Influence of Publications in the Mass Media for Decision-Making by Representatives of Russian Business Community

Section: Sociology of Journalism

The article is concerned with the characteristics of decision-making by representatives of Russian business on the basis of the media, such as the choice of publications, the frequency of decision-making under the influence of the media, the nature and level of these decisions. The author conducted her study by interviewing 110 employees of the Russian financial sector. The survey took place in the summer of 2019 in Moscow. The main conclusion drawn in the article is that the Russian business community is quite active in making decisions based on the media, but for the most part these are one-time decisions, which do not have a significant impact on business. In addition, media based decision-making activity is uneven and depends on the function of the employee. The media is more likely to fulfill the role of confirming the existing ideas of businessmen and the data they received earlier. Objectivity, according to the survey, has become the main quality of the media, on whose basis business is ready to make decisions. For most businessmen, it is important which source the journalist uses – official or anonymous. In addition, despite a rather high level of trust in the media among many businessmen, a significant part of them recognize that over the past 5–7 years they have no longer trusted the media the way they did. Such a decline indicates a possible risk to the reputation of the media in the eyes of Russian business.

DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.3.2020.328

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