Issue

Content:

• Sociology of Journalism

  «Promising Areas for News Consumption Research in High-Choice Media Environment»

  The high-choice media environment has transformed the process of news consumption. This article attempts to map out the field of contemporary news consumption research and identify trends that deserve further study. The following promising areas of research have been identified: (1) choice from an excess number of options, (2) new media repertoires and styles of news consumption, (3) unintentional news consumption, (4) the problem of false, incomplete and unreliable information, (5) media fragmentation, (6) crisis of trust in news. For each of these areas, a conceptual framework is proposed in Russian and English, as well as aspects that can be focused on and examples of research questions are identified. In addition, the article pointed out two more general problems. First, the need to reconceptualize many of the terms that were originally proposed for traditional media and have lost clarity and unambiguity within the high-choice media environment. Secondly, the importance of abandoning normativism and evaluativeness when considering new trends in media consumption. This article may be useful for forming a general understanding of the current state of research on news consumption, as well as when planning your own research – choosing a topic, stating a problem and searching for relevant literature.
  Keywords: information overload, news avoidance, doomscrolling, fake news, conspiracy theories, news-finds-me, trust in news
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.347
  Anastasia D. Kazun 3
• Foreign Journalism

  «Media Social Representations of the Pandemic in French Mass Media»

  The article is devoted to media social representations, a theoretical construct of media research from the socio-psychological field. Media social representations are forms of groupthink, formed by media discourse, revealing patterns and clichés for representing reality. The article aims to present an algorithm for reconstructing media social representations based on computational linguistics. It was suggested that semantically similar terms used by journalists when creating texts create different media social representations, i.e. the choice of a signifying term entails a certain discursive frame in the representation of reality. To test the hypothesis, the media social representations “pandémie”, “coronavirus”, “COVID-19” were reconstructed using the material of the French publications Le Monde, Le Figaro and Le Parisien (2020–2022; 58 432 texts). It turned out that in French media discourse the media social representation of “pandemic” is focused on objective threats, the media social representation of “coronavirus” reconstructs the psychological struggle with danger, and the media social representation of “COVID-19” reproduces the atmosphere of despair and panic. Thus, semantically close signifiers (“coronavirus”, “COVID-19” and “pandemic”) created different media social representations, allowing, through the linguistic and psychological resources of naming, to create different worlds of the pandemic.
  Keywords: media social representations, media discourse, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Le Parisien, communicative studies
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.4867
  Nadezhda K. Radina, Konstantin V. Bannikov 48
• History of Journalism

  «The Publication of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions Fizicheskaya Kul’tura as an Alternative Project of the Main Central Physical Education and Sports Newspaper in the USSR»

  The article examines the history of the emergence, transformation and cessation of the trade union newspaper Fizicheskaya Kul’tura (1927–1933). While representing the position of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions on all issues of the introduction of physical education and sports into the culture and life of the population of the USSR, this newspaper not only reflected the processes of development of physical education and sports movement in the country, but also claimed to lead these processes as the central all-Union sports newspaper. The history of Fizicheskaya Kul’tura is practically unknown to researchers of sports and sports journalism of the USSR. The novelty and significance of this work lie both in the introduction of new data into scientific circulation and the deepening of general ideas about the typological and problem-thematic development of publications on physical education and sports at the border 1920-1930s. In the chosen period, the system of physical education and sports journalism was actively restructured to comply with the state and political tasks set by the party for the socialist reorganization of the national economy. The study is based on a comparative analysis of data obtained from publications in the physical culture and sports press and documents from the funds of the State Archive of the Russian Federation.
  Keywords: physical education, sports, sports periodicals, central newspapers, trade unions
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.6894
  Konstantin A. Alexeev 68

• «Photographer Ya. V. Shteynberg’s "Book of Photographs’ Registration" (1917 – January 1921): Some Problems of the Source Analysis»

  This article presents the results of research of an unpublished historical source – the "Book of Photographs’ Registration" (1917 – January 1921) of famous Russian and Soviet photojournalist Ya. V. Shteynberg. The “Book” contains information about the work he had done. This study is based on an analysis of the contents of the “Book”, as well as its comparative analysis with other sources devoted to Ya. V. Shteynberg activity. The analysis of the source makes it possible to identify as key problems the accuracy and completeness of the records, their dating, as well as the ratio of these records with data from other sources – the memories of Ya. V. Shteynberg, his autobiography, negatives and photographic publications. These problems are considered by the example of the records contained in the “Book” about photographing important historical subjects. The paper identifies discrepancies between the dating and description of these plots in the "Book of Recording Pictures" and other sources. It also outlines a range of questions to which the document under study does not provide answers.
  Keywords: Ya. V. Shteynberg, "Book of Photographs’ Registration", photography, photojournalist, photographing, the Great Russian Revolution, the Plamia magazine
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.95112
  Oleg A. Bakoulin 95

• «Provincial Magazine “Psovaya I Ruzhejnaya Ohota” (1894–1907): an Experience of Developing a Model of a Democratic Periodical»

  The article touches upon the history of one of the most popular magazines of nature and hunting – the provincial magazine "Psovaya i Ruzhejnaya Ohota" (1894–1907) in the context of other publishing projects of the famous dog breeder, hunter and writer Sergei Ozerov (1859–1903). The article reveals his role in solving national problems of preserving hound hunting, breeding Russian hunting dogs, determining the status of hunting in Russia and developing a hunting culture among the illiterate population of the empire. Archival materials and letters from S. Ozerov to S. Buturlin which are related to the publication and functioning of the magazine were studied. The program, genre and thematic content of the publication and ways of interacting with readers were studied on the basis of the historical and typological method. The novelty of the research is determined both by the empirical material itself — archival files that were not previously introduced into scientific circulation, and by the subject — the history of the emergence and functioning of the magazine “Psovaya i Ruzhejnaya Ohota” and other projects by S. Ozerov. It is concluded that in conditions of socio-political unrest and fierce competition for readers, during the crisis of the hunting press, Ozerov’s magazine maintained the status of a fairly authoritative and influential publication due to its democratic orientation, high quality of published material, energy and enthusiasm of the publisher and effective methods of marketing activities. The history of "Psovaya i Ruzhejnaya Ohota" makes it possible to present more fully the problems of the hound hunting and hunting industry in general as well as the situation on the market of specialized publications in a competitive environment.
  Keywords: journalism, nature and hunting specialized magazines, S. V. Ozerov, Psovaya i Ruzhejnaya Ohota, typology of editions
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.113138
  Alina V. Lyapina 113
• Education in Journalism

  «Photojournalism Education in the USSR in the 1920S – early 1930S»

  The article educes, systematizes and analyzes data about educational programs of the 1920s – early 1930s aimed at training photojournalists in the USSR. The concept of “program” is interpreted broadly: it includes not only profession- oriented courses and lecture series but also educational publications and series of publications, which, due to the lack of systematic training of photojournalists in the period under study, served as a kind of professional school for existing and future press employees. Information about the history of the creation and functioning of programs implemented by various institutions – public organizations (Association of Photo Reporters, ODSK), a university (GIZH), a photo agency (TASS Press- cliché), the media (magazines “Ogonyok”, “Sovetskoe Foto”) was reconstructed. A comparative analysis of their structure, thematic and methodological aspects was also conducted. A special feature of the first stage of the development of photojournalism education in the USSR (1920s – early 1930s) is the multipolarity of learning initiatives. The combination of face-to-face and extramural courses made it possible to involve both Moscow-based and regional educators. Practicing photojournalists were involved in teaching – the workshop method of training, which was the main one in the field of photography in pre-revolutionary Russia and was justified due to the practical orientation of the craft, was preserved and raised to a new level: from training in a narrow circle of colleagues in a photo studio – to seminars and lectures in courses where the number of students was already in the dozens. A feature of the period under study is the hyper-active participation of the media in the training of photojournalists, which helped establish this profession by the early 1930s relatively mass.
  Keywords: photojournalism, photo education, photo agency, Association of Photo Reporters, GIZH, “Ogonyok”, ODSK, “Sovetskoe Foto”, TASS Press-cliché
  DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.139167
  Maria A. Romakina 139