CHANGING IDENTITIES AND PRACTICES IN POST-SOVIET JOURNALISM - THE CASE OF TATARSTAN

Journalism in Russia is being shaped by new forms of regulation, owner ship and economic organization as well as new conceptions of the role of the journalist in relation to authorities and audiences. While cent ralized broadcasting and communications in the Russian Federation cont inue to have a dominant role, the centrifugal tendencies of the post-S oviet period have enhanced the autonomy and importance of the provinci al media. Using data from research interviews, supported by documentar y and statistical sources on the media in Tatarstan, this article exam ines journalists' perceptions of their role and how it is changing. Ke y issues include the distinction between 'information' and 'presentati on', the search for a new ethos among the younger generation of journa lists, and orientations towards the audience. In a republic with an et hnically and religiously mixed population, often taken to be a model o f stable political evolution, journalists are finding ways to accommod ate to, rather than challenge, new structures.