TECHNOLOGIES OF INFLUENCE ON MASS MEDIA IN UKRAINE:  THE POST-COMMUNIST CONTEXT

Oleksiy Zahirnyi

doi:10.23856/5527

Oleksiy Zahirnyi Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0631-089X

Keywords: mass media, Soviet censorship, oligarchic model of mass media, institutionalism, democratic transition

Abstract

The article is devoted to transformations of technologies of political influence on mass media in Ukraine. The essence of the post-communist context of transformations of technologies influencing the mass media is determined. It consists in the transition from the Soviet heritage (state and party censorship, administrative pressure on journalists and editors) to the oligarchic model of mass media activity (the use of economic leverage, hidden political advertising, and dependence on the owner). The methodological approach of historical institutionalism is used to determine the transformations of technologies of influence of public power and oligarchic groups on the mass media in the post-communist context. It has been specified that the creation of a democratic model of mass media activity is an integral part of the democratization of the Ukrainian political process. The study of technologies of public power influence on the mass media allows reconstructing creatively some provisions of the theory of democratic transition, determining its essence and directions in Ukraine. Special emphasis is placed on the need to overcome the post-communist legacy and the importance of understanding the democratic transition of Ukraine as the achievement of its ultimate goal – full-fledged European and EuroAtlantic integration. Despite the long debates in Ukrainian political science regarding the use of such terms as "post-communism" and "democratic transition", the events of recent years, and especially the war of the russian federation against Ukraine (i.e. actions aimed directly against the democratic transition of Ukraine) have convincingly proven the scientific value and the importance of researching the post-communist context of mass media activity. The essence of certain technologies of influence on the mass media, which characterize the relations between the government, society, and the mass media in the post-communist context, is noted.

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