Social information in the context of global COVID-quarantine in the reception of Zhytomyr media: specifics, forms of presentation

Abstract

The article deals with the peculiarities of the coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Zhytomyr regional online media in the period august—december 2020. Using the journalism methods, the characteristics of publications of this period are analyzed and compared, the pros and cons of each of the materials are described. There is an attempt to establish a balance between journalism standards and manipulation of the recipient's consciousness in Zhytomyr media. The paper shows that articles by the authors of the sites "Zhytomyr.info", "20 minutes", "Zhytomyr.Life", "Zhytomyr.today", "Zhytomyr OnLine", "Zhytomyr Magazine", "TIMES.ZT", "1.ZT.UA", "News.DKS" are subjects to content analysis. Attention is paid to the semantic field of titles, information saturation of publications, their bias and originality. The Ministry of Health provides advice on the work of journalists on materials on the subject of coronavirus, attention is paid to the observance of these advice by Zhytomyr media. The study also focuses on regional materials in the aspect of the study of the Commission on Journalistic Ethics on the coverage of the pandemic in the Ukrainian media. The practical observation of the statistical centering of the subject of the depicted events is reflected, the perception of it has beeb described by the journalist is removed, often in the form of a report or press release. The article also talks about the balance of opinions, completeness, accuracy, efficiency, the granting / non-granting of the right to vote to all those involved in a particular event, the separation of facts from the journalist's own opinion and emotions. It has been found that unreadability of materials is widespread. Sometimes it leads to the supply of the recipient of a "raw" information message, which should be worked on by both the author and the editor of the publication. Analyzing the examples from various Zhytomyr media features of the presentation of social information in the context of global COVID-quarantine, we conclude that the regional media is an important tool for disseminating the necessary news to society, which can be both useful and, conversely, harmful and demoralizing. This paper has clearly shown that a journalist is able to prioritize the interests of the audience.