Article Comments: Is This Truly Feedback for Editorial Boards? Views and Experiences of Journalists

In the modern society, online comments, especially comments on news websites, create a new problem: in theory, they should guarantee the freedom of speech and improve the work of editorial boards of daily newspapers (news websites). Feedback helps the media to better understand readers and their needs. The essence of feedback for the journalist is to obtain additional information in order to expand the topic of the article, to explore new aspects of the researched subject and to react promptly to relevant information received from the audience. Exploratory research was carried out in May 2021 striving to analyse how much actual feedback works when a media outlet publishes reader comments, as well as to examine how media staff evaluate the necessity of commends under articles and their value for direct work. Fifteen professional journalists – who have more than four years of journalistic experience in national, regional and local media – participated in the research. Research participants were asked 9 questions, of which only several were closed-ended, while the rest were open-ended. The survey was thus carried out in person, seeking to ascertain the questions discussed and clarify situations or circumstances. The duration of each interview was 45-80 minutes. Meetings took place with interviewees or they were contacted via Skype and ZOOM platforms. The article discusses research results, provides examples from editorial experience, as well as reveals views of editorial boards and journalists concerning the phenomenon in question and its problematic aspects.

„Atgimimo banga“ Challenge to Soviet Mass media: Reform Movement of Lithuania (Sąjūdis) Telecast as „Open Protest Field“ in Time of Political Changes (1988 June– 1990 March)

During the Soviet occupation, the whole Lithuanian SSR media was regarded as one of the key propaganda tools based on pure ideological content and socialist-communist messages. In such a media setting television played an essential role; together with radio (as in Moscow’s example) the latter felt under control of a committee ruled by the Council of Ministers (CM), Central Committee (CC) and Moscow patrons itself. But this situation was about to change when Sąjūdis (Reform Movement of Lithuania) came to public and tried to established its right to uncensored broadcast time via television for its own dissemination of information, which sometimes had a strong political message and was not in favour of ruling regime and party. Sąjūdis had a purpose which was totally new during Lithuanian SSR times since the start of television broadcasts in 1957 – it was uncensored broadcasting time. Based on archive sources, memoirs and press articles, this research focuses on the telecast “Atgimimo banga“ as one of the essential informational channels for Sąjūdis. This article tries to disclose its history, influence and conflicts between Sąjūdis and ruling regime, which tried to control and censor telecast’s content. Eventually, the sporadic telecast’s format had another effect: when in 1989 Sąjūdis became important part of the Lithuanian SSR political system, telecast’s popularity came to decline. One of the most popular perestroika time TV programs had some unfulfilled expectations, and, during the time, it made it as one of the most unpopular. The chronological boundaries of this research start at June of 1988, when Sąjūdis was created, and ends in March of 1990, when Lithuania declared its independence from Soviet Union.

The Image of Syrian Refugees in the Lebanese Press: Case of Al-Akhbar Newspaper

This paper investigates how Syrian refugees are portrayed in the Lebanese press, namely in Al-Akhbar Newspaper. Although there are existing studies that focus on the media representation of Syrian refugees, they allot significant attention to negative images of Syrian refugees presented by a number of Lebanese media outlets. In addition, there is a dearth of studies that scrutinise positive representation of Syrian refugees in the Lebanese press. Owing to these problems, this paper bridges the gap in the current literature through paying further attention to the positive media representation of Syrian refugees in the Lebanese press taking the case of Al-Akhbar Newspaper. In answering the question: how Al-Akhbar depicts Syrian refugees who fled to Lebanon, this paper analyses samples of articles published in Al-Akhbar to highlight the discourse of this Newspaper relating to Syrian refugees. The paper draws on qualitative analysis to arrive at its conclusion. The findings of the paper are significant because they reveal journalistic practices and agenda towards one of the serious issues in Lebanon which suffers from political turmoil and severe economic crisis. As this paper distinguishes between what it calls antagonist and protagonist discourses in reporting Syrian refugees in the Lebanese press, it recommends paying further attention to the protagonist discourse because it reflects good journalistic practice.

Investigative Journalism in Lithuania 2015–2020

The article analyzes investigative journalism in Lithuania in 2015–2020 to determine the particularity of changes in investigative journalism. Until then, only one research on investigative journalism was conducted in Lithuania, indicating that in 2015 there was no investigative journalism as a type of media in Lithuania. Although, investigative journalism is a public control tool aimed at exposing corruption and possible criminal activity. And in 2015, the first research department was established in Lithuania as part of the structure of the media. The work aims to find out how investigative journalism has changed in Lithuania during the last years 2015-2020 and to single out the essential factors that would allow to evaluate the development of investigative journalism. The article presents the author‘s model of investigative journalism and the peculiarities of the change of investigative journalism in Lithuania. It has been established that the situation of investigative journalism in Lithuania is improving, however, compared to the media systems of Western countries, it remains underdeveloped. The perception of experts on investigative journalism is revealed, the reasons for the formation of structural structures of investigative journalism, Lithuania‘s role in international investigative journalism organizations, representatives of investigative journalism are singled out and their research is carried out, research topics, areas, applied research methods

Lithuanian Online News Media Role in the COVID-19 pandemic

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Strategic Analysis Model outlines areas where the role of the media is important during a pandemic, so these areas may be selected to examine how the Lithuanian media perform their public information function during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study of the content of the Lithuanian media clarifies whether the media take into account the areas that, according to the WEF strategic analysis model, the media has an impact during the COVID-19 outbreak. This should provide new insights into the priorities and communication strategies of the Lithuanian media, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of the article is to present three Lithuanian online newspapers quantitative and qualitative research and, in the context of the WEF Strategic Analysis model and, based on the data obtained, to assess the role of the Lithuanian media during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been established that during the pandemic, Lithuanian online media pay sufficient attention to the topic of general governance: good and bad cases of health crisis management are shown to the public. However, during the research it became clear that international news on the topic of global governance dominates in Lithuanian news media: the media pay more attention to events in the international arena, and the challenges of Lithuania‘s internal management account for only a fifth of all information in the researched online newspapers. The article was prepared by Vilnius University journalism master students (2020).

Concluding remarks on the Silent Critic. Dedicated to Bronius Raguotis

Skiriama Broniui RAGUOČIUI prisiminti,humanitarinių mokslų daktarui, literatūros ir spaudos kritikui, žurnalistikos istorikui, Vilniaus valstybinio universiteto Istorijos fakulteto Spaudos žurnalistikos katedros vedėjui, Vilniaus universiteto Komunikacijos fakulteto Žurnalistikos instituto docentui, Rašytojų sąjungos nariui, Žurnalistų sąjungos nariui, „Žurnalistikos tyrimų“ žurnalo redakcinės kiolegijos nariui ir autoriui.

The Attitude of the Regional Editors of Lithuanian Periodicals to the Principles of Distribution of State Support for the Media

It is often maintained that there is no one consistent mass media policy in Lithuania. There are, indeed, many mechanisms of state financial aid and support, and the allocation of funds itself is rather inconsistent and accidental. There is no data or information available as to how the strengths and weaknesses of the particular mechanisms created and aid/funding opportunities available are perceived by the target audience of such efforts – the staff of the editorial boards of the news outlets and the particular business owners. Having conducted a questionaire-based study and a series of in-depth structured interviews with selected typical representatives from the industry, here we delineate the perception: the editorial staff maintain that the most impactful mechanism of allocating state support for the press are direct payments, especially those distributed by the Lithuanian Media Support Foundation, though the principles regulating its decision-making should be amended so as to allow for more transparency. One should also ensure that whatever is being funded has a case for continuity, sustainability and long-term future in regard to its activities. Additionally, especially inasmuch as any allocation of funds is related to an attempt to ensure the long-term success of democratic governance, the funding is to be targeted at local news rather than national or international news. These findings are shown to be comparable to tendencies observed abroad.