Mass Media System Research Articles

O lugar da crítica na teoria dos meios de comunicação de massa de Niklas Luhmann

Although Niklas Luhmann did not produce a work with a critical objective, his sociological theory holds unexplored potential that can be used to advance critical analyzes of various social dimensions (economics, law, politics, etc.). We chose, here, to use these potentials to observe thepossibilities of making a critique regarding the dimension of the mass media system. We argue that, in it, criticism reveals itself (1) in the observation of the arbitrariness of the social values that the media construct and (2) in the ignorance of the communicative plurality of modernity, which in turn (3) allows us to see the theory of Luhmann as one that reveals absurdities.

MONITORING RESEARCH IN THE SYSTEM OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION SCIENCES

The article interprets and systematizes the idea of monitoring as a research method in the field of social communication sciences for the solution of traditional issues of journalism science and outlines the prospects of its application in view of the current issues of media science, which introduce into the research field the latest trends in the development of the mass media system at the current stage of deployment information society. The scientific value of monitoring as a research method is inseparable from its ability to see mass media as a complex heterogeneous system object and to ensure systematicity (complexity of vision, comparability of data, consistency of aspects of object analysis) of observations of this object at its different levels and in different sections. It is also important to be aware of the need to see the background as a theoretical basis for interpreting monitoring data. Self-sufficient, self-valued empirical monitoring studies of mass media activity can be good material for larger research projects, which demonstrates the high research potential of the monitoring method. Monitoring studies of mass media is the accumulation of empirical material for large-scale research projects in the field of social communications of both synchronic and diachronic type. However, only qualitative data from monitoring studies can be adequately used in the future and productively included in large-scale scientific projects, where comparison of data, combination of disparate empirical material with other analytical data is expected. Monitoring studies of mass media is a perspective of using the accumulation of empirical material for media critical studies and providing recommendations and practical advice for the implementation of mass media activities of editorial teams. This is the potential of monitoring research in the aspect of management decisions in the mass media system. The latest media phenomena that are of research interest, but have not yet entered the science of social communications as an object and subject of scientific understanding, with clearly defined parameters, are probably promising material for monitoring observations. This is a question of understanding the potential of the monitoring method in its application to the newest media phenomena that are significantly transforming the sphere of mass communication activity. Among the media phenomena that can become material for monitoring studies, the author of the article sees, first of all, such notable and influential phenomena as constructive journalism (journalism of solutions) and brand journalism. Monitoring provides an opportunity to verify, through the observation of extensive empirical material, the theoretical statements of scientists regarding the requirements for constructive journalism and brand journalism, which are formulated on the basis of the construction of a conceptual model of this type of mass media work. Thanks to monitoring, it is possible to study constructive journalism and brand journalism in terms of their use of forms of information submission, the specifics of addressing narrow target segments of the mass audience, technologies for retaining the recipient’s attention, etc. The data obtained during the monitoring can be used in a comparative study in the future, which can significantly expand the understanding of modern science about the latest media phenomena, which are still difficult to fit into the limits of scientific interpretations. If we see the latest trends and phenomena in the mass communication environment as indicators of transformations and look for factors of significant changes and shifts in social communication activity, then monitoring as a research method can be extremely useful and promising in understanding changes in the mass media system.

About the Place of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence in the Development of Russian Society

The paper considers digitalization as a modern form of organization of public relations and reveals the role of artificial intelligence in its development. Special attention is paid to the impact of digitalization on the development of the political and social spheres of society, the media space, law and legal regulation. The directions of its influence on the system of law and mass media are examined, the nature of their changes under the influence of digital technologies is shown.

A Study of Subculture Based on Online Communication from the Perspective of Carnival Theory: Taking Hip-Hop Culture as an Example

As a kind of subculture that is relatively popular among young people, hip-hop culture has been developing well in the past few years with the power of internet communication. Hip-hop culture includes street dance, rap, DJ and graffiti, and has a very rebellious spirit that advocates a free and equal relationship. As for China, hip-hop culture, as an imported product, was once excluded from the mainstream system and had been growing wildly "underground" for a long time. However, in recent years, along with the broadcast of some variety shows, hip-hop culture has been presented in the discourse system of mass media based on online communication, which has attracted widespread attention. The essay includes four parts. The first part starts from the respective concepts of hip-hop culture, subculture, and rave concept, and explains their definition and the process of development respectively. The second part explains the connotation and development of hip-hop culture and subculture from the perspective of rave theory. The third part describes how the online medium has influenced cultural communication. The last part describes the process of localization and transformation of hip-hop culture in China and its current development.

Media Massa dan Proses Konstruksi Realitas dalam Kajian Teori Sistem dan Differensiasi

The mass media itself is referred to as "media" because of its nature as a medium / intermediary. For the discipline of Communication Science, the media (as a medium) is one of the factors forming the communication process. Whereas mass media, in general knowledge is more defined in institutions / organizations / media companies that produce information in the form of commodities traded, called mass media because the process seeks to direct the results of its production to the widest possible audience. Reality construction is the process by which mass media create information products before they are accepted by the public. Construction of reality is more defined as an effort to compile the reality of one or a number of events that were originally fragmented (random) to be systematic to form a meaningful story or discourse. This article attempts to read the process of constructing reality with the perspective of System Theory and Differentiation from Niklas Luhmann. Luhmann sees through these two perspectives that people get reality from the mass media as the second form of reality that occurs, because the first reality obtained by the mass media experiences the construction of reality when it enters the mass media area. The basis for the construction of reality in the mass media is the existence of self-references and other references present in the mass media system. The mass media system distinguishes self-references and other references in themselves in the form of the construction of reality or the results of information distributed to the public.

Being a master of metaphors

Being a master of metaphors

ВЛИЯНИЕ ИНФОРМАЦИОННЫХ СООБЩЕНИЙ ПО ТЕМАТИКЕ COVID-19 НА ТЕМПЫ ВАКЦИНОПРОФИЛАКТИКИ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ

Significance. One of the understudied areas in shaping the attitude of the population towards vaccination is the impact of the content and intensity of information dissemination about vaccination via the Internet and traditional mass media. Analyzing the mass media impact in the situation of pandemics is especially relevant. The purpose of the study: to assess the impact of COVID-related information messages on the rate of population vaccination and determine specific features of the effective content. Material and methods. The material for the analysis was statistical data on the number and topic of information messages identified by online search queries in the monitoring and analysis system of mass media and social networks for the period from April 01, 2019 to April 13, 2022, the analysis of which was carried out on the basis of mathematical and linguistic analysis of texts of 81,000 open media sources. As well as information on the incidence and rate of vaccination available from the official website стопкоронавирус.рф for the same time period. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out by the method of hierarchical cluster analysis with the creation of dendrogram in the statistical package SPSS 22.00; by the method of correlation analysis with the calculation of the two-sided Pearson coefficient; during the result interpretation, only correlations at the significance level p<0.01 and the value of the correlation coefficient above 0.5 were taken into account. Results. The study shows that the parameters of vaccination considered in the article are hardly affected by the variables forming the “Neutrality Factor” cluster, and also allowed us to make a number of assumptions: the number of vaccinated is directly dependent upon the mortality rate and the volume of negative information in the media; the monthly increase in the number of vaccinated is directly related to the number of media reports with quotes from leading experts and references to statistical data, and is negatively associated with the proportion of neutral messages on the topic of the pandemic. Conclusion. The presented results made it possible to formulate priority directions for enhancing commitment of the Russian population to vaccination, increasing public confidence in vaccines, as well as directions to dramatically increase the rate of vaccination in extreme pandemic situations through intensification of the information and propaganda impact on the population. Moreover, according to the study results, such an impact, in order to be effective, must meet certain criteria. Scope of application. The study results can be used by executive authorities responsible for preserving the life and health of the citizens.

Функциональная теория журналистики: к постановке проблемы

The transformation of the mass media system requires a timely review of the theoretical foundations of their existence. From the point of view of understanding the modern media system, it is fundamentally important to determine the foundations of its functioning. In this article, an attempt is made to form a functional theory of journalism based on an analysis of existing concepts and modern media trends. The main functions of the media are singled out: informational, communicative, vox populi, political, entertainment, the function of socialization and the function of the struggle for social justice. The significance of these functions is explained in relation to the current situation in the field of journalism. The essence of each of them and its influence on various levels of media functioning are revealed. An additional function of journalism is called historiographic. The levels of its manifestation in the work of modern mass media are explained.

Краеведческий аспект дореволюционной журналистики (на примере публикаций Б.П. Княжинского)

Over time, local history materials do not become obsolete, but, on the contrary, become even more relevant. In this regard, the study of local history topics of the pre-revolutionary press can eliminate white spots in the study of regions. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the contribution of the doctor and publicist B.P. Knyazhinskiy in the development of Tambov local history. We apply the principle of historicism, a systematic approach, the content analysis method of the content. We analyze the historical essay “Ancient Usmansky Assumption Maiden Monastery”. It is noted that the Diocesan Gazette, in which the essay was published, performed an enlightening and educational function in pre-revolutionary Russia within the framework of the mass media system, and the clergy played a progressive function in the regional community. We reveal the local history value of the essay and its research nature associated with the use of documentary and scientific sources of that time. B.P. Knyazhinsky’s publication about the history of the convent in the 17th–18th centuries, revealing aspects of the life of the population of Usman itself, expands the possibilities of using the essay in modern regional historiography. The study results can be used to further study the history of the Tambov region and neighboring territories, as well as to fully describe the media system in the region.

Zanik debaty? Odmienność systemów: media – Kościół – nauka

The main question that the article poses is whether today there is still a possibility of media debate, for example on religion or the Church; or perhaps the system of mass media is governed by the logic of what Niklas Luhmann calls the thematic career. Mass media discuss various topics, but probably do not help to search for solutions for intra- and intersystem conflicts. According to Luhmann, mass media, politics, science and religion are autopoietic systems; they develop by their own rules. They are sensitive to external conditions, but primarily refer to what they have developed within themselves. Drawing upon Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory and using the analysis of the old debate (around Galileo), still without participation of mass media, and the current debate from 2012 when Richard Dawkins met Cardinal George Pell, I ask a question about its current shape. This is presented against the backdrop of the problem of how much the so-called synodality of the Catholic Church helps a given religion influence other social systems (such as science) and generally – social life. Why is it so difficult to fulfil the conditions of debate in the context of the three systems: religion (based on the example of the Catholic religion), media (mainly the Internet) and science? Perhaps it is because we deal with extremely different social systems which are mostly concerned with their own internal development. Moreover, the situation of reflection on the phe- nomenon of religion and social systems always becomes complicated by a specific global situation, both in the Church (e.g. synodality), and outside it (e.g. pandemic, war, new social movements).

Genotype, nature of fact and its developmental processes

The technological component is now freely and intensively penetrating the format of modern journalism. New concepts and methods have emerged. The nature of mass media has changed, a synthetic, multifunctional world is systematically demonstrated in the information space. Now the journalistic community has come close to perceiving the world of nature and the social environment through the lenses of pluralistic scientific knowledge. It is clear that new thinking in journalism is based not only on today's situational novelty, but its historical roots go back to the distant past. Hence, the relevance and continuity of the ideas of ancient thinkers and modern scientists about the origin of facts, events and phenomenon starts from there. The main idea and the subject of this academic article are the study of nature and the origin of the fact as such. Scientific and practical significance of research work: the authors of the article seek to trace the course of the origin of the organic matter of the fact, as the primary microelement in the formation of stage information. For the maximum disclosure of the topic, the methods of general scientific interpretation (comments), comparative analysis, description and empiricism (meta-analysis) were used. In the course of the study, new results on the natural and artificial nature of information were achieved, the structure of matter objects was integrated with facts, and original graphic drawings of global communicative consciousness a modern system of mass media were born. Thanks to this study, in our opinion, the conceptual complex of journalism will be enriched, its scientific potential will increase, and the spatial range will expand. This article will pave the way to new research areas. New theoretical concepts will be introduced in the field of scientific journalism, analytical journalism and multimedia journalism. New research will be carried out in such areas of journalism as factology, textbooks in this new field will be issued. Keywords: fact, genome, quantum, mega-world, macro-world, micro-world, returning of time.

Diffusion-Proofing Protest Paradigm: Mass Media and China's Prevention of Social Movement Spillover During the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement

Studies on the “protest paradigm” have long explored how a society's mass media system frames the social movements occurring within that society. This study adopts a social movement diffusion perspective to sharpen the transborder dimension of the protest paradigm. Specifically, we introduce the concept of the “diffusion-proofing” protest paradigm, given that an understudied and undertheorized function of the protest paradigm is the prevention of the import of exogenous social movements. Taking the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement as an example, we investigate how mainland China's mass media acted to prevent movement diffusion. Four transborder components of the diffusion-proofing protest paradigm are proposed: reactions, attributions, consequences, and solutions. Through content analysis, we argue that by highlighting these transborder components, China's newspapers attributed the movement's rise to foreign intervention, emphasized the movement's negative effects on both Hong Kong and mainland China, and revealed the uncompromising nature of China's reaction and the urgency of cross-border cooperation for containing the movement and its diffusion. Further, we identify two modes of reporting: a mainly descriptive mode that relied on a local framework to depict the movement and its local context and an evaluative mode that emphasized the level of deviance and foreign intervention, thus amplifying the movement's transborder effects and the need to prevent its diffusion. Notably, the level of deviance acts as a mediating channel between the two modes, transforming the local framework into a transborder one. The diffusion-proofing protest paradigm is also found to vary across media types and periods.

Influential Modifications of the Genre System of Modern Mass Media

The article is devoted to the consideration of the issue of influential modifications of the genre system of modern mass media. It has been established that the mass media are one of the main means of communication for the wide audience. The meaning of the words "modification", "mass media", "mobile journalism", "new media" has been studied. The article notes that "new media" appeared in the 60s of the XX century. The main characteristics of the media are presented. It is noted that the most common examples of mass media are television, radio, newspapers, magazines, social media, digital media, the Internet. The textbooks and publications of domestic and foreign scientists, which raise the issue of influential modifications of the genre system of modern mass media are highlighted. It was found that the first media were newspaper, telegraph, radio, television. The study of the main types of media is emphasized: traditional media, print media, electronic broadcasting media, external media, transit media and new media. It is noted that new media is a reconceptualization of traditional media. The aspect of media in the role of a social institution has been studied. It was noted about the significant impact of digitalization on the global media system. The significant influence of the use of the Internet in the political life of the United States is given as an illustrative example. The use of the "video story" technology as one of the strategies for holding the attention of the reader or listener is considered. The focus is on the interactive storytelling made possible by digital media and provides advantages for interactive television and cinema, as well as helping to create virtual and mixed reality in games, contributing to the emergence of new forms of voice games.

History of Muslim print magazines development in Tatarstan

The system of Russian mass media has experienced fundamental changes over the past thirty years, that, in its turn, caused a surge development of the sector of specialized publications, which undoubtedly included the segment of Muslim publications that had arose on the wave of democratic changes in the country in the 90s of the XX century. The article analyzes special printed Muslim magazines as a type of media published and distributed in Tatarstan in the Russian and Tatar languages. The research considers the analysis of the content of the Muslim print magazines “Al-Qibla” (“Direction to Mecca”) published between the years 2004– 2010 in the Tatar language, “Muslims” magazines published in the Russian language, “Azan nury” (“Ray of Adhan”) printed in the Tatar and Russian languages between the years 2012– 2013. The paper provides an analysis of the thematic orientation of these journals, the form of ownership, the periodicity of their release and reveals the information about the target audience and about the implementation of the functions of journalism.

Tendencies and professional standards of modern Kazakhstani military journal

This research paper based on the history, functions, tendencies and professional standards of military journalism in the country. The military journalism role in mass-media system is contradictory, enveloping different aspects of global political processes. World history consists of chronology of wars and conflicts at different levels.

L. T. Masenko: a strategy for researching the language situation in Ukraine and language development

The article characterizes the works of L. Masenko, according to which the directions of research of the linguistic situation of Ukraine that are relevant today are determined, and the development of these directions in the works of other Ukrainian sociolinguists is traced. A number of the author’s publications are devoted to the analysis of the Soviet language policy aimed at limiting the functions of the Ukrainian language and artificially interfering with its structure in order to bring it closer to Russian. They present a brief period of Ukrainization in the 20th century, the policy of great terror that followed, the period of Khrushchev’s thaw, which was accompanied by a certain liberalization, and the subsequent period of intensified russification. In connection with the periodization of the Soviet language policy, the term linguocide was discussed. In several works of the scientist, the main parameters of the description of the modern language situation of Ukraine are defined. Such parameters include: the demographic power of languages, their communicative power in various spheres, in particular in the system of education, science, culture, mass media, and state administration. Equally important is attention to intergenerational features of communication, axiological parameters, etc. It was emphasized that the screening of the state of affairs in these areas should be regular, territorially oriented and carried out according to comparative methods. These features of the language situation are carefully covered in a collective monograph based on the results of an international scientific project under the leadership of Iu. Besters-Dilger (2006—2008) and in the materials of the next project under the leadership of M. Wingender (2016—2019), in which L. T. Masenko took part. The specified parameters are still relevant. In connection with the study of language behavior, the concept of language stability, which was proposed by O. Tkachenko at one time, was discussed. Attention is focused on topical issues of sociolinguistics, in particular, the study of the surzhyk phenomenon, which is ambiguously interpreted in the literature, with the involvement of a wide range of factual material. The importance of preparing materials for the formation of a scientifically based state language policy (a topic that L. T. Masenko is actively working on), in particular in the field of protecting the languages of indigenous peoples and the use of languages of national minorities, was also emphasized. Keywords: sociolinguistics, Ukrainian language, Surzhyk, language policy, linguicide, language stability

Publicystyka Heleny Lemańskiej ‒ przypadek Polskiej Kroniki Filmowej w latach 1949‒1967

The Polish Film Chronicle in the times of mass information falling in the years after the end of World War II gave the opportunity to formulate a message addressed to specific groups of recipients. Its reception was one of the components of the life of social groups and individual recipients who could become addicted to watching the message formulated by the aforementioned medium. The chronicle, which was part of the mass media system, had a direct impact on its recipients in the processes of socialization of education and self-education. PKF became and remains an interesting source of knowledge about the functioning of the People’s Republic of Poland. It is also an extremely valuable film document reflecting the style of the political discourse of the time, moreover, it is a historical document that allows to reproduce the features of the then styles of political press journalism.

Полемичность политического дискурса в региональном интернет-пространстве

The mass media system of the 21st century is significantly different from that of the turn of the century. Mass media have undergone significant changes, which is largely due to the increased technical capabilities of both senders of media content and its recipients. Significant volumes of operational information in such conditions are transmitted through Internet media, which, under conditions of convergence, combine the capabilities of print media, TV and radio channels. A significant layer of relevant information on various topics is transmitted through social networks. We consider the relevance of political discourse in the Internet space of the region. The choice of the issues of the materials analyzed in the work is dictated by the invariable relevance of political discourse in modern mass media. The purpose of the study is to comprehensively explore the assumption that political content has significant potential to encourage mass audiences to engage in dialogue; at the same time, polemic is often organized around such materials between various users of social networks. We study the algorithm for conducting controversy in social networks, identify its relevance among the audience of users in the region. The empirical base of the study is made up of publics in social networks that are popular with residents of the Tambov Region. In addition, attention is drawn to the accounts of the heads of other regions of the Central Black Earth region – Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk regions. When selecting materials for analysis, a continuous sampling method is used, while the popularity of Internet publics and the presence of a significant number of reactions to materials expressed by means available to users (verbal and non-verbal) became the key criterion for selecting texts. As a result of the study, we reveal a high degree of popularity of political discourse in social networks among the regional audience, its ac-tivity in the discussion of media materials. We find that a significant part of such publications is accompanied by controversy in social networks, in the development of which both the authors of the publications and (to a greater extent) the mass audience of readers participate. We conclude that publics in social networks can contribute to the growth of ratings of political leaders, streng-thening their positions and, as a result, increasing the trust of the audience of the electorate.

Mass Media’s Systemic Contribution to Political Transformation

The article is aimed at contributing to the discussion of the role of the mass media system in political transformation. For this purpose, reporting on a political issue relevant to the transformation was selected for tracing the theoretical assumption along empirical results: the hitherto taboo topic of Hungarian uprising in 1956. I studied how 1956 was reported in Hungary’s main print media, Népszabadság and Magyar Nemzet, from June 1988 to June 1989. These newspapers, despite still being controlled by the government in the dissolving socialist system of the end 1980s, helped a functional public sphere emerging. The newspapers broadened the interpretive scope by facilitating dissenting opinions and enabled a hitherto suppressed discourse about Kadar’s role in the historical events of 1956. The results suggest the newspapers acted as professional mediators and had a systemic stabilising effect on Hungarian society in this smouldering conflict.

Peculiarities of the Syrian media space in the time of armed conflict

The subject of this research is the Syrian mass media at the current stage. The object is the Syrian media space in the time of armed conflict (2011 – to the present). The goal lies in determining the peculiarities of functionality of the Syrian media during the armed conflict. The authors traces the path of establishment of the Syrian modern mass media system, to examines its peculiarities prior to the conflict and at the time of its escalation, examines the key groups of mass media that became parties to the conflict. Such aspect as the fragmentation of the Syrian media space by military-political grounds is discussed. The conclusion is made that throughout several decades of the rule of the Ba'ath Party under the leadership of Hafez al-Assad, the country has established the single-party system of control over mass media; slow transformations have been noticed after his son Bashar al-Assad came to power. The armed conflict that began in 2011 divided the country and its media space into three areas: governmental, oppositional, and Kurdish. It is extremely difficult to overcome such fragmentation of media space with its versatile narrative and agendas in the conditions of protracted armed conflict.