Falling confidence in television: a sociological view of the problem

Abstract

In the article presents a sociological interpretation of the problem of the fall of confidence in the
television institute. A set of methods is used: content analysis and discourse analysis of information
programs of federal and regional TV channels; secondary analysis of the results of sociological research
(both own author’s projects and the results of representative surveys of the FOM, VTsIOM,
Levada Center). It is determined, that modern society is characterized by a crisis of confidence in
the television institute. This phenomenon is due to the tendentiousness of coverage of the resonant
events (political scandal against the Minister of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism of Orenburg
region O. Pivunov, rallies against corruption, etc.), which discredited the image of television in the
eyes of the audience.
The author concludes, that under the conditions of the information society, the “culture of confidence”
of an audience to the media has become a system of media-differentiated selection – appealing
to less biased sources of information (in particular, the Internet), offering alternative points of view.
It is suggested, that if media controllers do not change the rules of the game, irreversible destruction
of the television institution will occur – the final loss of the “credit of trust” of the society.