made an assumption about the insufficiently active participation of the media in covering demographic policy measures aimed at stimulating the birth rate, while social and demographic publications are an important component in shaping public opinion. The paper discusses the usage of mass media institutes’ potential as an instrument of demographic policy and support for the family, motherhood and childhood. The authors analyzed the materials posted on the official website of the regional authority responsible for the demographic policy, as well as media publications prepared on these materials. In 2021, almost 27% of publications on the official website of the regional authority responsible for the demographic policy were devoted to family support, motherhood and childhood. On average, there were 14 times more publications in the regional media, which confirms the potential of using this institution to support and promote fertility. Among the most frequent topics of publications were releases on financial measures to support families with children, as well as awarding families with many children.