Social Networks as a Source of Newsworthy Events for Russian Journalism (a Case Study of Using Youtube and Instagram (Banned on the Territory of the Russian Federation))

Section: New Media

The article presents the results of analyzing the way Russian journalists use the YouTube and Instagram social networks as a source of newsworthy events for four popular media: two newspapers (Komsomolskaya Pravda, Rossiyskaya Gazeta) and two news agencies (RIA Novosti, RBC) for the period from June 1, 2021 to June 1, 2022. The nature and thematic focus of the newsworthy events, the frequency of resorting to them before and after access limitation to Instagram in Russia on March 14, 2022 were identified. The author of the article used content analysis and comparative analysis, which showed that when working with YouTube and Instagram, journalists of the leading Russian media choose to find the most popular publications on these social networks for their subsequent brief presentation to the print media audience. Notably, more than 90% of the journalistic publications based on YouTube and more than 80% of the publications based on Instagram were materials dealing with new videos, photos and news from the lives of show business celebrities and sports stars.

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To cite this article: Gikis S.N. (2023) Sotsial'nye seti kak istochnik infopovodov dlya rossiiskoi zhurnalistiki (na primere ispol'zovaniya materialov YouTube i Instagram (organizatsiya, zapreshchennaya na territorii RF)) [Social Networks as a Source of Newsworthy Events for Russian Journalism (a Case Study of Using Youtube and Instagram (Banned on the Territory of the Russian Federation))]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika 2: 73–90. DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2023.7390