The influence of periodicals on the public political life of the region: a case study

This article summarizes the experience of studying the role of periodicals on the political life in 1985-1991 on materials of Arkhangelsk and Vologda Oblasts. The study analyzes the impacts of periodicals on various aspects of the political life: public opinion, electoral behavior, political developments in the region, activities of political parties. The main sources of the research are 19 socio-political periodicals of Arkhangelsk and Vologda Oblasts. The analysis of the newspaper articles is based on the use of the problem-thematic approach and the method of content analysis. The author considers periodicals as components of a unified system of print media in the region. The article analyzes quantitative and qualitative changes in the system of regional media in 1985-1991, identifies the main trends of media development in the region. The study examines the changes in legislation in the field of media, as the latter regulates the scope of authority of the media, the scope and the limits within which the authorities can influence the media. In determining the role of periodicals in shaping public opinion attention is paid to the composition of the readership, the circulation of periodicals, the distribution of press among readers, the degree of reflection of topical problems of the political life on the pages of individual publications, methods of forming public opinion on issues of public and political life. The study was focused on the content of publications in regional newspapers. To study the influence of regional print publications on the electoral behavior of the population, the author relied on three basic models of influence of the media on political consciousness: high, low and reverse effect. The study analyzed materials about elections of people's deputies of the USSR (1989), the 1991 referendum, on presidential elections of the RSFSR (1991) and the results of the vote published in regional editions. The analysis of pre-election publications and the results of the elections in the territory under consideration for 1989-1991 allowed making a conclusion about the presence in the region of all three models of influence of the media on political consciousness. As a result, the author's research has not confirmed a common opinion about the influence of print media on the political preferences of the population in the regions of Russia.

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