Beskov A.A., Kocheganova P.P. The image of the Russian Neopaganism in the Russian media of the early XXI century

Abstract: This article examines the peculiarities of the phenomenon of the Russian Neopaganism in the Russian media during the period of 2001-2014. The authors analyze the questions associated with the manner of presentation of information on the aforementioned phenomenon by the journalists, the level  of objectivity and trustworthiness of this information, specificity of the sources used by the journalists, as well as the major information reasons provoking the emergence of the articles on Neopaganism and the possibility of determination of the targeted information campaigns regarding its discredit or propaganda. However, the main question is the possibility and purposefulness of using the media publications by the scholars as the source of empirical material on the Russian Neopaganism. The acquired data allows making the following conclusions: although at the present stage the Russian Neopaganism does not represent the subject of peculiar attention of the Russian media, we can observe a certain trend in the growth of the number of publications on this matter; the image of the Russian Neopaganism formed in the Russian media carries mostly negative character; the cause for the formation of such image lies in the insufficient research of the material by journalists, as well as lack of religious studies training, and the “diffusion” of the notion of “Neopaganism” itself. Based on the above, it seems impossible to recognize the examined type of sources relevant to the research tasks.

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