The aim of the research is to identify the lexical peculiarity and word-formation processes in journalistic texts of regional mass media. The paper examines neologisms, lexical units created based on the internal resources of the regional (Erzya) language. The work emphasizes the important role of the media in preserving, enriching, and transmitting native languages. The scientific novelty of the research lies in conducting a structural and semantic analysis of neologisms, which, based on extensive linguistic material, allowed for identifying and characterizing the main productive word-formation models and methods of word formation in the modern language of the media in Erzya. As a result of the research, it was found that the most productive methods of word formation include suffixation, root affixation, compounding, and substantivization. It was also noted that the neologisms identified from journalistic texts perform a stylistic function of influencing the reader (listener) due to their rich emotional-expressive charge and wide semantic content.