Sociocultural background in the early 20th century and its influence on journalism formation

A.G. Astashkin

Bashkir State University, Ufa, 450076 Russia

E-mail: For-materials@yandex.ru

Received April 11, 2017

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Abstract

The socio-cultural conditions that caused the emergence of the media system of the early 20th century have been explored. In the early 20th century, the society of Russia faced political, economic, and technological modernization, during which a new type of journalism developed. It differed dramatically from journalism of the 18th – 19th centuries and survived in its general outline to the present day.

The following main factors determine the nature of this new journalism: urbanization and emergence of mass urban population with enough time and resources to consume printed products; democratization, including the involvement of urban lower-middle class, merchants, and women in education and culture; state policy on promotion of primary and higher education.

Simultaneously, new types of readership arise: mass audience with the relatively low level of education, who tends to consume a certain type of information (news, fashion, sensations); elitist readers, who are different from the elite audience of the 19th century. The latter group grew as compared to the 19th century, but the cultural level of its members was lower.

The commercialization of journalism began. This resulted in an increase in the number of publishers and caused the extensive growth of publishing. On the other hand, purely commercial enterprises appeared that failed to perform the basic functions of journalism.

Keywords: history of Russian journalism in early 20th century, elite and mass readership, formation of Russian media system, publishing, commercialization

References

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For citation: Astashkin A.G. Sociocultural background in the early 20th century and its influence on journalism formation. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2017, vol. 159, no. 3, pp. 732–741. (In Russian)


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