Blogging in Russia : The blog platform LiveJournal as a professional tool for Russian journalists

The specific of Russian media model called as Statist Commercial model is a combination of Western market economy elements with considerable influence from the political elite. It is also characterized by state control of media, lack of legal protection for journalists, restriction of professional journalistic autonomy, and censorship/self-censorship. However, the media market is represented not only by propagandistic national TV channels but also by press disloyal to the Kremlin, indicating a degree of diversity and pluralism. The Russian media is targeting different audiences: the larger group serves the wide audience who passively absorbing the propaganda; the smaller (“liberal”) media group enables a small stratum of intellectuals to let off steam and as a facade of democracy for the worldwide public. Both groups are functioning diachronically, being directly or indirectly managed by the state. The development of social media created new conditions for Russian journalists. LiveJournal is the most popular and relatively non-controlled blog platform in Russia. The core of political/public discourse is mainly held there and potentially can be useful for Russian journalists. This research is based on analysis of 100 journalist’s blogs in the period of the last presidential election 2012; the findings show how they use LiveJournal for professional goals. This paper is discussing to what extend journalists’ blogging works as a compensatory means and a tool for self-expression outside the media companies in conditions of press freedom restriction. Journalism in change. Professional journalistic cultures in Poland, Russia and Sweden