ORDINARY PERSON IN MEDIA: PUBLIC INTEREST AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This paper is based on the results of the research project “Media Discourses on Material and Ethnic Gaps. A comparative study in St Petersburg and Stockholm” financed by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies (Sweden). One of the main sections of the project was focused on ordinary persons’ portrayal in comparison with images of so-called celebrities in the regional media. Russian and Swedish scholars used a set of methods such as content analysis of newspapers and TV, expert in-depth interviews, and focus groups (2013, Spring - Summer). In fact, common men appeared rarely in TV excerpts and newspaper articles, especially in Russia. At the same time non-commons were shown in the majority of Russian TV and print media items while Swedish media give the opposite proportions. To explain gaps between Russian and Swedish findings one needs to take into account different social and mental traditions in these countries. The difference has been revealed within expert interviews and focus groups.