Issue

Content:

• Modern Journalism: Subjects and Issues

  «Disability Discourse in Russian General Interest and Specialized Periodicals (a Case Study of Materials About People with Hearing Disorders)»

  The authors present the results of a study into the content models of Russian mass media in terms of the principles of social inclusion for people with disabilities (on the example of those with hearing disorders). The practice of four general interest newspapers and two specialized publications (1 144 articles: 143 + 1 001 respectively) was considered using the content analysis technique. Thematic and functional features of the texts in both groups were revealed; strategies for involving the deaf in social practices carried out by the publications were compared. The authors came to the conclusion that there are significant misjudgments in the editorial concepts because of the reliance on the traditional ideas about disability that do not reflect modern approaches. This explains the spontaneity of the media discourse, which is more focused on the survival and adaptation of people with disabilities. Social inclusion as an ideological basis for a new understanding of disability has not been sufficiently mastered by journalists. The media need to revise obsolete approaches and update their thematic agendas.
  Keywords: mass media, social inclusion, socialization, adaptation, integration, people with disabilities, the deaf
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2023.329
  Tatiana I. Frolova, Ksenia D. Istomina 3
• Media Language

  «Speech Organization of the Metatext in Telegram Posts»

  The paper is devoted to the metatext speech features of popular science Telegram channels’ posts. Metatext is defined as a subtext structure organized by various-level language means. Reflecting another communicant’ formation of thought and speech, metatext helps the author to manage the impact on the reader’s attention and, on the other hand, helps the reader to understand the author’s intention. The paper focuses on metatext markers forming two lines: the first one depicts the speech interaction of the scientist and the popularizer, and the second one represents the speech interaction of the author and the addressee. It was established that the metatext expressiveness is fueled by the attitude toward the expression novelty, i.e. creativity. Linguocreative components in metatext lines contribute, firstly, to the expression of an assessment of someone else’s speech and thinking activity, and secondly, to the organization of personality-oriented communication, helping to involve the reader in an intellectual cooperation.
  Keywords: media linguistics, metatext, linguocreativity, Telegram channel, objection, popular science
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2023.3065
  Lilia R. Duskaeva 30

• «Aesthetic Contrast in News Discourse: Creating a Comic Effect»

  News discourse has shifted into digital mass media. YouTube has provided both professionals and audiences with unique opportunities for “packaging” and information consumption. The purpose of studying the news media text on YouTube actively addressing the aesthetics of the comic and participating in the creation of media aesthetics was to identify the role of aesthetic contrast in creating a comic effect. A combination of discursive, media aesthetic and media linguistic methods made it possible to select representative news programs, highlight tools for creating a comic effect (collision of different elements; creating contextual anti-synonymous constructs; metaphorization) and show how aesthetic contrast is involved in the creation of media. Stylistic contrast is most in demand and effective at the level of style design; the functional potential of contextual anti-synonymous constructs is realized at the lexical-connotative level; metaphorization is a universal way of expressing the conceptual and creative position of the author. Verbal and multimedia means are involved in creating aesthetic contrast; therefore, it seems promising to study the principles of creating aesthetic contrast and a comic effect in a polycode news text.
  Keywords: aesthetic contrast, the comic, news discourse, irony, satire
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2023.6686
  Ekaterina V. Vyrovtseva, Svetlana I. Simakova, Irina V. Topchii 66
• New Media

  «Cumulative Deliberation: New Normativity in Studying Public Spheres Online»

  The growing complexity of public spheres, especially because of their hybridization (Chadwick, 2013) and prosumerization (Toffler, 1980/2022) has led to a reassessment of the quality of public discussions and, on a broader scale, the quality of the public sphere in different countries. An important aspect of this reassessment is the normative orientation of discussions. In particular, the growth of complexity shifts their normative focus from consensus as in the classical theory of deliberation (Habermas, 2006) to dissonance (Pfetsch, 2018). The theory of public deliberation imposes high normative requirements on the participants of political discussions, while user communication does not meet such expectations, since their speech may be meaningless, biased and/or emotional. At the same time, there is mounting evidence that the formation of opinions on the Internet is cumulative, not deliberative. Thus, the author of this paper proposes to expand the existing views on the normativity of public discussions. First, the concept of cumulative deliberation is introduced in the paper, which allows the author to explain more precisely how opinions are formed in online discussions. Second, a new approach to normativity in user communication with the cumulative formation of opinions is proposed. This approach provides for distinguishing legitimate discursive practices that designate user discontent from deliberate digital threats, such as induced opinion formation, computational propaganda or cyberbullying.
  Keywords: deliberation, cumulative deliberation, normativity, online discussions, Juergen Habermas, public sphere
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2023.87122
  Svetlana S. Bodrunova 87

• «Quality and Sensationalism in Popular Videos about the Coronavirus Pandemic on the YouTube Platform»

  The article is devoted to the manipulation techniques in the most popular videos about coronavirus posted on the YouTube platform. The aim of the study is to examine the use of manipulation techniques in videos produced by professional journalists and bloggers. The research methodology is based on content analysis. The sample includes videos with over 1 million views. The time period covers January 2020 (the spread of COVID-19) – February 2022 (the spread of the Omicron variant in Russia). The obvious interest of the audience in the topic of coronavirus is traced in March – May 2020, when the first cases of the disease were recorded in Russia, and then a lockdown was announced. The most popular topics are: the virus itself (what COVID-19 is, how the infection occurs, how it acts when it enters the body), vaccination (the danger of vaccination, possible consequences), the spread of COVID-19. Some authors resort to clickbait headlines and titles. Most of the videos (55%) are informative in nature. In 22% of the materials, the information source is not mentioned. The author of the article makes a conclusion about a fairly high frequency of manipulation techniques (such techniques are found in 44% of the videos). The most common manipulation techniques are an appeal to emotions, false linkage and alarming music.
  Keywords: coronavirus, COVID-19, sensationalism, YouTube, video
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2023.123141
  Daria V. Razumova 123
• History of Journalism

  «Russian Print Publications about Videos of the 1980s–1990s »

  This article deals with the analysis of print publications generated by the video boom at the turn of the 1980s–1990s in Russia. Digests, magazines and guides devoted to the repertoire of “small screens” of this period fall into the sphere of attention. Enthusiasts of promoting a new technology for viewing motion pictures set themselves ideological, educational, informational and commercial goals. The Video Association publishing house remained a monopolist in this area for almost a decade. It released more than a dozen titles of various information products concerned with cinema, video equipment, satellite television and the game industry. Analysis of the publications of Video Association and similar, but less commercially successful media, allows the author of the article to conclude that there is a special format for video magazines and to characterize its features. Guides to foreign films became widespread in the same period of time. The result of studying them is a typology built on a number of criteria: content, authorship, publication ownership.
  Keywords: film press, video boom, video magazines, video guides, Video Association, typology of publications
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2023.142163
  Nikolay E. Shishkin 142

• «The Activities of Censor S. Melik-Mehrabov in the Caucasus Censorship Committee (1872–1890)»

  The article presents some aspects of the activities of censor S. Melik-Mehrabov. On the material of archival documents and newspaper publications, the factors that influenced the work of the censor and his attitude towards the press staff, as well as his colleagues at the Caucasus Censorship Committee, are revealed. The reviewed materials allowed the author to conclude that during the years in the Censorship Committee, S. Melik-Mehrabov was guided by personal ambitions. His attitude towards the local press in most cases depended on interpersonal relations with the editorial staff, and the interpretation of the creative products and activities of local and foreign authors was often governed by the judgment of colleagues, irrespective of whose opinion he could draw directly opposite conclusions. Discussions on the content of the local and foreign press were of a wary and proactive nature, which often served as a means of compromising the chairman and some employees of the Caucasus Censorship Committee in order to discredit their work and ultimately isolate them from the team. Subsequently, he was dismissed from the Censorship Committee. The demonstrative aspiration to please the Russian throne contributed to the building of a stereotypical image of the Tiflis press, in which the censor, not without reason, recorded the generation of narrowly national ideas on the part of forces disloyal to the Russian political system. This circumstance was often ignored by the local leadership, but sometimes it had a rather serious impact on decision-making by the city authorities.
  Keywords: General Administration of Press Affairs, Armenian press, Georgian press, Russian press in Tiflis, publications in oriental languages
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2023.164187
  Taron R. Danielyan 164

• «Development Features of the Ethnic Press System in Crimea During the 1920s»

  The article deals with the development features of the ethnic media system in Crimea in the 1920s, immediately after the establishment of the Bolshevik regime (1920–1921) and in the conditions of the national policy of korenization in the Crimean ASSR (1921–1930). The research reveals the state and specifics of ethnic media in Crimea at the initial stage during the formation of the party-Soviet press system. It also identifies the main trends in the formation of the Crimean ethnic journalism system in the period of korenization. The research methods are determined by their purpose and objectives. The article uses a systematic approach, as well as methods of historical-typological and problem-chronological analysis and the like. The trends in the development of ethnic journalism in Crimea in the 1920s are revealed in historical sequence, in close connection with the general direction of the party-Soviet press system formation, as well as taking into account the regional specifics of national policy implementation. The author identifies two stages in the development of the ethnic press system in Crimea in the 1920s. At the first stage (November 1920–1922), a certain attempt was made to organize a system of Bolshevik ethnic publications on the Crimean peninsula, designed to establish a dialogue between the party-Soviet bodies and the most influential ethnic groups: Crimean Tatars, Germans and Armenians. At the same time, newspapers and magazines launched in 1920–1922 performed a propaganda function and largely broke with the ideological traditions of Crimean ethnic journalism of the pre-Soviet period. From 1923 to 1930, after the official announcement of korenization policy, the system of the Crimean ethnic press ceased to correspond to the ethnic composition of multinational Crimea, since it was represented mainly by Crimean Tatar publications. Crimean Tatar journalism, which experienced a flourishing period from 1923 to 1927, was subjected to harassment in 1928 in connection with the attack on the Crimean Tatar Communists and lost a significant part of its national identity. The reasons for the noted shortcomings in the formation of the ethnic media system in Crimea in the 1920s lay in the regulation of ethnic and cultural processes using administrative and command methods, without taking into account the opinions, traditions and values of national communities.
  Keywords: history of journalism, korenization, Crimean press, ethnic press, Crimean ASSR
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2023.188207
  Natalia V. Yablonovskaya 188