The media, as many are convinced, is the "fourth power".So much influence of newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and online sources is noticeable in modern society. What is the role and function of the media? How is the legislative regulation of the media sphere carried out? What innovations can we expect in this aspect?
Definition of the term "media"
According to popular interpretation, the mass mediainformation - these are institutions that are created for public transmission to the society or local groups of its various information through certain technological channels. The media, as a rule, have a target audience and a thematic (sectoral) focus. There are political media, there are mass media of business orientation, scientific, entertaining, etc.
The technological channels in question,now it is accepted to be divided into offline (also called "traditional") and online. The first include printed newspapers and magazines, radio, television. Secondly, they are analogues that function on the Internet in the form of articles on web pages, TV and online broadcasts, as well as video and audio clips laid out as a record and other ways of presenting content using digital technologies (flash presentations, HTML5 scripts, etc.).
The emergence of the media
At the same time, according to some experts,prototypes of the media existed already in those times when mankind had not yet invented not just a printing press and an alphabet, but even a full-fledged language. Rock paintings of antiquity, some scientists believe, could already perform a number of functions characteristic of those that are performed by modern media. For example, through them, one nomadic tribe could inform (intentionally or accidentally) another, which came to their place, about what resources are present in the territory - water, vegetation, minerals, give general information about the characteristics of climate, (for example, draw the sun ) or display the elements of warm clothing in the drawings.
However, the "mass" media got, of course,only on the fact of the invention of information carriers, which presupposed the technical possibility of replicating sources in a large number of copies. This was later the Middle Ages - the time when the first newspapers appeared. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, telephone, telegraph, and later radio and TV were invented. By that time, communities of developed countries began to experience tangible communication needs due to processes reflecting aspects of political construction, socio-economic problems that were brewing on the fact of intensification of production and the introduction of new market mechanisms. Power and business began to actively use available technologies for communication with the community. This trend quickly acquired a mass character, and the mass media appeared in the form in which we know them today.
The media received a huge demand, beforein the political environment. They have become a key mechanism for communication between government and society, as well as an effective tool for discussion among various political organizations. The media became a resource, control of which could guarantee the ability of certain interested groups to control the consciousness of people on the scale of the whole society or its individual representatives. The power of the media has appeared.
The media are endowed with specific functions. Consider them.
Functions of mass media
Experts call the basic function information.It consists in acquaintance of the community or specific groups that form it, with information reflecting actual problems, events, forecasts. Also, the information function can be expressed in the publication of information by certain political actors or business entities to inform not only the society, but also significant figures or organizations of its level. This can be expressed, for example, in the publication of profile interviews, where an entrepreneur talks about the competitive advantages of his firm - this kind of information can be calculated for reading not so much from the target customers as by those who can be considered competitors of the firm or, for example, potential investors . In this case, the forms of presenting information may be different. Among the main ones, two can be distinguished - in the form of facts and in the form of opinions (or through a balanced blending of the two models).
Ряд экспертов считает, что СМИ выполняют educational (and to some extent socializing) function. It consists in transferring to the target groups of citizens or society as a whole knowledge that helps to increase the level of involvement in certain processes, to begin to understand what is happening in politics, in the economy, in society. Also, the educational function of the media is important from the point of view that the target audience understands the language of the sources read, becomes permanent, interested in obtaining new information. Of course, the influence of the mass media on the level of education as such is not so great. This function, in turn, is designed to deal with schools, universities and other educational institutions. However, the media can harmoniously complement the knowledge that people receive in educational institutions.
The socializing function of the media may behelping people to become familiar with the realities of the public environment. The mass media can give people guidance in choosing those values that will facilitate the quickest adaptation to the specifics of the socio-economic and political processes.
Who controls whom?
Media, if we talk about democratic regimes,also perform the function of control over certain phenomena in politics and economics. At the same time, the society itself is supposed to be the subject that performs it. Interacting with the media, the society (as a rule, in the person of individual activists expressing the interests of certain groups) forms the relevant issues, and the media themselves make it public. The authorities, in turn, or the subjects of economic activities, enterprises, individual businessmen, will be forced to respond to relevant inquiries of society, “account” for promises, for the implementation of various programs, the solution of actual problems. In some cases, control is complemented by the function of criticism. The role of the media in this sense does not change - the main thing is to convey relevant comments and suggestions to the masses. And then, in turn, broadcast the response of the authorities or businesses.
One of the specific media functions isarticulation. It is to enable society, again, in the face of activists representing someone’s interests, to express their opinion publicly, to convey it to other audiences. Next to the articulation is the mobilization function of the media. It presupposes the existence of channels through which the same activists, who reflect someone’s interests, are included in the process of a political or economic nature. They become not just representatives of someone’s views, but also direct figures at the level of government or business.
Media and law
Russian media, likeThe media in most countries of the world work in accordance with the established norms of the law. What kind of regulations governs the activities of the media sphere in the Russian Federation? The main source of our right is the Law "On Mass Media", which came into force in February 1992. However, it was adopted back in December 1991. Since then the USSR still formally existed, the authority that adopted this act was called the Supreme Soviet of Russia. And it was signed by the President of the RSFSR, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin. The preceding this legal act is considered to be the Soviet Law "On Press", which entered into force in August 1990. Experts note the fact that both sources of law were developed mainly by the same authors.
History of Russian media legislation
What regulations precededtwo what we called above? Historians point out that the laws governing the activities of the media were valid even before the October Revolution. However, after the change of power, they were canceled. Very soon, however, the Decree on the Press, signed by the Council of People's Commissars in October 1917, appeared. It was said that as soon as a new political system becomes stable, any administrative impact on the work of the print media will be terminated. It was supposed that there would be freedom of speech, limited only in possible measures of responsibility before judicial bodies. True, the adoption of the law, which would have enshrined these provisions, did not take place, until 1990.
Censorship and publicity
Большевики, как отмечают историки, почти сразу по Several dozen newspapers were closed and censorship was imposed on the establishment of their power. The activity of the Soviet media was not regulated by any law and was, according to experts, under the direct control of the CPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers. The interaction of the media and the authorities in the USSR actually took place unilaterally. According to historians and lawyers, functionaries of the central bodies or their subordinates within the structures at the level of the Union republics and their constituent entities, took relevant decisions concerning key aspects of editorial policy, appointed leading officials in publications, and resolved organizational issues. A similar situation also occurred in the field of radio and television. Thus, in the USSR only state-owned mass media functioned legally.
However, in the second half of the 80s, the country appearedpublicity. The practice of direct intervention of the authorities in the activities of the media was somehow not tied to the emerging reality in this area. De facto, publishing houses began to play a huge role in the socio-political development of the USSR. But de jure, they were powerless. Publishers did not have the opportunity, as some experts note, to dispose of the profits from the sale of huge print runs. As a result, the country's leadership decided to develop a law on mass media, which would legally consolidate the significance that the media acquired in an era of publicity. It was necessary to create a media sphere operating independently of the party line.
So, from August 1, 1990 in the USSR openedopportunity for the functioning of the media in the framework of publicity. The only mechanism that many experts considered to be an echo of the times of censorship was the mandatory registration of the media, which required compliance with certain formalities. Such as, for example, the definition of a person or organization establishing the mass media, the law prescribed to do so.
New media law?
Formally adopted in the USSR legal actregulating the activities of the media, is still in force. However, during the entire existence of the law, periodic amendments were regularly made to it. And today, discussions about whether to edit this legal act once again, to enter this or that norm, do not subside. Of course, we are not talking about adopting a principle law (in any case, there is no public data known to the general public). However, there are quite a lot of proposals for various kinds of amendments that would influence the activities of the media in Russia.
Among the most recent, which are taken by the State Duma,the one that concerns the restriction in the ownership of shares in the media for foreigners. What exactly is meant here? Until recently, foreigners could be present in any proportions of any kind in the shareholdings and authorized capital of the Russian media (excluding radio and television). In the fall of 2014, the State Duma in three readings adopted amendments to the law on mass media, according to which, from 2016, foreign investors will be able to own no more than 20% of the assets of Russian mass media.
Limiting the share of foreigners
With the consequences of the adoption of the law in the new editionAccording to experts, more than one media can collide. Examples abound. The share of foreigners in the assets of publishing houses such as Sanoma Independent Media, Bauer, Hearst Shkulev and many others is large. Bypass the rule of law, lawyers believe, is problematic. The rules set out in the act do not allow foreigners to own shares in media assets through an intermediary chain from different legal entities. What can this lead to?
Experts believe that the result of entryThe amendments may be due to the desire of some media brands to cease operations in the Russian Federation. In many ways, analysts believe, that media owners will not have the opportunity to build editorial policies in the desired format. In this connection, the recognition of the style of a media brand may lose in quality, readers will no longer buy relevant publications, and the owner will suffer losses. According to some experts, the expediency of the law may raise doubts due to the fact that the most sensitive for the legislator sphere of media space in Russia (politics, society) is not so much controlled by foreigners. Much more foreign influence in the "glossy" editions, virtually unrelated to matters of national importance.
Bloggers Act
Among other high-profile Russian initiativeslegislator - amendments related to the activities of bloggers. In accordance with them, the owners of Internet portals (or pages on social networks and other similar online projects) are equated in certain terms to the media if the audience on the relevant pages exceeds 3 thousand users daily. True, in this case the amendments concern not the law “On Mass Media”, but another legal act relating to the regulation of the sphere of information technologies.
What kind of media commitmentwill popular bloggers have to perform? First of all, this is the provision of a real last name, first name and middle name. Also, the blogger must provide an email address in order to be able to conduct legally significant correspondence with him. In turn, the name and e-mail address of the blogger or hosting provider of the site where the project is located should be redirected to Roskomnadzor.
The blog should not publish informationwhich may, by virtue of its content and focus, contradict the norms of legislation. For example, unfounded and negatively affecting the interests of others, statements, judgments, publication of compromising and personal information become unacceptable.
