Thematic Diversity of Regional News on the TASS News Feed

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of thematic diversity of news content from the regions of the Russian Federation. Based on the agenda setting theory and its special direction “media diversity”, the author explores approaches to its measurement and operationalizes this concept in the context of the TASS regional editorial policy. The presented results of the content analysis allowed to draw conclusions about topics dominated the agency’s agenda for 10 years. Thematic priorities of news from various federal districts have been identified. Quantitative assessments examine the dynamics of the thematic spectrum, both for the country as a whole and at the level of macroregions. The conclusions are drawn that the concept of the agency's regional editorial policy, focused on the maximum variety of content and the disclosure of the information potential of the regions, is not fully implemented in practice, which, in particular, is expressed in an excess of news about emergency and criminal incidents. Nevertheless, the editors were able to introduce into routine practice active information support for topics chosen by the Russian government as strategic, which indicates the flexibility of the agency’s agenda and the potential for greater diversity. In interpreting the data, the author also relies on his own experience as a correspondent and editor of a news agency.