The Role of Regional Media in Covering Environmental Issues (on the Example of the Republic of Tatarstan)

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Special Issue on Environment, Management and Economy, Pages: 1026-1029

J. Environ. Treat. Tech.

ISSN: 2309-1185

Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

The Role of Regional Media in Covering

Environmental Issues (on the Example of the

Republic of Tatarstan)

Galina V. Morozova*, Irina D. Porfireva

Institute of Social and Philosophical Sciences and Mass Communications, Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya

Street, 420008, Kazan, Russia

Received: 05/08/2019

Accepted: 20/11/2019

Published: 20/12/2019

Abstract

The mass media play a decisive role in shaping of public opinion, including the environmental issues. This problem is

relevant not only due to its extreme aggravation in the system of “nature-society”, the need to improve the effectiveness of the

state environmental policy, including the information support, but also due to the unprecedented changes in media space. The

transition from traditional to new media in the 1990s, the further global spread of the Internet, and the digitization of

communication messages have led to fundamental changes in media sphere. The Internet has connected many users - individuals,

organizations, media into a single, open communication network, creating the unlimited number of connections, reducing the

distance between network participants, eliminating spatial restrictions. The new level of communications has been formed. It has

changed not only the access of consumers to information, but also the interaction with it. Mass media became a powerful tool for

the purposeful formation of social orders, mainly through the building of necessary public relations, including the ecological

issues. They influence a number of processes, from formal environmental policy to informal views of the public on the current

state of environment (1-4). In this regard, the study of coverage of environmental problems and the measures of government,

aimed for their solving, in mass media is an important task in scientific, practical and political sense. The article presents the

research results of the role of regional media in covering the environmental issues, in determining the effectiveness of

information support of the government environmental protection policy.

Keywords: Environmental policy, Socio-ecological problems, Media sphere, Mass media.

interconnection of these processes is obvious. In the world,

Introduction

only greenhouse gas emissions have almost doubled over

the past two decades. Carbon dioxide contributes to the

increase of ozone holes, that has led to the rise of

temperature of the earth's surface and to the change of sea

level. In this regard, the need for a significant reduction of

greenhouse gas emissions is becoming increasingly urgent

for each country. In recent years, the government and non-

profit organizations have been actively developing the

programs of reduction of energy costs and carbon

emissions, with the aim to decrease the flow of greenhouse

gases (4). Other problems are also associated with the

environmental degradation: food, contamination of soil

cover, land damage, reduction of fresh water resources,

pollution of the World Ocean, epidemics, environmental

disasters, the emergence of natural disaster areas, etc.

Ecological crisis, which has affected the human

environment, disrupted the natural balance of the planet.

The forecasts about the irreversibility of damage to the

biosphere in the coming decades put the existence of

civilization on the brink of disaster, that also concerns

Russia to the full extent (13-20-21).

The environmental problems have led not only to the

contradictions in the system "society-nature", but have

influenced on almost all other areas of public life. The

environmental crisis also negatively affected the economy,

causing difficulties in social sphere, in demographic

development, and in solving the national economic tasks.

So, the growing incidence of population is directly related

to the environmental degradation of the planet. The

Climate change and environmental degradation forced

the international community to reconsider the existing

relationship between nature and human beings, not only

through the enhancing of participation of national states in

ensuring environmental safety, but also through the

combining their efforts to compensate for damage, caused

Corresponding autor: Galina V. Morozova, Institute of

Social

and Philosophical

Sciences

and Mass

Communications, Kazan Federal University, 18

Kremlevskaya Street, 420008, Kazan, Russia. E-mail:

polit2015@bk.ru. Tel.: 89172287422.

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Special Issue on Environment, Management and Economy, Pages: 1026-1029

to nature (12-22-27).

analyzed materials for the selected chronological period

amounted to 65,910 articles. Among them, 1977

publications were devoted to the environmental issues (3%

of the total amount of the studied material). For the

Sustainable and safe development of any state is

substantially determined by the effectiveness of

environmental policy, which is responsible for the

preservation of the environment (24-25-26). The key

position, determining the survival of the planet, consists in

urgent solving the existing problems in the system “nature -

society”, through the enhancing of legislative norms in the

field of nature management, their rigorous implementation

as a mechanism to counter the extinction and death of

civilization. In the regulation of human relations with the

environment in compliance with laws, protecting nature

and ensuring environmental safety, the use of all possible

channels for the formation of an individual's civilized

approach to the environment, the state environmental

policy plays a decisive role (5-11-23).

analysis,

regional newspapers were selected:

(“Respublika Tatarstan”, “Izvestiya Tatarstana”, “Business

Online”).

According to the results of the content analysis, we can

conclude that the regional media do not consider

environmental issues as socially significant topics, which

form the agenda in the media field of the country and the

republic. Only 3% of the entire array of articles is devoted

to environmental issues. So, there is an effect of vacuum of

ecological information in the field of coverage of problems

of environmental development.

Such a low proportion of coverage of environmental

Its effectiveness is largely determined by timely

coverage of environmental problems, bringing to the public

the importance of responsibility of each person for

preservation the living environment, available natural

resources, and consciously limiting of material needs.

topics indicates a certain direction of the current

information policy in the republic. Perhaps, the regional

media consider it their task to form an opinion among the

public about the absence of serious problems in the field of

environmental management (28-29-30).

Materials and Methods

3 Results

The methodological base of the study was monographic

The determination of the dynamics of coverage of

environmental problems in the Republic of Tatarstan by the

regional media became an important task of the study. The

dynamics of articles, devoted to environmental issues, in

mass media of the Republic of Tatarstan in the period from

July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2019 is presented in the fig. 2.

Environmental reports in the regional mass media are

seasonal in nature.

and comprehensive sociological research, which gave the

opportunity to form a full picture of the current type of

coverage of environmental issues by the media in the

Republic of Tatarstan. The investigation was conducted in

the period from July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2019. [Fig.1] Its

purpose was to identify the environmental problems,

covered by the regional media, determining them in key

areas. The study used the method of qualitative and

quantitative content analysis. The total volume of the

Figure 1: The number of articles, devoted to environmental issues, in mass media of the Republic of Tatarstan in the period from 2009-2019

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Special Issue on Environment, Management and Economy, Pages: 1026-1029

environmental safety will depend on the further

development of this area. In such case, the key role of the

regional media will be in timely delivery of environmental

information to the public through the effective

communication channels; in the formation of

environmental communication; in resolution of conflicts

between the subjects of environmental policy and

stabilization the eco-political order; in the ecologization of

public consciousness.

Figure 2: The dynamics of articles, devoted to environmental

issues, in mass media of the Republic of Tatarstan in the period

from 2009-2019

Conclusion

The effective use of mass media can play a decisive

role in the adoption and implementation of measures, aimed

at solving of environmental problems. Most people obtain

the information about climate change through the media.

These studies confirm the pattern that people primarily rely

on the media to get the information on global

environmental issues. In this regard, it is important to use

the potential impact of mass media on the audience, and

their influence on the formation of public opinion in

solving environmental problems, in implementing the state

programs for the preservation of nature, and in eliminating

the damage, caused to it. The overcoming of contradictions

between the constantly deteriorating state of the

environment and the growing needs on the part of society is

impossible without the information coverage of impending

catastrophe, the widespread use of mass media for the

analytical support of the state environmental policy, and the

combined efforts of society, population and government.

The impact of environmental publications from

traditional media and the Internet has a positive effect on

public attitudes towards the environment through the

mechanisms of environmental value, people's orientations

and intentions. The effective use of various types of media

can positively influence the adoption of timely

environmental measures.

As shown in the figure 2, summer months (June, July)

and winter months (end of December and January) are the

most characteristic periods for the publication of

environmental reports. From June to August, there are

extremely few environmental publications, despite the fact

that the largest number of fires, floods, and other significant

natural disasters occur during this period.

The results of the content analysis, carried out by the

criterion of the titles of articles, devoted to environmental

issues, in the mass media of the Republic of Tatarstan are

presented in Table 1.

3% of environmental publications (1977 articles) for

the studied chronological period were taken as 100%.

Table 1: The results of the content analysis

Criterion

Emotionally

headlines

Percentage

colored

(exclamation,

appeal, question, artistic

figure, affirmation, etc.)

Headlines,

emotional expressiveness

official orders, names,

without

(

73%

geographical names, simple

phrases, etc.)

Total

Acknowledgements

100%

The work is performed according to the Russian

Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan

Federal University.

The headlines of articles, devoted to environmental

issues, were structured according to the degree of emotional

coloring. 27% of headlines were emotionally colored, and

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