Issue

Content:

• Sociology of Journalism

  «Motivation Factors in Media Consumption of "Digital Youth" in Russia: Results of a Pilot Study»

  This paper summarizes the results of in-depth interviews conducted with Russian young people in the age bracket from 10 to 19. The research was aimed at studying media consumption of “digital youth” in Russia and identifying the factors influencing the choice of this or that media outlet. At the first stage of the project, 24 youths and girls were interviewed in three Russian cities: Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and Nizhny Novgorod. The results indicated that in the structure of youth media consumption online media are at the top, while traditional media either do not attract young people whatsoever or stay in the background. In the course of the study, it was found that today social networks and online media are not merely a platform for communicating and satisfying basic information needs but are also involved in youth’s self-actualization. Creating videos and other types of content for different online platforms is an activity which is part of creative self-expression and a search for identity. The pilot study conducted makes it possible to envisage all the possible answers for the closed questions and include them into the questionnaires of a mass representative survey of all groups of youth, which is to be carried out at the next stage of the study.
  Keywords: “digital youth”, media consumption, motivation factors, media, media needs, media socialization, self-actualization
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.327
  Denis V. Dunas, Sergei A. Vartanov, Diana Yu. Kulchitskaya, Elena A. Salikhova, Anna V. Tolokonnikova 3

• «Education Characteristics of the Modern Body of Specialists in Mass Communications in Sports»

  The article discusses the educational characteristics of the modern body of Russian sports journalists. During the study, 76 representatives of sports media were interviewed on a wide range of issues related to the specifics of their education, professional development and educational needs within the profession. According to the results of the analysis, we can note, first of all, a high formal level of education among representatives of sports journalism, as well as a fairly high percentage of people with specialized education in journalism. Notably, the proportion of journalism graduates in the profession has been continuously growing in recent years. At the same time, a lot of respondents doubt the need for both specialized education and higher education in general, which indicates certain problems of universities with adapting to the market requirements. Constant changes in the market force members of this profession to regularly engage in self-education, compensating for the shortcomings of their basic knowledge.
  Keywords: sports, media, sports journalism, education
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.2852
  Maksim I. Babyuk, Deniza Hasan 28

• «Factors Affecting Reading Time and Scroll Depth of Online Media Articles (the Case of Lady.mail.ru)»

  This paper deals with the definitions of engagement and key indicators, such as reading time and scroll depth, which measure readers’ engagement in online media. The theoretical basis of the research includes different variations of the engagement concept and its metrics, and also an overview of audience engagement factors that, according to researchers, affect reading time and readability of content. The empirical base of the research is the results of the content analysis of Lady.mail.ru articles for sixteen factors, and ultimately the results of the regression analysis of this data set and the conclusions about the significance of the factors in terms of engagement. The engagement indicators, such as engagement rate and scroll depth percentage, are taken from Mail.ru Group analytics system and make it possible to compare articles of different lengths. The results of this research will help media managers and authors to improve their approach to design, text length and layout. It was found that engagement decreases with the increase in the volume of the text and its advertising nature. The lack of visual elements in the text negatively affects engagement. The popularity of the article contributes to the fact that it will be read down to the end, while the headlines do not affect engagement in any way.
  Keywords: engagement, online media, audience, engagement indicators, audience behavior
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.5384
  Maria A. Lyubimtseva 53
• Foreign Journalism

  «The Interaction of China and Russia in the Field of Mass Information: from the Approach of "Russia as a Role Model" to Equal Cooperation»

  This article envisages the features of the interaction in the field of mass information between China and Russia including the activities of the unions of journalists in both countries. It can be argued that these contacts have been entirely built under the influence of political relationships between the two countries, which changed at different stages of cooperation. The motivation for interaction did not arise from the needs of the media industry or the mass audience, but was largely determined by the political intentions of the powers. This factor still plays a crucial role in the media cooperation between China and Russia. Although today the above cooperation is filled up with more diverse content than before, political insights still have a great importance and a significant impact on the media sphere. The entire evolution of this process lasting for many decades provides scholars with an investigative background regarding media trends in authoritarian and post-authoritarian countries.
  Keywords: China, Russia, mass information, information exchange
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.85115
  Lerong Jia, Dmitry L. Strovsky, Anastasia Ye. Sukhoretskaya 85

• «German Quality Press Coverage of the Immigration Issue in the Lead-up to the EU Parliament Election»

  The present article is the analysis of German quality press coverage of the immigration policy pursued by the main German political parties in the lead-up to the 2019 EU Parliament election. Materials for the survey were taken from the most established members of the German quality press: the weekly magazine Der Spiegel and the newspapers Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung. The high turnout in Germany showed how important this election was for ordinary Germans. According to various surveys and the results of the election, people are mostly worried about the immigration issue, climate change and environmental protection. On the one hand, this indicates that the immigration crisis is no longer the only main topic for politicians and the media. On the other hand, the immigration issue remains important and pressing for the society even a few years after the crisis peak. The analysis shows that the coverage of the political parties’ immigration policies was to some extent uneven. Traditional pro-European parties got much more attention than their right-wing adversaries. Moreover, it was revealed that the newspaper Die Zeit violated one of the key principles of quality media, namely impartiality and political neutrality.
  Keywords: immigration issue, election, EU Parliament, quality press, Germany, political parties
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.116140
  Julia R. Islanova 116
• History of Journalism

  «F. M. Dostoevsky through the Prism of Historical Journals of 1881–1918: the Statistical Aspect»

  This paper for the first time examines articles about F.M. Dostoevsky in the major historical and literary journals in the period from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century in the statistical aspect. The author systematizes the texts about the writer published in the first decades after his death in the Istorichesky Vestnik, Russky Arkhiv and Russkaya Starina journals. The number of published texts, their genres, topics and the range of authors are analyzed in the paper. The times of publication are correlated to the memorable dates and socio-political situation in the country. The author concludes that the number of articles and the relevance of various topics are often determined by historical events as well as by the typological features of the journals. Istorichesky Vestnik is characterized by the greatest variety of themes and genres and the presence of the author’s position in many articles. Russky Arkhiv publishes historical sources without evaluating the facts. Russkaya Starina often considers modernity through the prism of history. Memoirs, essays, historical and literary articles contain interesting information about F. M. Dostoevsky’s personality and the perception of his work and ideology. While working on the paper, the author discovered a number of little-known texts to be used in further research.
  Keywords: F. M. Dostoevsky, historical journalism, Istorichesky Vestnik, Russky Arkhiv, Russkaya Starina
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.141166
  Daria E. Kulikova 141
• Media Law

  «The Law 4481/2017 in Greece: the Adaptation of the Provisions of the EU Directive 2014/26 and New Possibilities of Copyright Protection on the Internet»

  The protection of copyright and related rights on the Internet is now one of the urgent problems of legislation. Considerable changes in this field took place in Greek legislation in 2017. The new law 4481/2017 on Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights, Multi-Territorial Licensing in Musical Works for Online Use in the Internal Market and Other Issues Falling Within the Scope of the Ministry of Culture and Sports for the first time introduced into Greek legislation the provisions of the Directive 2014/26/EU on Collective Management of Copyright and due to this served as a step to bringing national legislation in line with all-European one. The law 4481/2017 complemented the law 2121/1993 on Copyright, Related Rights and Cultural Matters and for the first time in the history of Greek legislation assigned a special section (clause 66 E of the law 2121/1993 on the Sanctions for Infringements of Copyright and Related Rights on the Internet) to the protection of copyright and related rights on the Internet. In addition, in correspondence with article 52 of the law 4481/2017, holders of rights obtained for the first time the possibility of the out-of-court examination of infringement of their rights on the Internet, and a special Committee for the Notification of Copyright and Related Rights Infringement on the Internet was established to this end. These possibilities have been implemented in practice since September 2018. The law 4481/2017 for the first time emphasized the role of specific categories of online intermediaries (internet access providers or hosting service providers) and website owners while excluding end users (i.e. persons who are engaged in reproduction, uploading, downloading, peer-to-peer activity, streaming or cloud computing). As a result, the new procedure makes it possible to accelerate considerably the process of considering the cases about the infringement of author’s rights on the Internet. But the legal nature of the Committee for the Notification of Copyright and Related Rights Infringement on the Internet is defined in the new law with insufficient clarity. Together with other gaps, this might threaten the efficiency of its work and trust to the new procedure. The problems of legislation concerning copyright and related rights in Greece, including the protection of copyright and related rights on the Internet, have not been considered in Russian scientific literature so far. This testifies to the scientific novelty of the present article. The data presented are introduced into scientific use in Russia for the first time so that the article fills a lacuna that has existed in this field of scientific knowledge.
  Keywords: media law, copyright, copyright protection, the Internet, Internet legislation, Greek media
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.167186
  Olga A. Bogdanova 167
• Television and Radio

  «Content characteristics of crimean regional news broadcasting (a case study of "Vesti. Crimea")»

  Content characteristics of regional TV news are researched in this article in a case study of “Vesti. Crimea”, State TV and Radio Company Tavrida (VGTRK). The methods of critical analysis, systematization, generalization and content analysis make it possible to identify the distinctive components and features of information content of Crimean television broadcasting. The author found that endemic heroes and events become the main content components of the news. But in every installment, there are plots in which public relations message is apparent. The abundance of such plots does not encourage the growth of public confidence in regional TV, because television viewers are normally aware of this message. The topics of security, life safety, as well as holidays are represented excessively, while the plots with real conflicts are lacking. The modality and intentions of the authors in the choice of topics and forms of material presentation are much too evident. The functions of informing and advertising clearly interact. However, the whole picture could vary depending on the changes in senior management. Certain tendencies (e.g. the reflection of the state’s policy) may become stronger, others (e.g. the mirroring of “everyday life”) may diminish.
  Keywords: media hero, endemic event, endemic hero, Crimean regional broadcasting, regional news
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.187208
  Ekaterina B. Gromova 187
• Criticism and Bibliography

  «Mediatization as a Transformation Factor (as Exemplified by Extreme Forms of the Political Process)»

  A review of the monograph: Labush N. S., Puyu A. S. (2019) Mediatization of Extreme Forms of the Political Process: War, Revolution, Terrorism. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Univ. Publ.
  Keywords: mediatization, extreme political process, mass media, information war, terrorism
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2020.209215
  Alexey S. Berezovoy 209