Efficiency and effectiveness of journalism is a general characteristic. The effectiveness and efficiency of journalism: forms, factors, assessments, guidelines. Television as a means of mass information

With the formulation of the problem of the effectiveness of the media, the question immediately arises about ways and means of studying, “measuring the real effectiveness of journalism (certain journalistic actions, the functioning of individual media channels, types of publications or programs, media interaction, etc.). And only recently have works begun to appear in which the problems and experience of studying efficiency are solved thoroughly and on a large scale. Among the proposed methods for assessing effectiveness, in our opinion, two are of particular importance.

Firstly, highlighting the various stages of “contact” with the source of information (first contact with the source, contact with the information it contains, information of different types, assimilation of information in one form or another, development of an attitude towards the received information, assimilation and memorization of information) . Secondly, the definition of possible “final effects”, combined into five groups: cognitive, value, organizational, communicative, creating emotional and psychological tone.

Studying the problems of efficiency, one of the most important “outputs” has a practical meaning: the development of general requirements for journalistic activity, designed for a high level of efficiency, and the formation of specific recommendations in relation to certain social conditions, the state of the audience, journalism personnel, etc.

The problem of efficiency is solved by a journalist at every stage of his work: in the process of setting a task, choosing a topic, collecting primary information, during the creative work of creating material, when determining the typological appearance of a publication or program, etc. The essence of this approach to assessing journalistic activity is related to its pragmatic aspect, i.e. interaction with the information consumer. The other two aspects - semantic and syntactic - are respectively related to the nature of the reflected reality and the nature of the organization of the material.

In his activities, a journalist reflects reality, then creates a text based on what he has learned, and, finally, the text reaches the audience. Therefore, to clarify this activity, it is necessary, first of all, to study the relationship between the text and the audience. These relationships can be optimal only when the journalist, focusing on the “consumer,” modifies in one way or another any aspect of the work. Consequently, the objectives of the analysis “for effectiveness” are to consider the entire variety of stages of journalistic activity for compliance with the requirements of pragmatic adequacy, and then develop practical recommendations.

In our opinion, when studying the effectiveness of journalistic activity, one should distinguish between two types of results in the activities of the media. They are directly related to two types of tasks solved by journalists: to consistently and purposefully achieve results that meet social needs, both in the field of “decision making” and in the field of shaping a person’s consciousness and his life position. It is difficult to determine which outcome is more important. One thing is clear: they cannot be mixed; It is necessary to separate the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency. The requirement to make journalism more effective and efficient means that both media professionals and academic researchers must assume that the challenges facing journalism must be addressed in a systematic and coordinated manner. After all, high efficiency increases efficiency, and high efficiency increases efficiency, because authority increases the trust of the audience. Practice shows that most media materials are addressed to both “addresses” and thus have one or another level of both effectiveness and efficiency.

To more fully understand the essence of the effectiveness of journalistic activity, it is necessary to reveal the internal structure of this concept. The traditional definition of effectiveness as the relationship between result and goal needs significant clarification. “Goal”, being a subjective anticipation of the desired result, is developed and shaped by people. If the objective foundations of goal setting are not clear enough or the real prerequisites are not sufficiently clarified, then the put forward goal may have certain inaccuracies in its content or even be subjective in nature. You can set goals that are “too big” or “too small”, “easily achievable” or “obviously impossible”, that correspond or do not correspond to objective needs. Therefore, the formulation of the problem itself requires serious justification and verification of the accuracy of its definition.

A goal can only be a “reference point” in a journalist’s activity when it turns out to be the deepest and most accurate reflection of needs. Therefore, when considering the goal as the basis for calculating effectiveness, it is necessary to take into account the needs of the audience (and its various social strata) for information, as well as the real possibilities of satisfying them at a given time. This understanding of effectiveness, apparently, is the starting point for studying the effectiveness of journalistic activity.

Accurate knowledge about the essence of effectiveness makes it possible to study the real effectiveness of the media in one or another “section” and get an idea of the potential effectiveness, i.e. the ability of a given system or its individual components to perform the tasks assigned to it.

Knowledge of specific goals formed in accordance with the information needs of the audience, assessing the accuracy of their setting is a prerequisite for analysis “for effectiveness”. At the same time, it is necessary to keep in mind that the role of a specific media message is the result of a movement: from the general functions of journalism - through their specification in relation to the tasks and audience of a given media in connection with the peculiarities of the current situation within the country and in the international arena, etc. - up to setting tasks for the journalist to prepare a work in a certain genre, style, form.

This pattern of journalistic activity acquires special significance in the theoretical and practical solution of problems of efficiency. A clear understanding of the essence of effectiveness allows sociologists to program research, conduct it and develop recommendations on an appropriate methodological basis. The results of the work of sociologists in media research should be used to optimize the activities of journalists in meeting the information needs and interests of the audience.

Chapter 1. The effectiveness of journalism

It has been established, for example, that mass communication activities of modern man associated with the consumption, use and production of mass information, with the total prevalence and availability of information, become a necessary condition and means of carrying out almost any social activity: socio-political, cognitive, labor, etc. However, this happens only when the content and form of mass information changes in accordance with the information interests and needs of people.

With the formulation of the problem of the effectiveness of the media, the question immediately arises about ways and means of studying, “measuring” the real effectiveness of journalism (certain journalistic actions, the functioning of individual media channels, types of publications or programs, media interaction, etc.). Among the proposed methods for assessing effectiveness, in our opinion, two are of particular importance.

Firstly, identifying the various stages of “contact” with the source of information (first contact with the source, contact with the information it contains, information of different types, assimilation of information in one form or another, development of an attitude towards the received information, assimilation and memorization of information) . Secondly, the definition of possible “final effects”, combined into five groups: cognitive, value, organizational, communicative, creating emotional and psychological tone.

“The problem of efficiency is solved by a journalist at every stage of his work: in the process of setting a problem, choosing a topic, collecting primary information, during the creative work of creating material, when determining the typological appearance of a publication or program, etc. The essence of this approach to assessing journalistic activity is related to its pragmatic aspect, i.e. interaction with the information consumer. The other two aspects - semantic and syntactic - are respectively related to the nature of the reflected reality and the nature of the organization of the material." (V. Oleshko. Abstract “Media Effectiveness”. Minsk, 1986, pp. 1-3).

In his activities, a journalist reflects reality, then creates a text based on what he has learned, and, finally, the text reaches the audience. Therefore, to clarify this activity, it is necessary, first of all, to study the relationship between the text and the audience. These relationships can be optimal only when the journalist, focusing on the “consumer,” modifies in one way or another any aspect of the work. Consequently, the objectives of the “efficiency” analysis are to consider the entire variety of stages of journalistic activity for compliance with the requirements of pragmatic adequacy, and then develop practical recommendations.

In our opinion, when studying the effectiveness of journalistic activity, one should distinguish between two types of results in the activities of the media. They are directly related to two types of tasks solved by journalists: to consistently and purposefully achieve results that meet social needs, both in the field of “decision making” and in the field of shaping a person’s consciousness and his life position. It is difficult to determine which outcome is more important. One thing is clear: they cannot be mixed; It is necessary to separate the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency. The requirement to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of journalism means that both media workers and academic researchers must proceed from the bottom line that the challenges facing journalism should be addressed systematically and coherently. After all, high efficiency helps to increase efficiency, and high efficiency helps to increase efficiency, because authority increases the trust of the audience. Practice shows that most media materials are addressed to both “addresses” and thus have one or another level of both effectiveness and efficiency.

In a mature socialist society, efficiency is recognized as the most important evaluation category of creative efforts in all areas of work. He believed that any socially useful activity should be carried out in the most rational, effective manner, with the greatest impact, and its social significance is assessed by the final results. Of course, this was also directly addressed to the media and propaganda.

“Speaking at a meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR when discussing the work of Izvestia, Gen. secret The Central Committee of the CPSU L.I. Brezhnev noted that the newspaper should pose questions in principle and “do this in the most intelligible form, finding ways to the hearts of millions of readers. Then she will really be looked forward to in every home, in every family.” (S.V. Tsukasov. “The Time of Maturity.” M. Mysl, 1979, p. 37).

It is also very important that readers are confident that everything that is correct and socially useful, whether we are talking about the development of a new initiative, a popular initiative or a critical speech, will be supported by the newspaper. Then they will truly consider the newspaper theirs.

“That is why the question of the effectiveness and efficiency of publications is so acute today. Without this there cannot be a vibrant, authoritative, truly mass newspaper” (L.I. Brezhnev. Lenin’s Course. Speeches and Articles, vol. 7. M., 1979, p. 334).

Laying the foundation of a new type of press, V.I. Lenin proceeded from the fact that the basis of its activities was a close connection with life, with party politics, the struggle of the working class and all working people. The effectiveness of the press, according to V.I. Lenin, is a class, social concept. In decisions of party congresses, resolutions of the Central Committee and other party documents, it was repeatedly noted that the effectiveness of the press depends on how accurately the social meaning of facts, their political significance, and trends in social development are captured in its speeches. It also depends on the relevance of publications and the completeness of answers to pressing questions of practice, the activity of intrusion into life, and, therefore, in short, “on the degree of real assistance to the party and the people in solving the problems of communist construction.”

The scientific concept of the effectiveness of the media and propaganda or socialism was considered in the light of their complex nature, “inseparable from the nature of a developed socialist society.” It was believed that it depends on three main factors, taken in their dialectical unity:

- “firstly, from the subject of influence, that is, the ideological and professional level of the press, the depth of its expression of party policy, the interests of the people, the pressing tasks of social development at this stage;

Secondly, from the object of influence, that is, the readership, its everyday perception, in Lenin’s words, of the preaching of the press, from the power of social resonance, the real influence of the printed and spoken word on public consciousness;

Thirdly, on the degree of direct use of the media and propaganda in managing social processes, i.e. in the organizational and mass political work of party, Soviet, economic and public bodies" (S. Tsukasov, "Time of Maturity." M., 1979, p. 38).

We read in the same place: “Determining the effectiveness of ideological work is very difficult due to the fact that its final results appear in the indirect actions of people, which in turn are determined by many circumstances: social and individual psychology, moral norms, objective public interests and needs, etc. “...By what criteria should we judge the real “thoughts and feelings” of real individuals? - wrote V.I. Lenin. “It is clear that there can only be one such sign: the actions of these individuals, - and since we are talking only about public “thoughts and feelings,” we should add one more thing: social actions of individuals, i.e. social facts” (V.I. .Lenin. Complete collected works, vol. 1, pp. 423-424).

Public actions of people are the main criterion for the effectiveness of ideological work, including the work of the media and propaganda. In other words, the effectiveness of the press reflects the level of fulfillment of its social functions - propaganda, agitation and organization.

This approach, according to the ideologists of socialism, is fundamentally opposed to bourgeois theories and views. In their opinion, the theoretical concepts of bourgeois science engaged in the study of the media and propaganda, which are usually called its “mass media”, “mass communication”, suffer from natural limitations and one-sidedness, isolation from the social nature and public functions of the press.

In American sociology, as noted in the work of S. Tsukasov (p. 39), for example, the central concept associated with the effectiveness of mass communication is the concept of “ettitude.” It means the response of the individual, more precisely, the readiness to react to what is read, seen, heard and interpret it, including elements of motivation. Researchers consider etudes as rational or emotional judgments that cover beliefs, views, beliefs, opinions, interests and aspirations for certain goals (See V.A. Mansurov. Critical analysis of the theory of perception of mass communication in American sociology and social psychology. - “Questions theory and methods of ideological work", issue 7, pp. 246-257). The impact of mass communication on etudes, and through them on human behavior, the degree of this impact and the coincidence of the achieved results with the intentions of the communicator is understood in American sociology as the effectiveness of mass communication media. Their influence on humans is classified as follows:

a) create studies from people who previously did not have them on this issue (creative direction);

b) strengthen studies that already existed (reinforcing);

c) weaken the strength and intensity of existing studies without completely changing them (weakening);

d) lead listeners to a point of view opposite to that which they previously held (complete change);

e) do not have, at least theoretically, any effect (zero effect).

We read in the same publication - “Characterizing the modern functioning of our press, we can distinguish three planes in which its effectiveness is most clearly manifested:

Direct influence on solving problems of economic, social and cultural construction, that is, effectiveness in the sense that is most often used;

Influence on the formation of public opinion, the reaction of the mass reader and the degree of interpersonal communication around print, television and radio materials in work collectives, families and other social units;

The reader’s personal perception of the printed word and the impact on his social position.

Of course, such a division is conditional, because all three spheres are interconnected and dependent. However, each of them has its own characteristics. Their comprehensive consideration gives a true picture of the effectiveness of the printed and spoken word.”

This was the understanding of efficiency during socialism, what is it today?

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Formation of the image of a political leader using the example of media materials

When a journalist works on material, he hopes that his work will not be “passable” (just to fill the empty space with something), but that both readers and colleagues will appreciate it, that people will remember it, and will somehow influence their thoughts , views, beliefs, actions. Why does it happen that the reader skims over some newspaper materials and immediately forgets, reads others slowly and thoughtfully, and returns to others, re-reads, ponders, and quotes them to his friends?

A journalistic text, like any human-made object or thing, can be of high quality or low quality. It is evaluated (and “brought to mind” to the best of its ability) first by colleagues in the editorial office, and then by readers. Before presenting his work to the public, a journalist must try to objectively and impartially evaluate it and correct it.

Like any literary work, journalistic material is built on closely related content and form. Contents says what the text says form- as said. Within these basic concepts, we will highlight more common evaluation criteria.

It is customary to begin the analysis of a journalistic work with Topics. We evaluate the novelty of the situation being described, the reliability of its depiction, and its objectivity. It is clear that a sensational message is a guarantee of publication success; and the news, which is obviously interesting to a significant part of the audience, by its very existence “works” for the journalist, raising his rating. (A dog biting a man is not a sensation. A man biting a dog is a sensation.) However, sensations often turn into “canards” - fabricated, unverified information. We must, of course, calculate the situation and guess “how our word will respond,” and understand that a journalist who respects himself, his colleagues and readers will never breed “ducks,” and respected publications will not publish them. Quite often it happens that, despairing of finding an acute, topical topic, a journalist tries to talk meaningfully about a trivial matter, “to pour water.”

So another criterion for evaluating the material has emerged - scale and significance of the problem, from the angle from which a specific situation is viewed, and the persuasiveness of the idea. If the problem is important, relevant, or the event is timed to coincide with a certain date, then the efficiency of the material becomes especially important. Meanwhile, among the works that I reviewed, there were those in which the author, in late autumn, talks about some kind of action held in the spring. Efficiency is especially important in information and news publications. We must remember that news becomes outdated, and what is on everyone’s lips today may not be of interest to anyone in a week. At the same time, it is necessary to remember that efficiency does not mean haste.

So far we have talked mainly about the content of the text. Now let's think about what parameters to evaluate its shape. On the one hand, the form follows from the content, on the other hand, it itself reproduces the diversity of the content. (Analysis of two or three works.) Evaluating form journalistic material, we are considering genre(we talked about it in detail in previous lessons), plot, composition, images, vocabulary, style.

Plot in journalism is different from the plot in fiction. Often it is not deployed; it usually lacks composition; the plot and the development of the action are closely related to each other, and the climax and denouement usually become the main part of the entire plot structure. Plots vary depending on what becomes the basis of the material - an event, a character or an issue. You should try to find an interesting plot device while still developing the topic, try to depict events in such a way, build up facts in order to formulate the content as expressively as possible.

If the plot is action, dynamics, then composition is construction, stability. Composition is the architecture of the text, it is responsible for such questions as where to start and how to end the text, what parts to divide it into, what to tell the reader about right away, what later, from whose person (or from whose point of view) should the narration be told? etc.

Composition- this is a means of organizing the text, acting as a system of rules for its construction in terms of the combination of subtopics (compositional nodes).

What kind of system of rules is this? We have already talked about the most important ones in previous lessons, and I will briefly remind you of them.

The necessary and sufficient number of subtopics in a journalistic text should fundamentally be reduced to four:

1) introduction to the situation;

2) identification of the problem;

3) presentation of assessments and arguments;

4) practical formulation of the question. (Example.)

The second rule of composition is related to the arrangement of subtopics and states that the sequence of subtopics can change, but it must be motivated by the genre and justified by appropriate techniques. (Examples.)

Journalistic image must be accurate, bright, understandable, fairly fresh, and not “overused” to the point of banality. (Examples.)

And, finally, the material must be elementary literate - from the point of view of logic, vocabulary, and style, not to mention spelling and punctuation (discussion of works). We will talk in more detail about typical lexical and stylistic errors in the next lesson.

Whatever genre you write your material in, it is always worth checking it according to several criteria.

1. Timeliness – compliance with social attitudes (As you might have guessed, news quickly “spoils” and loses relevance.)

2. Accessibility – the degree to which the audience assimilates the text (Our “Rook” has a rather diverse readership, this means that your texts should be of interest to people of different levels of education.)

3. Ethics – humanistic justification for including certain semantic elements in the text. In other words, are you violating someone’s rights by including certain facts in the article?

4. Completeness – the degree to which the situation is outlined.

5. Representativeness – social significance of the text.

6. Reliability – truth and adequacy of reflection (objectivity), verified facts.

7. Novelty – previously unknown facts and conclusions.

The effectiveness of journalistic activity. Criteria and methods of assessment.Media measurements.

With the formulation of the problem of the effectiveness of the media, the question immediately arises about ways and means of studying, “measuring” the real effectiveness of journalism (certain journalistic actions, the functioning of individual media channels, types of publications or programs, media interaction, etc.). And only recently have works begun to appear in which the problems and experience of studying efficiency are solved thoroughly and on a large scale. Among the proposed methods for assessing effectiveness, two are of particular importance.

Firstly, highlighting the various stages of “contact” with a source of information (first contact with the source, contact with the information it contains, information of different types, assimilation of information in one form or another, development of an attitude towards the received information, assimilation and memorization of information) . Secondly, the definition of possible “final effects”, combined into five groups: cognitive, value, organizational, communicative, creating emotional and psychological tone.

The problem of efficiency is solved by a journalist at every stage of his work: in the process of setting a task, choosing a topic, collecting primary information, during creative work to create material, when determining the typological appearance of a publication or program, etc. The essence of this approach to assessing journalistic activity is related with its pragmatic aspect, i.e. interaction with the consumer of information. The other two aspects - semantic and syntactic - are respectively related to the nature of the reflected reality and the nature of the organization of the material.

In his activities, a journalist reflects reality, then creates a text based on what he has learned, and, finally, the text reaches the audience. Therefore, to clarify this activity, it is necessary, first of all, to study the relationship between the text and the audience. These relationships can be optimal only when the journalist, focusing on the “consumer,” modifies in one way or another any aspect of the work. Consequently, the objectives of the “efficiency” analysis are to consider the entire variety of stages of journalistic activity for compliance with the requirements of pragmatic adequacy, and then develop practical recommendations.

When studying the effectiveness of journalistic activity, one should distinguish between two types of results in media activities. They are directly related to two types of tasks solved by journalists: to consistently and purposefully achieve results that meet social needs, both in the field of “decision making” and in the field of shaping a person’s consciousness and his life position. It is difficult to determine which outcome is more important. One thing is clear: they cannot be mixed; It is necessary to separate the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency. The requirement to make journalism more effective and efficient means that both media professionals and academic researchers must assume that the challenges facing journalism must be addressed in a systematic and coordinated manner. After all, high efficiency increases efficiency, and high efficiency increases efficiency, since authority increases the trust of the audience. Practice shows that most media materials are addressed to both “addresses” and thus have one or another level of both effectiveness and efficiency.

To more fully understand the essence of the effectiveness of journalistic activity, it is necessary to reveal the internal structure of this concept. The traditional definition of effectiveness as the relationship between result and goal needs significant clarification. "Goal", being a subjective anticipation of the desired result, is developed and shaped by people. If the objective foundations of goal setting are not clear enough or the real prerequisites are not sufficiently clarified, then the put forward goal may have certain inaccuracies in its content or even be subjective in nature. You can set goals that are “too big” or “too small,” “easily achievable” or “obviously impossible,” consistent or inconsistent with objective needs. Therefore, the formulation of the problem itself requires serious justification and verification of the accuracy of its definition.

Accurate knowledge about the essence of efficiency makes it possible to study the real effectiveness of the media in one or another “section” and get an idea of the potential effectiveness, that is, the ability of a given system or its individual components to perform the tasks facing it.

Knowledge of specific goals, formed in accordance with the information needs of the audience, and assessment of the accuracy of their setting is a prerequisite for analysis “for effectiveness.” In this case, it is necessary to keep in mind that the role of a specific media message is the result of movement: from the general functions of journalism - through their specification in relation to the tasks and audience of a given media in connection with the peculiarities of the current situation within the country and in the international arena, etc. - right up to setting tasks for the journalist to prepare a work in a certain genre, style, form.

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The effectiveness of reflecting social reality in journalism

Journalistic knowledge of social reality has certain specifics related to the nature of mass information production.

In this regard, it should be noted, first of all, that knowledge of reality alone cannot be an end in itself for a creative media worker. Journalistic knowledge is always carried out for the sake of, or in the name of something.

Firstly, for the sake of informing other members of society about socially significant events, facts, phenomena, processes.

Secondly, for the sake of warning the public about unfavorably developing processes, from the journalist’s point of view, that potentially carry undesirable consequences for society.

Thirdly, for the sake of transforming the state of public consciousness - in general or in certain particulars, in the name of changes in public opinion today or in the near future.

In other words, journalistic knowledge can generally be considered successful if it has one or another impact on the audience of newspapers, television, and radio. Outside the mass information process, journalistic knowledge of social reality acquires other qualitative characteristics, transforming into the cognitive aspects of some other professional activity, say, a social analyst, whose products, as is initially assumed, are available only to a narrow circle of people - those who ordered the research.

So, a journalistic text, on the one hand, is the final product of mass information production, on the other hand, it acts as an intermediate result for its further assimilation by the public consciousness. All this implies asking a number of questions about the degree of usefulness of products to consumers, the extent of their accessibility, efficiency, accuracy, reliability - about the effectiveness of a journalist’s knowledge of social reality and the transformation of new knowledge into a journalistic text. In general, this brings us to the problem of optimizing the functioning of the media.

The media activity itself has any social (let's call it objective in this context) and creative-journalistic (let's call it subjective here) meaning only if the real benefit exceeds the social costs (material and spiritual) of maintaining it . In many ways, this explains the attention of researchers and journalists to the problems of press efficiency. At the same time, journalistic activity, when it is generally optimal, ensures the process of mass communication in society.

How can we measure, evaluate, and compare the results of journalists’ work with its impact on public life? What changes need to be made in journalistic activities to enhance the appropriate impact on the media audience?

The concept of “impact on public life” in this context is also broad. This includes public opinion formed in the media audience. And those changes in public consciousness that, under their influence, occur with established stereotypes, norms, and principles of people’s life together. Finally, those adjustments that, thanks to journalistic activity, government bodies at various levels make to their programs and decisions.

Thus, firstly, the problem of optimizing the functioning of the media is inherently complex. It is derived from the socio-political and economic structure of society, its socio-cultural indicators and program goals that determine the publication of a particular publication. Secondly, in the formulation of the problem there are two “counter” aspects: how society relates to the media and how individual editorial offices perceive society itself and its components. Therefore, the problem of optimizing the functioning of the media cannot be solved without clarifying the position of the editorial team of the publication under study. It is necessary to find out what are the optimal conditions for its activities, which will lead to predetermined (program) results.

Assessing the effectiveness of the work of journalists and the activities of the media implies a strict definition of the object of study. And this is where options arise.

The object of research can be understood as the institution of journalism as an integral part of mass communication. In this case, the problem of effectiveness comes down to the study of journalistic activity as organizing intersocial and intergroup communication through media channels.

The object of study can be journalistic activity as part of the social management system. Here the issue of the effectiveness of the activities of the journalistic corps - the conductor of management decisions at various levels - is being resolved.

The object of study is the media as a relatively isolated institution, functioning according to its specific laws, and its employees have corporate (social and professional) interests that the media institution and its constituent structural elements are able to defend with varying degrees of success. Consequently, in this version, the main issue can be identified as the ability of the media institution to maintain optimal conditions for its functioning.

It is impossible not to mention another object of study - the journalist himself, a creative worker or creative teams and organizations. Then the problem of efficiency finds its expression in the study of various aspects of the creative process of creating journalistic texts and their perception by the media audience.

Options for identifying the object of research and the corresponding problems have common grounds:

The basis for solving the problem of the effectiveness of journalistic activity (regardless of the definition of the main object of research) should be the study of the place and role of journalism in society, the interaction of the media and the audience;

Also, regardless of the definition of the object of study, the personality of the journalist is examined closely;

It is also believed that the problem of efficiency is, first of all, a problem of pragmatic adequacy, i.e. calculating each step of journalistic activity into the final result.

We must constantly take into account that the end result is diverse. On the one hand, this is: a) a separate journalistic text or b) their totality within one publication, a number of media. On the other hand, c) the perception of the text (texts) by a person, a social group or the audience as a whole; d) the fact of social behavior of one or a group of individuals, determined by the influence of journalistic texts. Finally, this is e) the subsequent dissemination of information received by a person through media channels, one or another interpretation of it.

The final result carries significant social content, which is assessed according to a number of parameters.

1. Relevance and novelty of the journalistic text.

2. Compliance of the content and form of texts, the work methods of creative media workers and the media themselves with the norms and values inherent in the audience.

3. Completeness and timeliness of information that ensures communication interaction between social, ethnic and political groups of society.

4. Functionality in establishing direct and feedback communication between government and society.

5. Availability of advanced formulation of current socio-political and cultural issues for discussion in the audience.

6. The presence of ideals and socio-political guidelines.

7. Artistic expressiveness in the presentation of materials.

8. Orientation of the media and journalists to creative success.

At the same time, one cannot fail to take into account that journalism is a creative process, and journalists are creative workers, many of whose activities are not always indisputable, despite the apparent evidence. For example, there is practically no doubt about the orientation of the editorial offices of newspapers, television, radio and the journalists themselves towards creative success. However, the concept itself is interpreted so differently by different journalists that it may seem as if we are talking about mutually exclusive things. Thus, for one correspondent, creative success lies in writing material that reveals a complex social problem. It takes weeks and months to prepare such a publication. For others, this is a search for sensational information, and he assigns the assessment of its reliability to the audience or persons interested in this information. One publication is proud of its deep analytical publications, the other is satisfied with reprinting scandalous rumors and shocking the audience. One journalist seeks success with the public, another is most concerned with the impression he makes on specific representatives of the political elite.

Consequently, one cannot uncritically accept the statement of the journalist himself and even the entire editorial team about the orientation towards creative success. In any publication, the researcher will be made to understand that here “only the reader (radio listener, television viewer) is recognized as the highest judge.” But we shouldn’t rush to optimistic conclusions, because sociologists’ studies often tell a different story. So the very concept of “orientation towards creative success” should be decomposed into more subtle components, by which only one can judge the truth of the intentions of media employees.

There are also objective, external and internal, factors that affect the effectiveness of journalistic activity. External to the functioning media are associated with the political and socio-economic system of society, which, on the one hand, acts as an external environment for the media, and on the other, as an integral system for its individual institution. We will call these factors objective. Factors internal to the activities of the media and journalists are determined, first of all, by the personal characteristics of creative media workers, their relationship, interaction with society and its specific social groups at the individual level. Therefore, we will call them subjective.

External factors of the effectiveness of journalistic activity include:

Constitutional and legal field of activity of the media and journalists;

Specific historical and socio-political situation;

Socio-economic conditions that determine society’s ability to support the media system in one capacity or another;

Sociocultural factors in the development of a country and region, including the level of information and political culture of society.

Thus, the constitutional and legal field determines the legal measure of freedom of the media and freedom of speech. And the specific socio-political situation makes its own adjustments to this, when the media and journalists receive maximum or minimum opportunities for collecting and disseminating information.

Researchers and practitioners recognize that the principle of press freedom was most consistently implemented during the last period of perestroika, in 1989-1991. Meanwhile, it was at this time that the legal support for the free functioning of the media was far from perfect. And yet, journalism operated in a comfortable mode, enjoyed universal attention and was authoritative even for the authorities. This is explained by the special political climate of the perestroika period, the influence of which turned out to be stronger and more significant than legal norms.

That is why the effectiveness of journalistic activity is naturally assessed by such a factor as a measure of the feedback impact of the press on the basic institutions that determine the conditions of its existence. At present, when the constitutional and legal framework for the functioning of the media has become stable, socio-economic factors have come to the fore, which have a decisive influence on the effectiveness of journalistic activity.

The internal factors that determine the effectiveness of journalistic activity include:

The functioning of the media as a system (i.e., a measure of the ramifications of various media, their filling of information niches by social groups and strata of society);

Scientific support of journalism;

The level of professional culture of journalistic personnel;

Ethical principles of journalism and corporate solidarity.

The functioning of the media as a system is determined not only by internal, but also by external factors, because the main parameters of the media system are set by society and regulated by the state. However, much depends on the journalistic corps, if we take into account the task of providing information products to the most significant (socially and numerically) groups of society. It is journalists who must remember that the main gender and age groups of society need newspapers, television and radio programs specifically targeted at them.

The modern information market demonstrates amazing diversity. There are newspapers, television and radio programs for businessmen and job seekers, publications for men, women, bored ordinary people, and intellectuals. And marketers are looking for information niches that have not yet been explored. This is how some market foundations for the formation of the media as an integral system are being formed, which does not exclude the idea of reasonable state regulation of the process. But these are only some reasons, since the process of absorption of Russian media by financial and industrial groups, oligarchic capital, with all the socio-political consequences arising from this fact, is currently developing and constantly strengthening. The noted process creates serious obstacles to increasing the efficiency of journalistic activity in a market economy.

The interaction of the media with the audience remains the basis for determining the effectiveness of journalistic activity. This is why the problems of the professional culture of the journalistic corps are so important. And the questions: “Do the editorial boards adhere to ethical standards in their activities, do they observe the principles of corporate solidarity?” - far from idle. By the way journalists themselves answer them, the audience judges the publications in which they work and determines the degree of trust in them.

Corporate solidarity of journalists is always associated with issues of independence, free functioning of the media, and unimpeded performance by reporters and publicists of their professional duties. Therefore, the audience approves of those journalists who are consistently principled in this matter. However, these days, a certain part of the Russian media understands corporate solidarity selectively; political expediency prevails. As a result, not every journalist can count on professional support from colleagues, which generally does not contribute to the elevation of the media in the eyes of the audience.

The main methods and means of studying the effectiveness of journalistic activity are borrowed from sociology. Their specific application depends on the goals, objectives of the intended analysis and the professional status of the researcher.

If the study is carried out by sociologists, then, firstly, the media act as a possible customer; secondly, the research process is built in accordance with the methods and methods adopted in social science. At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of sociological knowledge, which is given to future journalists in the learning process. Only a deep familiarity with the principles and methods of social scientific analysis and its capabilities allows journalists to conduct a substantive discussion with specialists about the goals and objectives of the upcoming research, hypotheses and any problems that arise during its course, as well as critically evaluate the results obtained and their reliability. If journalists themselves act as researchers, then purely sociological methods are transformed into sociological tools for professional journalistic activity, maximally adapted to the practice and capabilities of editorial offices. At the same time, the basic scientific requirements for any sociological research are preserved.

The study of the effectiveness of journalistic activity, no matter who it is conducted - a professional sociologist or the editorial office itself - is always based on methodological principles of scientific knowledge of social reality developed and tested in practice. This provision is not subject to revision, no matter what specific project we are talking about. Any research in the field of the functioning of the media can have any scientific or practical value only if it is based on strict adherence to general theoretical approaches to its implementation. No reference to the peculiarities of journalistic activity can be perceived as anything other than a clumsy attempt to justify illiterate work done and its results that no one needs.

Conclusion

The study of issues of optimizing the work of the media (both in general and at the level of an individual publication) should be multifactorial. Researchers simultaneously focus on the audience, political, social and cultural institutions of society, government bodies, the journalistic corps itself, the editorial process, as well as many other factors related to the collection, analysis and dissemination of information through media channels.

Efficiency and effectiveness of journalism is a general characteristic. The effectiveness and efficiency of journalism: forms, factors, assessments, guidelines. Television as a means of mass information

Chapter 1. The effectiveness of journalism

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