Abstract
Professional journalistic cultures have been an important area in journalism studies, but the major comparative studies of journalistic cultures have focused on the national level of analysis, without addressing the heterogeneity of journalists’ value orientations and treatment of professional standards and risks. Fragmentation of today’s Russian media system and the modern political culture of Russia, as well as previous studies of journalism practices in the country, pose the question whether one can even speak of an overarching Russian journalistic culture in the first place or, rather, whether one needs to outline the gaps between several clusters of professionals bearing divergent value sets and working cultures. To describe the potential cleavages in professional culture of journalists in Russia, we use the survey data of 194 journalists of text (print and online) media in 56 Russian regions, as well as in-depth interviews with senior editorial staff and media managers. We find that the main division is values-based rather than monetarist, regional, online/offline, or purely generational. In terms of value divergence, age, professional experience, and political stance of editorial offices play a crucial role, while journalistic education, the differences between the “capitals” and “regions”, and competition with younger tech-savvies do not. “The post-Soviet” as an interpretative concept gradually loses its direct relevance, but the major gaps in the community still form along the “state-supporting/conservative vs. liberal” orientations. Of all the technological innovations, social media and user-generated content provoke divisive treatment, but where technology forms gaps is between the editors and media managers, the latter being extremely profit-oriented and often neglecting the public roles of media organisations.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Courtesy to Mail.ru Group.
References
Anikina, M. (2012). Journalists in Russia. In G. Nygren (Ed.), Journalism in Russia, Poland and Sweden – Traditions, cultures and research (pp. 20–30). Sodertorn: Sodertorns Hogskola.
Anikina, M. (2013). Journalist and journalist’s culture in Russia. In E. Vartanova (Ed.), World of media 2012: Yearbook of Russian media and journalism studies. Moscow: Moscow State University.
Anikina, M., & Johansson, E. (2013). Russian journalists: Inclination towards moderate evaluations. In M. Anikina, B. Dobek-Ostrowska, & G. Nygren (Eds.), Journalists in three media systems: Polish, Russian and Swedish journalists about values and ideals, daily practice and the future (pp. 69–114). Moscow: MSU Faculty of Journalism.
Anikina, M., Frost, L., & Hanitzsch, T. (2017). Journalists in Russia: Country report. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/35063/1/Country_report_Russia.pdf
Balaban, D. C., & Meyen, M. (2011). The role perception of eastern European journalists: A qualitative analysis. Romanian Journal of Communication & Public Relations, 13(4), 87–98.
Becker, J. (2004). Lessons from Russia: A neo-authoritarian media system. European Journal of Communication, 19(2), 139–163.
Bodrunova, S. S. (2013). Fragmentation and polarization of the public sphere in the 2000s: Evidence from Italy and Russia. Global Media Journal (German Ed), 3(1), 1–35
Bodrunova, S. S., & Litvinenko, A. A. (2013). New media and political protest: The formation of a public counter-sphere in Russia, 2008-12. In A. Makarychev & A. Mommen (Eds.), Russia’s changing economic and political regimes: The Putin years and afterwards (pp. 29–66). London: Routledge.
Bodrunova, S. S., & Litvinenko, A. A. (2015). Fragmentation of society and media hybridisation in today’s Russia: How Facebook voices collective demands. Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsial’noy politiki, 14(1).
Bodrunova, S. S., & Nigmatullina, K. R. (2018). Traditionalists vs. innovators: Fragmentation of journalistic cultures in today’s Russian journalism. In Proceedings of the 5th international multidisciplinary scientific conference on social sciences and arts (SGEM’2018) (Vol. 16). Albena.
Bodrunova, S. S., Litvinenko, A. A., & Nigmatullina, K. (forthcoming). Who is the censor? Self-censorship of Russian journalists in professional routines and social networking. Journalism, 2020.
Bonch-Osmolovskaya, T. (2015). Combating the Russian state propaganda machine: Strategies of information resistance. Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, 1(1), 175–127.
Chadwick, A. (2013). The hybrid media system: Politics and power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Christians, C. G. (2009). Philosophical issues in media convergence. Communications and Convergence Review, 1(1), 1–14.
Denisova, A. (2016). Democracy, protest and public sphere in Russia after the 2011–2012 anti-government protests: Digital media at stake. Media, Culture & Society, 39(7), 976–994. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443716682075.
Eltsova, K. K. (2014). Kachestvennye media dlya “obrazovannogo men’shinstva”: analiz diskursa ob elitarnosti v rossiyskih novyh media [“quality” media for the “educated minority”: Analysis of the elitism discourse in the Russian new media]. Filosofia i kultura, 8, 1149–1175.
Erzikova, E., & Lowrey, W. (2010). SEEKING SAFE GROUND: Russian regional journalists’ withdrawal from civic service journalism. Journalism Studies, 11(3), 343–358.
Erzikova, E., & Lowrey, W. (2012). Managed mediocrity? Experienced journalists’ perspectives on the “pampers generation” of Russian reporters. Journalism Practice, 6(2), 264–279.
Fredheim, R. (2017). The loyal editor effect: Russian online journalism after independence. Post-Soviet Affairs, 33(1), 34–48.
Gavra, D., & Strovsky, D. (2016). Values of journalists in Russia: Following historical evolution and modern empirical data. Brazilian Journalism Research, 12(1), 118–139.
Gel’man, V. (2012). The regime, the opposition, and challenges to electoral authoritarianism in Russia. Russian Analytical Digest, 118(2), 2–4.
Gerber, T. P., & Zavisca, J. (2016). Does Russian propaganda work? The Washington Quarterly, 39(2), 79–98.
Hanitzsch, T., et al. (2011). Mapping journalism cultures across nations. Journalism Studies, 12(3), 273–293.
Harro-Loit, H. (2015). Revisiting national journalism cultures in post-communist countries: The influence of academic scholarship. Media and Communication, 3(4), 5–14.
Juntti-Henriksson, A. K., & Ivanishcheva, O. (2011). Swedish and Russian journalists views of their professional roles in a changing media landscape. In NordMedia: 11/08/2011–13/08/2011.
Juskevits, S. (2002). Professional roles of Russian journalists at the end of the 1990s: A case study of St. Petersburg Media. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from http://tampub.uta.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/76288/lisuri00006.pdf?sequence=1
Kachkayeva, A., & Kiriya, I. (2012). Long-term trends in the development of the mass communication sector. Foresight, 6(4), 6–18.
Khaldarova, I., & Pantti, M. (2016). Fake news: The narrative battle over the Ukrainian conflict. Journalism Practice, 10(7), 891–901.
Kiriya, I. (2012). The culture of subversion and Russian media landscape. International Journal of Communication, 6, 446–466.
Kiriya, I. (2014). Media consumption and everyday life in rural areas. In Presentation at seminar series “Sociology of markets of Laboratories of Economic and Sociological Research”. Moscow: National Research University – Higher School of Economics.
Litvinenko, A. (2013). Transformation of journalism paradigm in Russia: Between Soviet legacy and Anglo-Saxon theory. In Proceedings of 5th International Media Readings “Mass Media and Communication – 2013” (pp. 87–90). Moscow: Moscow State University Press.
Litvinenko, A., Smoliarova, A., Bekurov, R., Puiy, A., & Glinternik, E. (2015). Mapping international journalism in post-Soviet Russia: Global trends versus national context. International Review of Management and Marketing, 5, 49–54.
Lowrey, W., & Erzikova, E. (2013). One profession, multiple identities: Russian regional reporters’ perceptions of the professional community. Mass Communication and Society, 16(5), 639–660.
Lowrey, W., & Erzikova, E. (2014). Shifting institutional orders and responses to technological disruption among local journalists in Russia and the US. International Communication Gazette, 76(7), 552–574.
Morev, G., & Byhovskaya, P. (2012). Zvenya odnoy gryobanoy tsepi [The links of one bloody chain]. OpenSpace.ru, June 7, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from http://os.colta.ru/media/paper/details/37626
Nerukopozhatnoe televidenie NTV okazalos’ v tsentre neskol’kih skandalov [Non-handshakeable television: NTV finds itself at the heart of several scandals]. (2012, May 11). Lenta.ru. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from https://lenta.ru/articles/2012/05/11/ntv/
Nordenstreng, K. (2001). Role of media in society: Lessons from Russia. In Y. N. Zassoursky & E. L. Vartanova (Eds.), Media for the open society (pp. 216–224). Moscow: IKAR.
Nygren, G. (Ed.). (2012). Journalism in Russia, Poland and Sweden – Traditions, cultures and research. Sodertorn: Sodertorns Hogskola.
Oates, S. (2007). The neo-Soviet model of the media. Europe-Asia Studies, 59(8), 1279–1297.
Oates, S. (2016). Russian media in the digital age: Propaganda rewired. Russian Politics, 1(4), 398–417.
Pasti, S. (2005). Two generations of contemporary Russian journalists. European Journal of Communication, 20(1), 89–115.
Pasti, S. (2007). The changing profession of journalist in Russia. Academic Dissertation, University of Tampere. https://trepo.tuni.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/67772/978-951-44-7101-8.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Pasti, S., & Pietiläinen, J. (2008). Journalists in the Russian regions: How different generations view their professional roles. In Media, culture and society in Putin’s Russia (pp. 109–132). London: Palgrave.
Pasti, S., & Ramaprasad, J. (2016). Digitalization and journalists in the BRICS countries. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from http://tampub.uta.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/101450/digitalization_and_journalists_2017.pdf?sequence=1
Pietiläinen, J. (2002). The regional newspaper in post-Soviet Russia. Tampere: Tampere University Press.
Rodina, E. (2010). How publication type, experience, and ownership affect self-censorship among Moscow newspaper journalists. Doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon.
Saltzis, K., & Dickinson, R. (2008). Inside the changing newsroom: Journalists’ responses to media convergence. ASLIB Proceedings, 60(3), 216–228.
Sherstobitov, A. (2014). The potential of social media in Russia: From political mobilization to civic engagement. In Proceedings of the 2014 conference on electronic governance and open society: Challenges in Eurasia (pp. 162–166). ACM.
Slavtcheva-Petkova, V. (2018). Russia’s liberal media: Handcuffed but free. London: Routledge.
Smirnova, O. V. (2013). The digital devices in journalists’ professional activity in Russia. World of Media. Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies, 3, 269–280.
Sparks, C. (2008). Media systems in transition: Poland, Russia, China. Chinese Journal of Communication, 1(1), 7–24.
Stent, A. (2017). Putin’s propaganda machine: Soft power and Russian foreign policy. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Strukov, V. (2012a). Networked Putinism: The fading days of the (broadcast) era. Digital Icons: Studies in Russian, Eurasian and Central European New Media, 7, 111–123.
Strukov, V. (2012b). Russian 2011–12: Elections and digital media. Digital Icons: Studies in Russian, Eurasian and Central European New Media, 12, 55–75.
Toepfl, F. (2011). Managing public outrage: Power, scandal, and new media in contemporary Russia. New Media & Society, 13(8), 1301–1319.
Vartanova, E. (2012). The Russian media model in the context of post-Soviet dynamics. In D. C. Hallin & P. Mancini (Eds.), Comparing media systems beyond the Western world (pp. 119–142). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vartanova, E. (2013). Postsovetskie transformatsii rossiyskih SMI i jurnalistiki [Post-Soviet transformations of the Russian mass media and journalism]. Moscow: MediaMir.
Vartanova, E. L., & Kolomiets, V. P. (Eds.). (2017). Televidenie v Rossii: sostoyanie, tendentsii i perspektivy [Television in Russia: Current state, trends, and perspectives of development]. Moscow.
White, D. (2012). Re-conceptualising Russian party politics. East European Politics, 28(3), 210–224.
Willnat, L., & Weaver, D. H. (2014). The American journalist in the digital age: Key findings. Bloomington, IN: School of Journalism, Indiana University.
Wu, W., Weaver, D., & Johnson, O. V. (1996). Professional roles of Russian and US journalists: A comparative study. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 73(3), 534–548.
Zubarevich, N. (2011). Chtyre Rosii [Four Russias]. Vedomosti, #3014. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from https://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/articles/2011/12/30/chetyre_rossii
Zubarevich, N. (2014). Chtyre Rosii otmenyayutsya [Four Russias are abolished]. Novaya gazeta, #144. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2014/12/20/62443-natalya-zubarevich-chetyre-rossii-otmenyayutsya
Zvereva, V. (2016). Battlefield Internet: Young Russian SNS users and new-media state propaganda. In Eastern European youth cultures in a global context (pp. 293–315). London: Palgrave.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bodrunova, S., Nigmatullina, K. (2020). Journalistic Cultures: New Times, New Gaps?. In: Davydov, S. (eds) Internet in Russia. Societies and Political Orders in Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33016-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33016-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33015-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-33016-3
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)