Pre-Election Discourse of the Ukrainian Mass Media: Political Strategiesof the Media Concern "StarLightMedia" (the example of the newspaper "Facts and Comments")
For the first time the political strategies of a certain media concern have become the central subject of the scientific research. However it is impossible to ignore questions of political and social influence on the media industry while considering the management of the Ukrainian media business. Therefore the author analyzed the pre-election discourse of the newspaper "The Facts and Comments" issued the day <i> </i>before the parliamentary elections in 2002 and has shown the mechanisms used to reflect the political priorities of the "StarLightMedia" concern's owner. While analyzing the research strategies of the media enterprise the author came to the conclusion that mass media in the Ukraine are not so much a source of profit as a tool used to lobby the owner's interests. "The Facts and Comments" presented 2002 parliamentary elections rather as the politicians' business than the voters' chance and duty to change the situation. The cyclic repetition of the elections on the newspaper pages weakened the voters' attention, transformed the event into a trivial action with a "seasonal" and "serial" character. The opposition forces were presented as the infringers of the public stability. Thus, the owner of the media company V. Pinchuk followed propresidential political orientation and was a part of the financial hierarchical system. Strategic management of the enterprises is new and perspective, so this work is of great political and theoretical interest.