Changing Identities and Practices in Post-Soviet Journalism

Abstract

Journalism in Russia is being shaped by new forms of regulation, ownership and economic organization as well as new conceptions of the role of the journalist in relation to authorities and audiences. While centralized broadcasting and communications in the Russian Federation continue to have a dominant role, the centrifugal tendencies of the post-Soviet period have enhanced the autonomy and importance of the provincial media. Using data from research interviews, supported by documentary and statistical sources on the media in Tatarstan, this article examines journalists' perceptions of their role and how it is changing. Key issues include the distinction between `information' and `presentation', the search for a new ethos among the younger generation of journalists, and orientations towards the audience. In a republic with an ethnically and religiously mixed population, often taken to be a model of stable political evolution, journalists are finding ways to accommodate to, rather than challenge, new structures.

Professional ideals and daily practice in journalism

“…and 'what defines good journalism?' (Carpentier, 2005;David et al, 1998;de Bruin, 2000;Deuze, 2005;Hanitzsch, 2007Hanitzsch, , 2011Johnstone et al, 1972;Plaisance and Skewes, 2003;Reed, 2001;Weaver and Wilhoit 1991;Weaver et al, 2007). Whilst there is no definitive journalistic identity or culture, the vast majority of studies agree that certain role perceptions function as the 'building blocks' of professional journalism, and each role perception entails one or several professional ideals.…”

Managed Mediocrity?

“…Twenty years later, only a small number of studies have examined Russian regional media and provincial journalists (e.g., Davis et al, 1998;Erzikova and Lowrey, 2010;Koltsova, 2006;Lowrey and Erzikova, 2010;Pasti, 2005aPasti, , 2005b. As Davis et al noted, ''While centralized broadcasting and communications in the Russian Federation continue to have a dominant role, the centrifugal tendencies of the post-Soviet period have enhanced the autonomy and importance of the provincial media'' (1998, p. 77).…”

“…Journalists influenced the process of societal change while simultaneously being affected by overall developments in the country (Davis et al, 1998). The news media's acquisition of real power during perestroika (not nominal power, as in Soviet times) fostered an increased popularity for the journalism profession among younger people at that time (Pasti, 2005a).…”

Two Generations of Contemporary Russian Journalists

“…An open approach to the professionalism of Russian journalists was adopted in order to acquire more empirical evidence about how professionalism develops and what its features are. During the last decade, both Russian and western research diagnosing the transitional state of journalism discovered the persistence of old (subjective and propagandist) and the emergence of new (more factual and open) practices (Kolesnik et al, 1995;Wu et al, 1996;Davis et al, 1998;Voltmer, 2000).…”