Inimene meedias. Sotsiaalsete gruppide representatsioon 1905-2009 Eesti, Soome ja Vene päevalehtede näitel

Key words: journalism, person, representation, collective identity, social group, values, Estonia, Finland, Russia My master‟s thesis “Person in Media. Representation of Social Groups Based on the Estonian, Finnish and Russian Daily Newspapers 1905-2009“ deals with dominant social groups and values reflected in the state mainstream media during the 20th century. The master‟s thesis is induced by my historian background and interest to research person in different actions. Person in newspaper is a representation of values and wishes of the community. Building identity in newspapers is also my interest as communication professional. I chose the Finnish and Russian newspapers to compare the results and to expolre the similarities and differences between neighbours who are often shared common history. The theoretical and empirical starting points were as follows: the creation of individualistic and collective identity (Lotman 1999, van Dijk 2005, Valk 2003, Kristeva 1991, Bourdieu 1994), the role of the ideology and the mass media in the constructions of identity (van Dijk 2005, Bourdieu 1994) and the role of values (Inglehart 2005, Schwartz 1992, Hofstede 1991, Kalmus 1999) in the representation of social groups. The chosen research method was the content analysis. We analysed articles from Rahva Hääl, Helsingin Sanomat and Pravda (Table 3.) - the most important dailies of the countries - which represent the mainstream constructions of social reality. The coding schema was tested in a pilot study based on Estonian newspapers in 1945-2005. The problem of coding in different languages we solved with choosing the coders who are fluent in at least two languages – definitely in Estonian and additionally in Finnish or in Russian. Table 3. Analysed dailies and issuing years. Kõuts (2010). Analysing newspaper construction of social reality: a methodological overview of the study Country First analysed year* Titles Daily circulation 2008 Estonia 1906 1906-1940 Päewaleht; 1940-1995 Rahva Hääl; 1995-… Eesti Päevaleht 36 000 Finland 1905 1889-1904 Päivälehti; 1905-… Helsingin Sanomat 440 000 Russia 1917 1917- … Pravda 200 000 As the period is long, we decided to follow the next principles: (Kõuts 2010) It will be choose for analyse every fourth year, beginning with 1905 (or the founding year of the newspaper); From every year it will be choose a random month (with the step of two months beginning with June and not included January and December), and first full week of that month – it shows an everyday discourse of the year; Additionally, from every year it will be choose first and last issue of the year – it is an “anniversary” discourse, where we can find most important topics and events of the year From selected week it will be choose every issue of the newspaper It will be not analysed material in short form from the newspaper: short news, announcements, advertisement, commercials, advertorials, photos, weather forecasts, comics, jokes, etc. We analysed 5941 articles from every fourth year, totally of 28 years (appendix 2). Stages of research comprise coding of main actors to construct social groups and dividing them into social groups according to the code characteristics. As an actor we defined an individual social subject who not only says, but who is doing something (for example running, singing, working) in the text. If persons were used in the article not only as sources for information, they were coded as actors. Groups were formed according to membership reference, which was established on the ground of the texts. According to the main actor's name and reference (status) coded groups were drawn together into groups with certain coded features. The analysis of values is based on Schwartz's theory of value systems, comprising ten types of values and the dynamic relationship between them. Conclusions Throughout the century the dominant group is the common person and it is valid both in Estonian and Russian texts. In Russian texts there is politicians also as dominant groups in 1910s, 1920s, 1930s and in 1990s. The analyses of the Finnish texts demonstrate that throughout the century the dominant group is always the same - politicians. The analysis of the values in these three countries reveal differences of dominating values in cross-section of decades. For example, in Estonian texts different decades put forward Universalism (in the 1910s and 1970s), Benevolence (in the 1940s), Achievement (in the 1950s) and Safety (in the 1990s and 2000). In the Finnish texts the domination value throughout the century is Safety. In the Russian texts the dominative values are Power (in the 1910s and the 1930s, 1970s and 1990s), Safety (in the 1940s-1950s, 1980s and 2000) and Achievement (in the 1960s). Individualistic types of value dominate in the Estonian and Russian texts, whereas in the Finnish texts individualistic and collective types of value are in balance.http://www.ester.ee/record=b4037334*es