Publications

In the era of post-truth and healthcare 2.0, when lay experts have equal credibility as medical professionals and when the internet challenges the techniques of seeking and gaining health information, healthcare systems are in need of change. The key to the path of systemic changes lies in un-knowing not only the ways health issues have been communicated, but also the very process of the production of meanings of health. In Russia, neglecting the critical assessment of communication strategies in healthcare (or, as the direct translation suggests, health protection), might well result in the field looking like the famous croquet game in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Reconciling the strategies of each “hedgehog” and each “flamingo” through a careful consideration of constantly fluctuating goals might be a much-needed shift to co-creation in Russian health communication.

In this chapter we discuss the messy meaning-making strategies (and their interactions) which characterize Russian health communication today. We open our discussion by situating the game field that produces the meaning of health in contemporary Russia. In this opening, we introduce the key health communicators (pharmaceuticals, governmental or regulatory actors, the institutional medical sector, health professionals, and patient NGOs and communities) and how they share the field. We then introduce the Russian national strategy of patient-oriented health protection and the contradictory meanings that each sector of communicators attaches to it. We elaborate on the mismatch in communication of patient-oriented health protection, discussing successes and failures of health communication practices in different sectors. We analyze how the government, activists, institutions, business, and medical professionals communicate their meanings, the place of other communicators in campaign planning and execution, and how flexible and interactive the practices of each communicator sector are. We conclude with propositions on how the road towards patient-oriented health protection can be built in Russia.

In the era of post-truth and healthcare 2.0, when lay experts have equal credibility as medical professionals and when the internet challenges the techniques of seeking and gaining health information, healthcare systems are in need of change. The key to the path of systemic changes lies in un-knowing not only the ways health issues have been communicated, but also the very process of the production of meanings of health. In Russia, neglecting the critical assessment of communication strategies in healthcare (or, as the direct translation suggests, health protection), might well result in the field looking like the famous croquet game in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Reconciling the strategies of each “hedgehog” and each “flamingo” through a careful consideration of constantly fluctuating goals might be a much-needed shift to co-creation in Russian health communication.

In this chapter we discuss the messy meaning-making strategies (and their interactions) which characterize Russian health communication today. We open our discussion by situating the game field that produces the meaning of health in contemporary Russia. In this opening, we introduce the key health communicators (pharmaceuticals, governmental or regulatory actors, the institutional medical sector, health professionals, and patient NGOs and communities) and how they share the field. We then introduce the Russian national strategy of patient-oriented health protection and the contradictory meanings that each sector of communicators attaches to it. We elaborate on the mismatch in communication of patient-oriented health protection, discussing successes and failures of health communication practices in different sectors. We analyze how the government, activists, institutions, business, and medical professionals communicate their meanings, the place of other communicators in campaign planning and execution, and how flexible and interactive the practices of each communicator sector are. We conclude with propositions on how the road towards patient-oriented health protection can be built in Russia.

An innovative development based on the use of modern media and communication technologies requires a certain level of competence in how to use such technologies. These competencies are united by the concept of “information literacy”, proposed by Paul Gilster in 1997. The tradition of studying digital literacy in Russia is the subject of the following chapter. The different approaches to understanding digital literacy are as follows: ICT, psychological and pedagogical, media and information and industrial approaches.

Special attention is paid to the four-component digital literacy model, proposed in the framework of the project by ROCIT and the Higher School of Economics. This model is based on two substantial oppositions: firstly, the opposition “technical-technological/socio-humanitarian” and, secondly, the opposition “opportunities/threats”. It was used to construct the Index of Digital Literacy in the Russian Regions, measured since 2015.

The results of a series of media literacy measuring surveys by the ZIRCON Group from 2009–2016 are also presented.

The research is focused on the problem of the ambiguity in the perception of Russia in the British media during the 2018 FIFA World Cup and based on the competing frames theory by J. Druckman. The content analysis of 751 articles about Russia from the British broadsheets and tabloids was conducted to highlight five frames: ‘Russia as the enemy of Great Britain,’ ‘Russia as the potential partner of Great Britain,’ ‘Russia as the unsafe state,’ ‘Russia as the worthy host of the World Cup,’ ‘Russia as a country with a rich culture.’ The results show that negative perception of Russia prevails in the British media field, especially in the broadsheets. Despite the slight positive dynamics during the World Cup, by the end of the games, the frequency of frames returns to pre-championship values. The research contributes to the development of competing frames theory and allows testing the frame strength criteria.

The lack of academic integrity combined with the prevalence of fraud and other forms of unethical behavior are problems that higher education faces in both developing and developed countries, at mass and elite universities, and at public and private institutions. While academic misconduct is not new, massification, internationalization, privatization, digitalization, and commercialization have placed ethical challenges higher on the agenda for many universities. Corruption in academia is particularly unfortunate, not only because the high social regard that universities have traditionally enjoyed, but also because students—young people in critical formative years—spend a significant amount of time in universities. How they experience corruption while enrolled might influence their later personal and professional behavior, the future of their country, and much more. Further, the corruption of the research enterprise is especially serious for the future of science. The contributors to Corruption in Higher Education: Global Challenges and Responses bring a range of perspectives to this critical topic.

The main goal of this research is to identify specific sociolinguistic patterns in Russian professional crisis communication discourse. This chapter addresses hybridity of Russian crisis communication professional rhetoric, primarily focusing on a combination of two types of discourses: black public relations defense and crisis communication. The study contains a qualitative pilot analysis of nonacademic expert texts on crisis communication. Critical discourse analysis applied to professional discourse provides insight into culture-related specifics of this field in Russia. The research is followed by two case descriptions of organizational crises to illustrate possible interference of black public relations defense discourse into crisis communication practice in Russia. The results provide practical implications for cross-cultural communication with Russian public relations professionals and set direction for future research in this field.

The title of the book refers to the sociological survey, conducted by the "Public opinion" Fund in 2000. It is focused on the representation of Internet as a complex phenomenon in modern Russia. First, the Internet is considered as part of the media system that not only rapidly developing, but also significantly transforming the system as a whole. Second, it contains the analysis of main online markets in Russia. Thirdly, the Internet is analyzed in political, social and cultural contexts.

The article shows, which segments constitute social and political activity in online social networks in the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic (KChR) and the width of their representation. The author's technique allows to collect data on politically active groups of KChR. The segments of social and political activity of the Republic on the social networks are shown. Eight main clusters of political activity in social networks of KChR were obtained by the author's method of grain clustering. Each cluster was analyzed by social network analysis methods. The most influential persons and social movements are shown, and features of their network activity were investigated.

The paper analyzes speech markers and semantic concepts typical for patriotic and oppositional discourse in social networks. About 100 000 posts from Facebook, VKontakte, and LiveJournal were analyzed, and 35 000 most frequent speech markers were processed, of which 1800 markers were selected for analysis. The alternative method to tf-idf metric for specific text markers identification is proposed. The features of oppositional discourse in comparison with the patriotic discourse were formulated. On the one hand, the analysis of sets of speech markers that characterize political groups allows us to understand social models and attitudes embedded in the discourse and the subsequent behavior of representatives of these groups. On the other hand, it is possible to extend a set of keywords for text search of a certain political orientation, based on the obtained results.

The article examines the "phenomenon of Heinrich Schliemann", who managed to make the poetic epic a historical source and raise the prestige of archaeological science to unprecedented heights. The author analyzes the role of the scientist in popularizing science through mass media and various special events. For the first time, the activities of the discoverer of Troy are considered from the standpoint of scientific communication.

The emergence of social media in the 2000s has transformed Russian information dissemination and social relations. Brisk Internet penetration has set new platforms for civic and political discussions and has provided additional channels for brand promotion. A growing body of research is devoted to both consequences. This chapter outlines strengths and challenges of extant social media research, identifying key themes and problem issues in given areas. In the beginning, we provide a brief historical overview of existing social media platforms, communication patterns, and users practices on social media. In the second section, we compare research agendas and current findings in applied social media inquiries and summarize social media’s effect on politics, business, and society. In conclusion, we set an agenda for further research, focusing particularly on the growing role of social media in contentious politics in Russia.

History of Communication as a field and discipline in Russia is often viewed as the development of different communications domains. This chapter considers the evolution of public relations education as one of the branches of communication in post-Soviet Russia. The chapter raises the question how the legacy of the Soviet Union and the inclusion of Russia in the global context shape the current state of public relations industry and education. Due to Soviet ideological patterns and the country’s social-cultural and economical evolution, institutionalization of post-Soviet public relations seems to support the logic of “path dependence”. The history of Russian public relations education and research is predominantly driven by the influence of the United States and some European countries. Greater convergence with the latter being partly determined by the similarity in the value systems of these countries and the fact that Russia has been a country-participant of the Bologna Process. Therefore, both historical legacy and global context have had an impact on institutionalization of public relations as an academic field in post-Soviet Russia. Today, the identity of Russian public relations school is most clearly manifested in the establishment of an integrated degree program combining Advertising and Public Relations. The Russian degree’s eclectic nature, public relations industry needs, and historical context are a promising foundation for development of Integrated Communications.

Contemporary living space is interconnected not solely with the subject of interior, industrial and household design or applied arts, but also with virtual and information interfaces. The virtualization of space already at the primary level of a design project becomes one of the key elements of the final implementation, since in the conditions of real space deficit and its alienation from the vast majority, its virtual expansion plays a decisive role, as long as the real environment turns into a virtual interface. Urbanization growth leads to the compaction of the live environment, caused by the alienation of living space not only from the Precariat, but also from the remnants of the middle class, as a part of the existing system of socio-economic relations. In the nearest future one should expect the rise of buildings (as well as entire residential complexes) with virtual eco-camouflage, based on advanced screen technologies, which will shape a new visual ecology. Eco-camouflage will perform the functions of “expansion” and harmonization of the environment, bringing forth the phenomenon that can be called pseudo-deurbanization. Eco-camouflage can also be expanded into the design of public space within the framework of all-sufficient urban areas arising to imitate nature. As a mass phenomenon, eco-camouflage will also considerably expand and re-form the template language that is used to describe and construct urban space (Alexander, 1977), possibly creating some completely new communicative patterns. Virtualization of real environment invites redefining of the supremacy of interface design over industrial design.

The research is devoted to the critical analysis, modeling and rethinking of tasks and functions of design, object and subject of design activity at a new stage of development of social, economic and technological systems. Design is considered in the context of fundamental problems of social relations and social forms of the future. The paper raises the problems of post-capitalism, metamodernism, post-truth, precariat, technological displacement, etc. as an actual component of modern design theory.

Environmental protest has become the main form of political protest in Russia in 2018-2019. The decision to open a landfill for waste disposal at Shies station in the Arkhangelsk region caused dissatisfaction of residents with the policies of regional elites and strengthened the position of environmental protest in the whole country. In the article we identify the politicization of environmental discourse using the case of the landfill at Shies. We show how the political decision of the authorities, which was excluded from the public discussion and competing discourses, has led to the dominant discourse construction of an environmental problem as a political one among citizens. Based on 19 semi-structured interviews with residents of the Arkhangelsk region we conclude that the politicization of environmental discourse and high political mobilization occurred due to three main mechanisms that worked simultaneously. Citizens assess the decision as illegitimate, unfair and attributed responsibility to certain political leaders.

Among the goals of social policy there is a specific one that welfare states are particularly interested in. This goal re­fers to a decrease in inequality levels, and consequently, an increase in subjective well-being. But does a successful social policy in fact offset the effects of inequali­ty on subjective well-being? This question has long been an important feature of the research agenda but few give a straight answer to it. This work tests a hypothesis assuming that in regions with relatively low levels of average household income and high levels of inequality social policy can reduce negative effects of inequality by redistributing large budget shares be­tween health care, education and social programs. Two sources of empirical data were used in the study: (1) results of a survey conducted in 34 Russian regions representing the population of these re­gions, (2) objective indicators measuring the extent of social policy tools used in the regions under consideration. To evaluate whether regional social policy is capable of compensating for inequality effects the authors test Bayesian hierarchical mod­els with uninformative and informative prior distributions. The authors conclude that expanding the scope of social policy tools in health care can compensate for the negative effects of the perceived ine­quality on subjective well-being.