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11The Effectiveness of the Ukrainian Protestant Media: Results of a Sociological Survey
Maksym BALAKLYTSKYI, Kharkiv, Ukraine © m.a. Baiakiytskyi, 2011
One of the principle difficulties in mass communication studies is the necessity of evaluating mass media's effectiveness and influence. It is difficult enough to predict an individual human being's motivation for specific acts, and even more to predict the behavior of such an amorphous conglomerate as the mass communication audience. Yet the difficulty of this task does not nullify its importance for researchers. In the case of religious communication, the situation is complicated by the "force field" of religious authorities who are reclaiming the power that Enlightenment ideologies took away from them and distorting the work of political technologies oriented to the "masses."
The methods for conducting religious communication studies include expert surveys,1 interviews by religious journalists2 and representatives of the religious mass media audience,3 media monitoring,4 organization of the mass media
1 Spys O. Social Religious and Cultural Changes in Late Protestant Churches (according to the results of the expert survey)/ Spys O.// Ukrainian Religious Studies - 2005. - №»2. - C. 86-94.
2 Kerasydy Yu. Sergey Velbovets: The Interview with the INVICTORY Media Group President/ Yulia Kerasidy// InVictory. — 2006. — № 12. — C. 4-9.
3 Akimova A. A Happy End "through the I-net" ? Why not? /Anna Aki-mova// Grace. — 2010. — № 1. — C. 41-42; Nykytyuk Z. The Gospel of "Classmates". What do Christians Do in Social Nets/ Zoya Nykytyuk// In Victory. — 2010. — № 7. — C. 10-14.
4 Yesterday and Tomorrow, the Baptist magazine (the review of Brother's Reporter): issue 1. — K.: Knowledge Society USSR, 1989. — 56 c.; Miroshnychenko S. Religion on the Ukrainian Television Air/ Sergey Myroshnychenko // A Man and theWorld — 1996. — № 9. — C. 32-33;
Maksym A. Balaklytskyi
was born in 1977. He is a candidate (doctor) in Philology and Associate Professor of the Karazin Department of Journalism at Kharkiv National University, as well as a doctoral student at the Shevchenko Institute of Journalism at Kyiv National University. He edits the Internet newspaper The Way (www.asd.in.ua) and serves as elder of the fifth Khar-kiv community of Seventh Day Adventists. Balak-litsky has authored more than fifty scholarly works, including the monograph The new religiosity of Ivan Bahryany (Kyiv, 2005) and the textbook The essay as an artistic and journalistic genre (Kharkiv, 2007).
system,5 and the establishment of oral eyewitness accounts.6 A great number of such materials are presented in the results of the research project entitled History of the Euro-Asian Evangelical Movement (five CD-disks, Odessa, 2002-2006), etc.
A popular method of communication phenomena studies is the social survey. This method covers a wide audience, so its advantage is the representativeness of its results. The interests of both secular and religious researchers studying this subject converge in the desire to determine the level of interest in the informational product on the part of the secular audience. That is, in religious language, this concerns its missionary potential. The main executors of religious media social surveys are representatives of religious organizations. Thus, the survey carried out by the Arraid Association revealed the fact that the Russian-speaking population of Crimea receives information about Islam from casual and doubtful sources. Twenty-three percent of the respondents receive information from radio and TV programs; 20% from personal observation of Muslims; 17% from talking with acquaintances; 14% from newspapers and magazines; 11% from fiction about Eastern countries; 6% from critical literature; and only 8 % of the respondents receive such information from specialized religious literature (it does not mention whether the source is Christian or Islamic).7
Usually researchers study electronic media through the breadth of the audience. In 2008 the International Marketing Group studied the potential and present audience of Emmanuel Light Radio (Kyiv), founded by Protestants. One thousand of the capital's inhabitants were questioned and the following reasons for listening to Emmanuel Radio were revealed: 1. "They are believers"; 2. "I like the subject"; 3. "I like the music"; 4. "It is the only Christian radio in Ukraine." All the factors mentioned point to the niche type of the radio station. The majority of respondents—64%--think that Emmanuel Radio has no drawbacks. Among the drawbacks, mentioned by other respondents, one can single out the inconvenient frequency and bad quality of reception. The majority of this radio audience consists of women over the age of 31. Seventy-three percent of the audience is mar-
Nikitchenko O. The Image of Modern Religions in Mass Media /O. Nikitchenko// Religious Freedom: Mass Media, School and Church as Social Factors of Consolidation. Scientific annual/under the general editorship of A. Kolodny. — K., 2001. — C. 82-87; Svistunov S. The Voice of Church Should Be Heared on the Internet/ S. Svistunov// Religious Freedom : Mass Media, School and Church as Social Factors of Consolidation. Scientific annual/under the general editorship of A. Kolodny. — K., 2001. — C. 90-92.
5 The History of Evangelical Baptist Movement in Ukraine. Materials and Documents. Compiled by Golovashchenko S. I. - Odessa: Thinking about God, 1998. — C. 276-277; Nazarkina O. Protestant Confessions in 90-ies of XX century: Baptist and Charismatical Movements/ Nazarkina Olena Ivanivna. Dis... candidate of historical science 07.00.01 — History of Ukraine. - Donetsk, 2003. — C. 211.
6 Franchuk V. Russia asked the Lord for Rain. — K.: Dawn Star, 2001. — T. 1. — 648 c.; T. 2. — 376 c.
7 Kyryushko M. The Islamic Education and Press - The Evidence of Regigious Freedom for Moslemin in Ukraine/ M. Kyryushko// Religious Freedom: Mass Media, School and Church as Social Factors of Consolidation. Scientific annual/under the general editorship of A. Kolodny. — K., 2001. — C. 81.
ried. The recommendation of marketing specialists is not to use the 67,28 frequency, because it considerably restricts the potential audience of listeners from 3 to approximately 1 million and reduces contact with youth and the active working population. The retransmitting of Emmanuel Radio programs on other frequencies, particularly on 87,5 - 108 FM, make it possible to attract the most active audience such as youth (age 12 - 19), students (19 - 22), young and experienced specialists (22 - 28 and 29 - 40 pro tanto),8 to vary the musical range, and to create programs for children, young people and families. In the report on the survey results on the radio website we find other emphases such as "the total number of potential listeners of Light Radio in the capital is approximately 2.8-3 million people or 1.2% of all the radio listeners of the city." According to the research, Emmanuel Radio has a higher rate in comparison with some rather famous radio stations in the high FM range. Light Radio takes 21st place from among 36. There are radios with lower rates. They are National Radio (1.09%), Music Radio (0.95%), Promin (0.95%), Kultura (0.98%), Just Radio (0.68%), Business Radio (0.41%), Radio One (0.27%), Renaissance (0.27%), Love Radio (0.14%), A1 (0.14%), BBC (0.14%), Internet Radio (0.14%), Capital (0.14%), Echo of Moscow (0.14%). Thus, the inter-confessional radio station founded by Protestants leaves many niche stations behind. Emmanuel Radio is mostly listened to by believers, for whom the correspondence between radio programming and their religious needs is very important.9
So the hypothesis that religious information constantly attracts great attention in a post-atheistic area is mistaken. With exceptions such as Poland, the general public of such countries is highly secularized and looks at the religious world mostly through the prism of secular mass media, as we see in the example of the survey about Islam. The secular mass media, meanwhile, look at religion from the outside with ignorant and skeptical eyes and deny its specificity. In religious news they take notice only of elements that conform to other spheres of life, such as religion's usefulness as a political lever for national integration, intrigues, fanaticism, criminal cases, the struggle for money and power, the manipulation of people or, at best, as an exotic antiquity.
Church for them is a theatrical performance, a sport, a "frivolous woman," a "gambling game."10 The missionary potential of religious information is not high because mass communication serves more to confirm present opinions rather than transform them.11 The deep change of beliefs that is one of the essential compo-
8 The International Marketing Group. Marketing study "The Investigation of Potential and Present Audience of the Emanuel Radio". — K., 2008. — C. 10.
9 The International Marketing Group. Marketing study "The Investigation of Potential and Present Audience of the Emanuel Radio". — K., 2008. — C. 78.
10 Kominko Yu. The Image of the Church in Mass Medea and Mass Consciousness/ Yu. M. Ko-minko// The Karazin Kharkiv State University Reporter. - The Philology series. — Issue 51. — Kh., 2007. — C. 132.
11 Balaklytsky M. Mini-media in the Informational Field of Ukraine (on the Protestant mass media materials)/ Maksim Balaklytsky [electronic document]// The Internet newspaper "The Way". — 17.02.09. — access mode: http://www.asd.in.ua/archives/1188295577
nents of religious conversion happens individually, not in mass. Personal trauma precedes this change. New concepts come from alternative sources of information. The main mediator is not the means of technical communication, but a relative or an acquaintance who already has such an outlook. Research conducted by D. Glick12 demonstrates the significance of these factors. He analyzed the reasons why Ukrainian people join the Baptist church. In 2005, 91 Baptists who converted in 2003-2004 were interviewed in the towns and cities of Vinnitsa, Dniprope-trovsk, Trans-Carpathia, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, and Kharkiv regions and the Crimea. The age of the respondents varies from 15 to 86 (36 on the average). The reasons for conversion are the testimony of a believing person-70%; suffering from a crisis situation—42%; disappointment in life—26%; positive impression from visiting a Baptist church-24%; the influence of a Christian relative (grandmother as a rule)—19%; reading the Bible—14%; other factors—11%. Several factors are often combined. Usually a life crisis elicits a positive answer of the respondents to the testimony of a believing acquaintance or relative. The total impact of personal communication with believers (testimony of a close friend, conversion of a relative, visiting a church service, influence of a relative) is 155%. It seems to be universal. Reading the Bible caused the conversion of one in seven respondents. There is one case of conversion after listening to a Christian radio program and one case through reflections after viewing films (whether secular or Christian is not mentioned). It is obvious that mission needs a missionary, not the missionary mass media. In 2005 research of the Federal Service for the Implementation of Punishment Research Institute carried out psychological research on the effectiveness of using TBN Russia Channel in penitentiaries in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad region. They interviewed 98 prisoners and 8 staff members, including custodial supervisors and specialists of the Educational Department. <...> half of the respondents stated that they were completely satisfied with the programs of TBN Channel.13 Comparing the general themes of programs with the Christian ones, 79% of prisoners gave preference to the Christian programs—for moral considerations. Responding to the question, "What effect did TBN programs have on them?" 54% of prisoners responded that they began to look at their previous life in a different way; 43% got new information about life; 25.5% felt the need to get an education and a good job; 19.5% experienced positive changes in their emotional and mental state; 5% stated that there were no effects; 11% found it difficult to respond.14
One should not hope too much from these indices. The positive attitude of the prisoners towards the programs of Protestant Inter-confessional Channel does not indicate that in the future they will constantly prefer these programs to the secular
12 Glik D. What do the Newly Converted Christians tell. Helping Pastors, Leaders and Churches/ Daniel Glik. - Zaporozhe: Pilgrim, 2008. — 112 c.
13 Bachinin V. Christian TV Broadcasting penal system/ V.A. Bachinin// Social studies. — 2007.
— № 3. — C. 104.
14 Bachinin V. Christian TV Broadcasting penal system/ V.A. Bachinin// Social studies. — 2007.
— № 3. — C. 105.
analogues. Prisoners are information-hungry. They try to assure the prison administration and people from the outside of positive changes in their consciousness and behavior. Prison is not a zone of confidence and comfort. The social and psychological stigma of a prisoner force him to analyze the circumstances that caused his imprisonment. Such emotions make the prisoner feel lonely and prepare him to make decisions that can be forgotten after his discharge.
The misunderstanding of the fact that religious information takes a niche position and the religious mass media are specialized causes another extreme—the false conclusion that "only 3% of all secular mass media publications (according to the monitoring of A. Kolodny), touch upon religion. It is not a profitable, influential, important part of the life of society, which is why it is not in much demand. The social need for information about it is critically small"15 (italics added - M.B.). Researchers lack a point of view from the inside such as studying the evaluation of the religious mass media by their main audience—the members of religious organizations.
To fill in this gap we have carried out a psychological survey of the Ukrainian Protestant mass media audience and staff, not only of TV and radio, but also the press and Internet. The survey lasted from 24 April to 22 November 2009. The survey algorithm, plan and question formulation, advertising of the e-questionnaire, and its implementation in the specialized Lime Survey Program were prepared with the assistance of O. Mykolaenko, a graduate of V. N. Karasin Kharkov National University School of Sociology. The survey included three categories: an Editor form (administrative function), a Journalist form (executive duties), and an Audience form. We use capital letters in writing the names of these three groups to distinguish their responses from the general state of affairs. We collected 513 questionnaires. There are 59 questionnaires from Protestant mass media editors, 66 questionnaires from journalists, and 388 questionnaires from Protestant mass media customers. The survey was carried out through the Internet, where geographical borders have no specific meaning, and also in Kyiv, Dni-propetrovsk, Kharkiv and L'viv. Most of the questionnaires were distributed among Seventh Day Adventists (personal relations of the author contributed here). Other participants of the survey were Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Evangelical Christians, Messianic Jews, Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses and undenominational persons. The respondents from non-Protestant circles either filled in the e-questionnaire or received a form at a social event where they were distributed. The Audience was surveyed at Protestant services. Mass media staff were surveyed at special events for Protestant journalists or by direct mail. All three forms were available in an Internet version, which was advertised on specialized resources for Protestant media users and on Ukrainian religious studies sites.
At the beginning let us compare the common characteristics of all three groups (percentage lower than 10% is not mentioned).
15 Filipovich L. The Anti-sectarian Hysteria in Ukrainian Mass Media: Visible and Invisible Reasons/ Lyudmila Filipovich// Religious Freedom. — 2008. — № 13. — C. 312.
Editors Journalists Audience
Number of forms 59 66 388
Confessional iden- Seventh Day Advent- Seventh Day Advent- Seventh Day Adventist 279(72%)
tity ist 3 ist 18 (27%) Baptist 33
Baptist 12 (20%) Baptist 11 Greek Catholic 1
Evangelist 2 Evangelist 1 Evangelist 1
Evangelical Church 5
Evangelical Christian 2 Evangelical Christian 3 Evangelical Christian 3
Messianic Judaism 1 Catholic 1
Pentecostal 18 Pentecostal 10 Pentecostal 19 Orthodox 1 Orthodox-Moscow Patriarchate 1
Protestants4 Protestant 2 Protestant 8
Roman Catholic 1 Jehovah's Witness 1 Sabbath Keeper (non-Adventists) 1
Charismatic 9 Charismatic 10 Charismatic 15
Christian 1
Age 0-15 — 0 0-15 — 0 0-15 — 8
16-25 — 13 (22%) 16-25 — 27 (40%) 16-25 — 59 (15%)
26-30 — 12 (20%) 26-30 — 17 (25%) 26-30 — 43 (11%)
31-45 — 25 (42%) 31-45 — 17 (25%) 31-45 — 104 (26 %)
46-60 — 10 (16%) 46-60 — 2 46-60 — 88 (22%)
over 61 — 0 over 61 — 0 over 61 —54(14%)
Marital Status Married 39 (66%) Married 21 (32%) Married 166 (43%)
Not married 15 (25%) Not married 39 (59%) Widower/widow 1 Not married 102 (26%) Widower/widow 13 Divorced 11
Residence Ukrainian regions: Ukrainian regions: Ukrainian regions: Vinnitsa 2
Volyn 2 Volyn 1 Volyn 3
Dnipropetrovsk 8 Dnipropetrovsk 1 Dnipropetrovsk 45 (12%)
Donetsk 4 Donetsk 2 Donetsk 14
Zhytomir 2 Zhytomir 1 Zaporizhzhya 2 Zhytomir 2 Trans Carpathian 1 Zaporizhzhya 6
Kyiv 11 Kyiv 13 Kyiv 182 (47%) Kirovograd 1
Crimea 2 Crimea 5 Crimea 1
Lugansk 1 Lugansk 1 Lugansk 1 L'viv 3
Mykolaiv 1
Odesa 5 Odesa 4
Poltava 1 Poltava 2 Poltava 8
Rivne 3 Rivne 1 Sumy 1 Rivne 2 Sumy 1
Ternopil 2 Ternopil 1 Ternopil 3
Kharkiv 1 Kharkiv 5 Kharkiv 46 (12%)
Kherson 1 Kherson 4 Kherson 4
Khmelnitsk 3 Khmelnitsk 1 Khmelnitsk 4
Cherkassy 2 Cherkassy 2 Chernivtsy 1 Cherkassy 1 Chernivtsy 2
Foreign countries: Foreign countries:
England 1
Kazakhstan 1
Latvia 1
Germany 1 Germany 1
Russia 5
USA 2
Education College 15 College 10 College 128
Student 5
Incomplete Higher Incomplete Higher Incomplete Higher Education
Education 3 Education 6 5
Higher Education 35 Higher Education 16
Technical Educa- Technical Educa- Higher Education 59
tion 14 tion 16 Technical Education 100
Humanitarian Edu- Humanitarian Edu-
cation 14 cation 13 Humanitarian Education 73
Journalism educa- Journalism educa-
tion 4 tion 6 Journalism education 16
Several Higher Several Higher
Education Institu- Education Institu- Several Higher Education
tions 2 tions 3 Institutions 19
Finished a Post-
graduate Course 1 Candidate of
Candidate of Science 1 Post-graduate Student 3
Science 1 Senior Scientist 1
DPhil 1 Candidate of Science 8
Just as one expects, the age stratification of the Audience is uniformly distributed with numerical superiority in the age zones 31-45 and 46-60. At the same time, a rather large percentage of the church community consists of youth (age 16-25) and pensioners (over 61). The age structure of the Editor group is the closest to the Audience group. Its main part, which is twice as great as the similar part of the Audience group, also falls between the ages of 46-60. The percentage of this age group among the Journalists is completely insignificant. The generation over 61 is not represented in the mass media staff group. The Editors are younger than the Audience but older then the Journalists. The indices of the 16-25 and 2630 strata of the Editors are nearly twice as great as the similar indices of the Audience. But the 16-25 age stratum of the Journalists is twice as great as the similar stratum of the Editors. Protestant journalists consist mostly of students and working youth. Not far from its indices are the indices of the Editor group. The Journalists and the Editors want to address people of the same age, considering them to be the most desired target group (see below). However, one third of the Audience (36%) consists of people of pre-retirement and pension age, who are a stable and demanding type of church mass media users. This difference is one of the sources of tension in the religious media market, particularly Protestant.
As for marital status, the Editors are the most nearly similar to the Audience. The Journalists differ from these groups distinctly, having almost the opposite married-unmarried ratio. Under such circumstances the social position of the Editors helps them to be gatekeepers in answering the needs of the Audience concerning family subjects and to keep the status quo.
The educational level is high in all the groups. Taking into account higher education, even the Audience index is 69%. Such numbers are typical for churches in cities with a population of one million or more. Fifty-three percent of the questionnaires were given to Audience respondents in such cities.
According to the listed indices, the Editors and Journalists are approximately identical to the Audience. The educational level of mass media staff is higher than the Audience level, but the Editors and Journalists are hardly the intellectual church elite.
Let us compare aspects of the creative biography of the Editors and Journalists.
Editors Journalists Editors Journalists
Church membership Less than 4 years - 3 4 - 10 years - 31 (52%) More than 10 years - 22 (37%) From childhood 1 Less than 4 years — 4 4-10 years — 31 (45%) More than 10 years — 19 (29%) From childhood 4 Journalist experience (secular and Christian) Less than 4 years - 20 (39%) 4 - 10 years -22 (37%) More than 10 years - 9 (15%) Less than 4 years - 30(45%) 4 - 10 years -15 (23%) More than 10 years - 6
Considering their age, it becomes clear that the Editors have longer church experience than the Journalists. The periods of time that Editors have worked in journalism vary in length (though not too long on average), but nearly one half of all the Journalists are beginners.
Editors Journalists
How did you come to work in Protestant journalism? Church representatives offered 13 (22%) Through secular journalism 9 Following a calling 8 God's intervention 4 Unintentionally 3 Due to the Novo media Association 3 Due to Protestant media 3 Through another ministry 2 It was interesting 1 After visiting a seminar 1 After studying at a Bible college 1 Intentionally 1 Through friends and acquaintances, following the advice of church representatives and Protestant journalists 22 (33%) Through secular journalists 9 Following a calling 3 By my own will 3 Due to the Novo media Association 1 Through another ministry 2 It was interesting 1 It is difficult to explain 2 Through casting 1 Logically, step by step 1
Your type of employment in this position Full employment 24 Part-time employment 16 Volunteer 17 Full employment 23 Part-time employment 12 Volunteer 25
Are you satisfied with your salary? Yes 9 No 11 Yes 5 No 14 Partly 1 I wouldn't mind getting a higher salary 1 Not completely 1
Do you have an extra job? Yes 28 No 9 Looking for one 1 Yes 29 No 8
Type of extra job employment Full employment 9 Part-time employment 4 Volunteer 3 Full employment 4 Part-time employment 3 Volunteer 1
Are you satisfied with your extra job salary? Yes 13 No 5 Yes 9 No 14 Partly 2
What ways of professional development do you see? Self-education 39 (59%) Communication with colleagues 30 (45%) Seminars 17 (26%) Secular 20 (30%) Religious 31 (47%) Novo media Association seminars 4 Journalism courses 13 (20%) Secular 5 Religious 9 Studying at secular/religious higher educational institutions 4 Studying at religious higher educational institutions 4 Studying at secular higher educational institutions 2 Getting a journalism education at a secular/religious higher educational institution 7 Journalism practice 1 Journalism tuition by correspondence 1 Mass media monitoring 1 Shadowing experts 1 I compare my publication with others 1 Practice and collaboration 1 Working with foreigners 1 Reading the Bible and other spiritual literature 1 Helping others 1 Self-education 44 (75%) Communication with colleagues 32 (54%) Seminars 11 (17%) Secular 23 (39%) Religious 33 (56%) Novo media Association seminars 6 Journalism courses 12 (20%) Secular 12 (20%) Religious 17 (29%) Studying at secular/religious higher educational institutions 18 (27%) Studying at religious higher educational institutions 1 Studying at secular higher educational institutions 1 Getting a journalism education at secular/religious higher educational institutions 15 (25%) Blogging 1 Studying new technologies 1 Journalism practice 1 Master classes 1
Evaluate the effectiveness of communication with colleagues on a ten point system 10 — 4 9 points — 4 8 — 3 7 — 5 6 — 1 5 — 5 4 — 1 Rather effective 2 Low effectiveness 1 10 — 2 9 — 3 8 — 7 7 — 4 5 — 4, 5-10 — 1 4 — 2 3 — 1 3-5 — 1 2 — 2 High effectiveness 2 Low effectiveness 1 Normal 1
Enumerate documents that regulate your professional subject Enumerated documents 22 (33%) I am not acquainted with them 3 I didn't have an opportunity to use them 3 Enumerated documents 9 (15%) I am not acquainted with them 4 No documents at all 3 I haven't gone deeply into this sphere 1
Are you acquainted with Novo media Association activities? Yes 39 No 7 I don't know much about it 4 Partly 1 Yes 33 No 15 Not very much 1
How did you learn about its activities? Visiting seminars 22 Listening to recordings of seminars 18 Reading the Association news, site, bulletin 35 Communication with Association members 25 I am the leader of the Association regional center 1 I hold its seminars periodically 1 I participate in Association activities 1 Visiting seminars 15 Listening to recordings of seminars 8 Reading the Association news, site, bulletin 24 Communication with Association members 21
The personal connections of a future editor or journalist are evidently the leading reasons for engaging in the Protestant mass media. Again and again it demonstrates the interconnections of mass and group communication in Protestant church practice, especially in Ukraine. Mass media working experience takes second place, which a neophyte tries to use for church affairs. Following are the desire to realize one's skills in the religious sphere, personal choice, and also educational events for church journalists.
The ratio of employment types in these groups is nearly identical according to the respondents' statements. The younger age of the Journalists explains their desire for higher salary, social mobility, and possibly better knowledge of the labor market. It is possible that the Editors receive a higher rate of pay than the Journalists.
Ways of professional development are quite similar in these groups. The main ways are completely identical, namely self-education, religious seminars, and communication with colleagues. Tending more to oral communication, the Journalists evaluate the effectiveness of the last way more critically. It may be a sign of youthful minimalism and broad-mindedness in those brought up with Internet communication.
The Editors are not so eager to get higher education (journalism education or any other) at secular or religious higher educational institutions. Journalism courses do not stir their enthusiasm, either. Like students of secular journalism departments, they distrust theoretical preparation. To their way of thinking, practical activity is a worthy way of professional growth. As for participation in the activity of the Novo media Christian Journalists Professional Union, the Editors' percentage is higher than the Journalists', though it is not so essential in all the indices. Twice as great a percentage of the Editors indicate knowledge of the laws of mass media functioning.
Journalists Editors Editors
Your education College 10 College 15 Co-workers' College 3
Incomplete higher Incomplete higher education Various, no one has a
education 6 education 3 specific education 4
Higher education 16 Higher education Higher education 37
Technical education 35
16 Technical educa-
tion 14
Humanitarian edu- Humanitarian Humanitarian edu-
cation 13 education 14 cation 4
Journalism educa- Journalism educa- Journalism educa-
tion 6 tion 4 tion 7
Several higher edu- Several higher
cational institutions educational insti-
3 tutions 2
Candidate of Completed post-
science 1 graduate study 1
Candidate of
science 1
DPhil 1
Evaluate your 12+ — 1 10 — 2 Evaluate your 12+ — 1
professional 9 — 7 co-workers' pro- 10 — 7
competence us- 8 — 14 fessional compe- 9 — 3
ing the ten-point 8 — 7 7 — 9 tence using the 8 — 12, 8-9 — 1
system 7 — 9 6 — 5 ten-point system 7 — 9, 7-8 — 2
6 — 8 6 — 10, 6-10 — 1,
5 — 4 6-9 — 1, 6-8 — 1
5 — 11 5 — 13, 5-10 — 1,
4 — 2 5-7 — 1
4 — 1, 4-5 — 1 3 — 1 4-8 — 1
3 — 3 2 — 3 3 — 1
2 — 2 2 — 3, 2-8 — 1, 2-
5 — 1
What do you Working experience Working expe- Working experience
feel a need for? 44 (67%) rience 36 (61%) 29 (50%)
Journalism education Journalism educa- Journalism educa-
35 (53%) tion 38 (64%) tion 36 (61%)
Technical education Technical educa- Technical education
31 (47%) tion 24 (40%) 18 (30%)
To raise the level of To raise the level To raise the level of
general culture 21 of general culture general culture 17
(39%) 19 (32%) (29%)
Spiritual growth 35 Spiritual growth Spiritual growth 17
(53%) 30(50%) (29%)
Theological education Theological edu-
6 cation 2
More free time 2 Fin- More free time 3 More free time 1
ances 2 Finances 2 Finances 1
Participation of col- Support of other Exchange of expe-
leagues 2 journalists 1 rience 1
Moral and spiritual Development of Self-discipline 1
support 1 touch-typing skills Seminars 1
Sociability 1 1 Periodically I lose
Video editing skills 1 Skills for design- an understanding of
Young age 1 ing and filling priority in my work
A personal computer 1 websites 1 1
To understand inter- Cooperation with Independence from
church relations. 1 other mass media 1 pastor's censorship 1
Do you have a Yes 54 (81%) Yes 56 (95%) Do they have a Yes 47 (80%)
desire and op- No 1 No 3 desire and op- No 3
portunity to Not quite 1 It's difficult to portunity to Not always 1
upgrade your find time because upgrade your It depends 1
professional of full employ- professional
skills? ment 1 Lack of money 1 skills?
Does the mass Yes 7 (10%) Yes 4 Do you stimu- Yes 48 (81%)
media adminis- No 3 No 1 late them to do No 4
tration stimu- this?
late you to do
this?
Are there other Lack of time 7 Lack of time 13 Are there other Lack of time 8
obstacles to Extra jobs 8 Extra jobs 3 obstacles to Extra jobs 9
your profes- Lack of money 8 Lack of money 3 your profes- Lack of money 3
sional growth? Family 2 Family 4 sional growth? Family 3
No opportunity to Other services 3 Other service 3
study 3 Other duties 1 Laziness 2
No desire 2 Lack of technical Absence of growth
Outdated technical equipment 1 perspective through
equipment 1 I don't know how inadequate quantity
I am not sure about to organize myself of confessional
my abilities 1 for that 1 mass media and the
Lack of solid expe- I am looking for unwillingness of the
rience 1 another place of secular mass media
Satisfying urgent ne- work where I will to employ believing
cessities 1 have the opportunity to grow 1 workers 1 They are not sure
whether it is their calling 1
They have no communication with experts 1
They have no stimulus 1
There is no opportunity to study and work at the same time 1 Job description is not clear 1
It is difficult to change the old system of work which is used by the editor 1
It is productive to compare how the Editors and the Journalists evaluate their own professional competence and ways of developing it. For extra comparative materials it was requested that the Editors characterize these indices concerning their co-workers. The Journalists think about themselves in a modest way. The Editors consider themselves a little more qualified. They evaluate their subordinates even higher. Here we can find more evaluative marks and also fractional points, as a desire to make the whole picture clearer.
The main needs of all three groups are working experience and journalism education. Spiritual growth has the same attraction for the Journalists.
All three groups (95% of the Editors in particular) state their desire for and possibilities of personal growth. The Editors evaluated quite accurately the Journalists' attitude in this respect.
The personal motivation of professional competence development (both personal and that of subordinates) appears to be in striking contrast to the previous line. Only one tenth of the Journalists mentioned the interest of the mass media administration in their growth as specialists. However, the Editors repeat that they encourage their co-workers to do that 8.1 times more often than is fixed by the Journalists. The obstacles to professional growth are the same in each group. They are extra jobs, the necessity of earning a living, providing for families, and commitment to another ministry.
Now let us characterize the mass media of the respondents.
Editors Journalists
Type of your mass Press Press
media Internet Internet
TV TV
Radio Radio
Who is the founder? Church Private person Social organization Church Private person Social organization
Mass media Confessional Confessional
confessional Inter-confessional Inter-confessional
identification Interreligious Interreligious
Secular Secular
Educational publication Nonreligious organization with a Christian
Evangelical foundation
I have never thought about it. We treat any
religion kindly.
I don't emphasize the differences but con-
centrate on the main Christian values.
Target audience Non-believers 8 Non-believers 6
group Members of a specific confes- Church members 7
sion 5
Believers 2 Believers 6
The widest audience 6 The widest audience 5
Christians 6 Non-believing youth 3
Youth 4 Youth 2
Searching people 3 Believing youth 3
Families 2 Families 2
Church diaspora 1 Newly converted people 2
Evangelical believers 1 Teenagers 2
Mature Christians 1 Audience of Protestant TV Channels 1
Young people searching for Teachers of Christian ethics and people who
God 1 are interested in moral subjects 1
Non-believing youth 1 Non-believing teenagers 1
Non-believers, age 18-40 1 Middle-aged non-believers 1
Non-Christians 1 Teenage Christians 1
Service partners 1 Sympathetic casual viewer 1
Nondenominational persons Students, churches and visitors to the Chris-
(age 25-60) 1 tian University 1
Members of new Protestant Chemically addicted 1
churches 1 Christians, age 5-40 1
Russian-speaking Christians
all over the world 1
Ministers 1
Students of the Protestant
University 1
Christian, visiting invicto-
ry.org site 1
Christians who read books,
theologians, students of
Christian higher educational
institutions 1
My acquaintances 1
Teenagers 1
Chemically addicted 1
Teachers 1
Russian-speaking population 1
i Translators into sign lan-
guage, deaf and hard-of-
hearing persons 1
Any type of audience inter-
ested in cultural subjects 1
Circulation, num- 300 copies — 1 500 — 4
ber of viewers or 500 — 2 1000 — 1, 1100 — 1
other type of au- 1000 — 4
dience 2000 — 1 3000 — 1
measurement 3000 — 1
3500 — 1
4000 — 2
4500 — 1 5000 — 1
5000 — 3
10.000 — 4
20.000 — 1
22.000 — 1
90-100.000 — 1 100.000 — 1
100.000 — 3 200 visitors per day 4
10-50 visitors per day 1
50 visitors per day 1
About 60 site visitors per day 1
250 visitors per day 1
500 visitors per day 1
2000 blog readers 1
3500 news receivers, 8000 site 1,5 million viewers 1
visitors per day 1 Satellites cover all the territory above
7500 site news receivers 1 the Equator 1
27.000 visitors per day 1
Geographical A town (city) 5 A town (a city) 1
spread A district 2
A region 6 A region 6
Several regions 2 Several regions 3
Ukraine 7 Ukraine 2
CIS 4 CIS 4
CIS and diaspora: Germany, Cana- CIS and diaspora 6
da, USA, Europe, Portugal, Spain,
Baltic countries, Italy, Israel 13
About 20 countries 1
More than100 countries of the
world 1
Worldwide 1 Worldwide 1
Runet 1
Press and the Internet remain the main types of Protestant mass media. As we see, the older generation has a propensity for printed mass media; youth feel at ease in the net space. The reasons for that are the relative simplicity and cheapness of making an informational product for these types of mass media. ("The Internet is the most organic media channel for religious organizations, because it reproduces oral communication, 'From a person to a person' system. This communication channel is the most adequate to the discourse which is used by religious communities and individual believers"16). It is easier for churches to censor the printed mass media, denying or accepting them as their own.
16 Luchenko K. The Internet in the Informational and Communicational Activity of Russian Religious Organisations/ Luchenko K.V. Author's abstract... Candidate of philological science — 10.01.10. - Lomonosov Moscow State University. — M., 2009. — 22 c.
Churches are the main type of Protestant mass media founders. The Editors represent that layer of the church community from which persons originate who desire to compete with official confessional resources and publications. In our opinion, such a ratio is not going to change soon. The adequate authority of church administration among the faithful (see below) and the accumulated resources of confessions will continue to define the priorities of the official mass media. It is logical, that the church journalists are oriented to the interests of their fellow believers and other members of Protestant churches.
It is always a difficult task for Protestant mass media staff to determine the target audience group. Universalized designations such as "non-believers," "believers," and "the widest circle" prevail. A fuzzy and poorly-thought-out portrait of a reader/viewer visitor does not promote the publication's growth as the publishers hope it will. One should either form one's own niche ("There are the solitary mass media left, which are targeting for all. ... the church should understand to whom it should give this or that information, even if it demands energy to study the whole local mass media market"17), and the signs of this process are gradually appearing in the Protestant blogosphere, or invest the efforts of skilled personnel in one's publication (of course, this requires motivation and an adequate salary) and enlarge the market and distribution of the publication. And effective net mass media promotion requires not money so much as a competent strategy. We are persuaded that the key factor here is the understanding of this problem by the top clergy. Charismatic churches do not make up the major part of the Ukrainian Protestant environment, but the senior pastors of these confessions take personal care of informational product distribution and the reputation management of their confessions. This fact allows the journalists of these confessions to claim representative functions in the Protestant media market.
The audience size also looks different. Admitting that a printed publication is issued once a month on the average, we can single out two main types of periodical organs: regional publications oriented to specific church communities and their partners and surroundings (one thousand copies) and periodicals addressed to an all-Ukrainian or even international audience (for convenience - 10 000 copies, see Distribution geography). The range of site visiting, mentioned by the Editors differs by 2 700 times. If the most popular of the mentioned sites continues to attract such an audience for a year, then about 1 million people will visit it for this period of time. The TV channels estimate their audience more ambitiously (1.5 million, "Satellites cover all the territory above the Equator").
In the case of selling religious publications beyond the church community, it may refer to a tray in a church building or a travelling kiosk in a public place. Print publications serve the informational needs of the local churches, and if a believer distributes them, the transaction takes place within their surroundings. In this case a person takes a periodical because he/she is aware of the religious interests of its owner. The nondenominational person has more chances to come across
17 Zhelnovakova M. Church and Mass Media : Practical aspects of work/ Margarita Zhelnovako-va// In Victory. — 2010. — № 12. — C. 19.
a Protestant program on radio or TV. There is not a wide spectrum of consumers here who do not have a denominational relative or acquaintance. The most intensive convergence of secular and clerical audiences is on the Internet. ("In real life the representatives of different religions and confessions meet quite rarely for talking over a wide range of questions. On the Internet they enter into a dialogue within the bounds of one informational space"18). The web-audience forms groups according to the language and interests of the individual. If a user speaks the language of the resource and is interested in religious subjects, he/she can monitor the religious Ru.net for years without visiting any religious buildings. Informational satiety or a change of life style often leads to a weakening of interest or the individual abandons the interest entirely. On the other hand, a life crisis can stimulate him/her to assume religious practices up to joining the local church. The Editors also gave the following information about their publications:
■ Time of founding. One journal mentioned is a continuation and gives its date of origin as 1936. In the 1990s, 9 publications (15%) were founded. In the 2000s
- 38 (64%). During the 2000s the number of publications grew consistently (2000 - 2 publications; 2001 - 3; 2003 - 3; 2004 - 5; 2005 - 5; 2006 - 6; 2007
- 7), or perhaps it was not reflected in the research whether the publications founded earlier had ceased to exist. After 2007 the increase becomes stable (2008 - 3; 2009 - 5; 2010 - 3), or the newly founded periodicals were in their infancy and so were not mentioned in the questionnaires.
■ Twenty-nine periodicals do not have a state registration. Sixteen periodicals (27%) do have it. Registration does not bring with it any interference in the periodical's content or distribution. It is reasonable in price and is rather a status symbol. Part of the unregistered periodicals consists of Internet periodicals that need no registration and small regional publications.
■ Ten respondents (017% stated that there were suspensions in their publication functioning. Twenty-seven respondents (46%) stated that there were no suspensions. The significant percentage of periodicals that experienced serious suspensions in their broadcasting or publication is explained by the establishment of the church in the post-Soviet area, a misunderstanding of the importance of informational activities in clerical circles. Because of this, even the most active media workers presented in the poll are not always able to find an opportunity for stable work.
■ The sources of finance of the Protestant mass media are: a founder, an owner -25 responses (39%); sale of the informational product, circulation, advertisement - 17 responses (29%); individual donors and sponsors - 14 (22%); irregular donations - 13 (22%); affiliate network - 1; financing inside the media holding— 1. As in the previous responses, the influence of church organizations dominates. It is early to talk about the independent mass media. The per-
18 Luchenko K. The Internet in the Informational and Communicational Activity of Russian Religious Organizations/ Luchenko K.V. Author's abstract... Candidate of philological science — 10.01.10. — Lomonosov Moscow State University. — M., 2009. — 22 c.
centage of the informational product and advertisement sale is a little higher than the percentage based on sponsor's money, but fundraising remains the main way to maintain unofficial periodicals (46% altogether).
■ Eighteen respondents (30%) consider that the financial position of mass media is self-supporting; 17 respondents (29%) guess it is subsidized; 10 respondents (17%) - unprofitable; 3 respondents - profitable.
■ It also explains the number of the editorial or studio staff Twelve respondents (20%) report that their journalist staff consists of 3 people; 10 (17%) - of 1 person; 8 - of 2 people; 5 - of 5; 4 - of 4; 3 - of 6; 2 - of 7; 2 - of 9. Other variants (of 2-4, 7, 10, and 12) got one response each.
■ Thus, the average number of the Protestant mass media paid staff is 3-5 people, and a significant part of the periodicals is prepared by one person.
■ The number of non-staff members: 7 responses - 2 people; 6 response - 3; 3 responses - 4; and 10, 2 responses - 5, 8; and 1, 1 response - 1-3, 6, 7, 15, 25, 30. Thus, the average number of non-staff workers is 2-3 people.
Let us proceed to consideration of questions and responses of the Protestant mass media Audience.
The question "Do you need journalistic information for your religious life?" was answered by 28 respondents (71%) in the affirmative and by 24 respondents (6%) in the negative. The number of negative answers could be larger, but we concede that part of this group refused to fill in the form. The demand within the church is rather high. The group of conscious consumers is 12 times larger than the group of negativists.
One hundred thirty-six respondents (35%) need journalistic information about religion several times a week; 88 (23%) not regularly; 86 (22%) several times a month; 56 (14%) every day. It appears that the majority of the Audience representatives definitely consume such informational product several times a month.
It is not equal to the twenty-four-hour connection to the digital world of teenagers and student youth and to several hours a day of watching TV by the nonProtestant secular older generation, but it indicates stable and mature interest
Now we will evaluate media production availability for consumers. One hundred seventy-four (49%) respondents state that Protestant mass media information is completely available to them; 125 (32%)—not completely available; 56 (15%) - hardly available; 8—practically unavailable. The situation is encouraging, but it appears that 22% of the interested Audience (71% fixed before) is not satisfied with the degree of availability of the journalism product.
The respondents mentioned such obstacles to a desirable extent of access to the Protestant mass media as:
■ Lack of technical equipment. 70 responses (18%)—there is no cable television; 53 (14%)—no Internet access; 40 (10%)—irregularity of printed publications; 43 (11%)—lack of Internet user skills; 23—low speed of Internet connection; 17—limited Internet traffic; 13—there is no radio receiver with the frequency scale needed.
■ High cost of using mass media: For the Internet connection/user charge—35 responses; for the cable television connection/ user charge—31; for periodicals—8.
■ Other reasons: Lack of time—120 responses (30%); poor health—11; the geographical remoteness of my residence—9; "I don't have a desire to consume journalism information," laziness and lack of self-discipline, "I think one shouldn't make inquiries about everything," "there is no developed Protestant mass media network, information about publications"—1 response each.
As a rule, high demands for journalistic information are typical for secular people, but it coincides with the quick tempo of life and a very busy schedule. Lack of self-discipline of the consumers and lack of steady motivation to regularly search for the Protestant mass media product are the main factors of failure in the competition for the attention of the church audience, which is captured by more available, common, and socially approved communication mass media— secular TV in the first place. One needs to apply much less effort and resources for viewing it than for reading the church press (which is not always free of charge, cheap, and at one's fingertips), connecting a satellite antenna or cable television. Access to Christian sites is comparatively easier, but Internet communication requires regular payment (and not mere pennies), diligence, and the presence of the minimal number of "churched" acquaintances necessary to create a community of people with the same ideas. The majority of Protestant radio stations broadcast on the Internet, but this service is not in fashion because of its newness and the requirement of unlimited connection.
Multimedia discs with video and audio records are one more solid Christian medium of information. This method of the Christianization of a common TV set has great possibilities in the church environment: some Christians give a "spiritual" foundation for the unauthorized copying of discs. Discs are easily copied and allow for the creation of different variations of video collections. Empty discs are available to everyone, easy to store, and pass on to someone else. DVD players are cheap and widely available. They require no user charge or special skills compared to personal computer usage. The rules of DVD usage are comparable to those of the not completely forgotten video players.
Now we will examine the degree of Audience knowledge and usage of different types of mass media according to their confessional identity.
Do you know? TV Internet Press Radio
Mass media of your confession 199 (51%) 166 (43%) 279 (72%) 182 (47%)
Mass media of other Protestant confessions 98 (25%) 141 (36%) 74 (19%) 56 (14%)
Inter-confessional mass media 72 (19%) 48 (12%) 40 (10%) 38 (10%)
Mass media of other religions/confessions 45 (12%) 59 (15%) 42 (10%) 23
Secular mass media 67 (17%) 78 (20%) 56 (14%) 31
Where do you get journalistic information?
Mass media of your confession 133 (34%) 178 (46%) 235 (60%) 120 (30%)
Mass media of other Protestant confessions 76 (20%) 104 (27%) 60 (15%) 46 (12%)
Inter-confessional mass media 56 (14%) 94 (24%) 33 28
Mass media of other religions/confessions 47 (12%) 63 (16%) 40 (10%) 26
Secular mass media 89 (23%) 49 (13%) 58 (15%) 36
At least for the Seventh Day Adventist Church parishioners (and keep in mind that it is typical for different Protestant confessions), the Internet is the main source of religious news and the best known communication channel. Secular opinion about religion and information of inter-confessional resources reach the Audience through TV. Television is sure to be at the second place in case of learning the mass media of other Protestant churches and other religions and consuming the media production of other Protestant denominations, interdenominational and interreligious mass media. Seventh Day Adventists show allegiance to the publications of their own confession, getting its news mostly through the press. Radio lags behind everywhere, except in the case of general awareness about one's own confessional media. In this case it takes the third position out of four.
The italicized numbers in the mass media knowledge line are lower than the same numbers in the usage line. This testifies that the usage of the secular media and the media of other religions does not lead to their recognition and acceptance by the Protestant Audience and indicates psychological distance from these sources. The Protestant mass media Audience always measures the authority of informational sources by their ideological convergence to its church. The next table confirms this statement.
State the degree of your confidence in different mass media 1 - the most trustworthy 2 - less trustworthy etc. 1 2 3 4 5 Other points
Mass media of your confession 299 29 7 2 4 10 — 1
Mass media of other Protestant confessions 28 130 52 15 13 0.6 — 1, 0,5 — 1, 7 — 1
Interconfessional mass media 49 37 65 19 9 0,5 — 1, 7 — 1
Mass media of other religions/confessions 10 22 30 70 35 6 — 1, 10 — 1
Secular mass media 16 56 34 32 81 0 — 2,
No other aspect of the analyzed theme gives such a convincing picture. In the case of the respondent's own confession, even the second position has 10.3 times fewer points than the first one. In the case of other Protestant mass media—2.5 times less; mass media of other religions—2 times less; inter-denominational and secular mass media—1.4 times less. The smallest difference of the last two types of mass media can be explained by their "arbiter" status. People address them hoping to find the most objective view, which enlightens different aspects of a subject and listens to all the sides of a conflict. But the secular mass media, which should present such a view according to this determination, gets the smallest rate of confidence of the Audience, at least because any secular mass media is not really "secular" in every sense of the word. The majority of them are confessional-ly-oriented. It can be noticed in the generally hostile tone of publications, the onesided selection of facts and the usage of biased comments.19 Twice as large a number of extra points indicates that the suggested scale is not sufficient for the respondents. It is difficult to say whether points below 1 and 0 show the highest or the lowest level of confidence. But it is evident that in this column we have a 9 point mark, which is absent from the other columns, two additional 10 point marks, 12 points, and 20 points.
There are enough reasons for such attitude. The first reason is the conflict of values between the market rating-oriented thinking of secular journalists who try to present views that seem for them to be the most widespread and representative, and the ethical rigorism called "Monasticism in the World"20—the aspiration on the part of secular journalists to protect society from the "prevalence of sects" and to reap dividends by creating the image of an enemy made up of their compatriots who have no protection leverage. The next reasons are the concentration of religiously active people only on the interchurch agenda, the inability of the church to work in the public sphere, especially with the secular mass media, which are often considered in the mass consciousness to be the incarnation of immorality and the destroyers of traditional order.21 (By the last statement, people understand the presumed religiousness of pre-Soviet times, the social security of the Brezhnev era, etc.).
The ideological disorientation of society and the blurred standards of the personal and professional ethics of journalists collide with the pained reaction of the clerical community that has found its identity, dignity, and sense of life in the Spartan conditions of the Protestant ethos.
To check the findings about trusting the church mass media, we asked the question, "Do you check the Protestant mass media news?" One hundred seventy-
19 Nykytchenko O. Features of Formation of Modern Religions Image in the Context of Understanding Freedom of Conscience in Ukraine/ Nykytchenko Olena Eduardivna. Author's abstract. Candidate of phil. science. 09.00.11 — religious studies. — K., 2009. — C. 6.
20 Balaklytsky M. Protestant Theology of Communication/ M.A. Balaklytsky// Ukrainian religious studies. — № 55. — K., 2010. — C. 179-187.
21 Balaklytsky M. Mass Media in Cultural Wars of Ukrainian Protestants// Maksim Balaklytsky [electronic document]// The Internet newspaper "The Way". — 9.03.10. — access mode: http://www.asd.in.ua/archives/1188296967
four respondents (49%) responded in the affirmative; 114 (30%) answered in the negative. Let us suppose that a significant part of the first group mean that they often check other Protestant movements and interdenominational media rather than the news of their own confession. Nevertheless, the high level of confidence of the Audience in the Protestant mass media combines with a critical and evaluative approach.
The next question was, "If you do check the information, how do you do it?" Eighty-six respondents (22%) answered that they check it with the Bible; 36— with the help of other competent sources, particularly journalistic ones; 14 respondents use personal contacts with the participant of the event, competent persons, "the news generators,"; 3 respondents ask the pastor or the church council for a piece of advice. "I carry out a survey in a Christian chat," "I gather theme-related items, analyze the chain of news for the certain period of time," "I keep watch over the fulfillment of the journalists' prognosis," "I go by the authority of the author"—one response each. Thus, checking includes using alternative sources such as sacral texts, other mass media, asking confessional public opinion leaders and other church authorities.
Our next step is an attempt to reveal the subject area of interests and, more important, the pragmatics of the Audience's attention.
Subject area What subjects of the Protestant mass media news do you especially take into consideration? What kinds of Protestant mass media information stimulate you to actions? Factors of the numeral difference of the responses
Theological 273 (70%) 181 (47%) 1,5
Healthy way of life 218 (57%) 127 (32%) 1,7
Historical 199 (51%) 60 (15%) 3,3
Social 181 (47%) 148 (38%) 1,2
Psychological 161 (45%) 92 (24%) 1,8
Scientific 145 (37%) 52 (13%) 2,8
Political 62 (16%) 29 2,1
Economic 54 (14%) 25 2,2
As we see, the Adventist Audience attention is mostly attracted by theology and health. Politics and economics are the least attractive. The historical, social, psychological, and scientific subjects occupy average positions. This picture totally contradicts the assertion of sources competitive with Protestants that the subject of finance prevails in Protestant preaching (communication).
For Adventists church doctrines are the source of confessional identity, the foundation of faithfulness to the religious organization. The popularity of the subject of health can be explained by its place in Adventist religious practice, where preventive "health reform" with the optimization of nutrition as its instrument, as
well as an active way of life and the development of an individual's social connections plays a very important role.22 The subject of history touches on sacred history in the biblical perspective, one more component of religious doctrine. The social subject is associated with charity, the psychological one—with relations in the family and in the physical environment of the respondent. The scientific subject serves the tasks of church apologetics and confirmation of the healthy way of life position (in the Adventist interpretation).23 Protestants promulgate the official social concepts,24 but stand aside from political life, emphasizing the non-partisan characteristics of their churches. We think that the political instability in Ukraine incites church members to seek advice concerning their political orientation in given circumstances. The Protestant view on finances seems to cause misunderstanding and is discussed least of all.
The readiness of the Audience to follow journalistic advice corresponds to the hierarchy of subjects, but on the average it is two times less than "theoretical" interest. Historical and scientific news do not find a deep response because of their academic, abstract essence. The highest level of readiness on the part of the Audience to embrace social information is unexpected. If these indices are true and are out of the range of our focus-group measures, then the social activity commonly understood as charity is the subject of greatest interest for Protestant mass communication.
We can classify the advantages stated by the Audience in the following way:
■ The position of Protestant journalists: thirty-five respondents stated that it includes objectivity, high morality, adherence to principles, truthfulness, "they say the truth honestly, openly," "don't seek for sensations." Twenty respondents state that they preach, they are missionaries, and are attractive to non-believers. Five respondents state that their position is nearly always motivated by serving God, "don't have greediness and careerism, quest for power and easy profit," "they are altruistic." Four respondents—they raise ethical issues, develop good qualities in people. Two respondents—their desire is to embody Christian ideals. One respondent—independence; 1 respondent—healthy outlook on life.
■ Content characteristics from the Audience point of view: follow biblical teaching—23 responses; have much in common with the informational needs of Christians—12; the actual spiritual orientation—8; interesting presentation of
22 Balaklytsky M., Radetska I. Protestant Periodicals of Ukraine: View of Problems and Principles of Preventive Medicine Organization// Scientific Notes of The Institute of Journalism: collected researches/ edited by editor-in-chief V.V.Rizun; Taras Shevchenko Kharkov State University. — K., 2008. — T. 31. — C. 80-84.
23 Balaklytsky M. Confessional Press of Ukraine about Reasons of Appearance and Ways of Solving Social Conflicts// M.A. Balaklytsky// Dialogue: Media-studios: collected researches/ editor-inchief Aleksandrov O.V. - Odessa: Astroprint, 2009. - Issue 8. — C. 26-31.
24 Balaklytsky M. Basic Sources of Protestant Journalism/ Maksim Balaklitsky [electronic document]// The Internet newspaper "The Way". — 7.10.10. — access mode: http://www.asd.in.ua /archives/1188300930
the material—6; useful information—3; exclusive information—2; psychological support-1.
■ Technical aspects. Availability—21 responses; various, informative—15; regularity and efficiency of broadcasting/publication—13; they are what they are—5; good technical level—2; possibility of user response—2; technical aspects are developing—2.
■ Functions. "They perform informational, educational, regulatory (normative), axiological duties"—12 responses; "they suggest the alternative point of view (compared with the secular)"—1.
As we see, the most important advantages of the church media workers are
those personal qualities that the Audience does not find in the secular journalists. Mentioned disadvantages form a much more diversified system. It is often the
characteristics listed above, but with "minus" or the disputable characteristics that
can be mentioned both on the right and left sides. One can enumerate the following characteristics:
■ Theological correctness of journalist news. Misinterpretation of Bible studies—25 respondents; "they don't popularize Christian teaching"—1.
■ Professional and technical mass media level. The form. Low level of profes-sionalism-24 responses; lack of regularity and efficiency—7; poor informational content—5; low quality of the informational product -3; dull, monotonous, lifeless presentation of the material—4; low technical level—2; primitive presentation of the material—2; Christian cliché—2.
■ Self-advertising, creating a personal cult of a certain pastor—2; insufficient technical equipment—1; intolerance of other points of view—1; poor site de-sign-1.
■ Content. Lack of objectivity and reliability—19; narrow confessionalism and confessional engagement, subculture—17; excessive criticism—6; unchecked material of a low quality or "jeans"—3; outdated information—2; not enough original material—2; grammatical mistakes—1; "I have to sift through unreliable information"—1; "information is sometimes repeated"—1; criticism of their own confession—1; intrusion of their own ideas—1; uncoordinated information—1; issues that are not urgent and practical for contemporaries—1; propensity to extremes—1.
■ Usefulness and attractiveness to the Audience. High user charge—3; narrowness of view and thinking—2; not interesting for the secular audience—1; not interesting for youth—1; unavailable to believers of other religious movements and closed to them-1; uninteresting subjects—1.
■ Cultural code. Irrelevant, impractical and out-of-date—7; excessive conservatism—5; excessive secular spirit, too strong charismatic orientation—2; banal, boring, alien (non-Protestant)—1; excessively emotional—1.
■ General characteristics of communication. Scarcity and poor variety of mass media—6; low availability—5; insufficient advertisement—2; lack of desire to cooperate—2; small audience—1; lack of distribution—1; excessive commercializing, developing the consumer thinking of the audience—1; not always interesting—1; poor financing—1.
Here we can also notice the dialogue with the secular mass media. The church mass media evidently loses to the secular mass media in the area of technical superiority, but it receives the support of the church community due to the content dimension and the moral aspect.
Thus, it is not strange that 274 respondents (70%) emphasize that the Protestant mass media market needs improvement in quality, and 116 respondents (30%) stand up for the increase of their number.
This survey of the Protestant mass media staff and audience reveals that the religious mass media belong to the specialized type of publications. Their influence upon their target audience group, the members of the religious community, is deep and stable; at the same time the missionary potential is quite low. The complex of factors that accompany conversion correspond to interpersonal and group—but not mass communication.
The confessional mass media are an area of the religious subculture's existence. The confidence of Protestants in their publications is very high, though it is combined with a critical and evaluating approach. Social subjects are the most in demand by the Ukrainian Protestant media. Organized aid for the socially deprived is the main manifestation of the public position of Protestants in our country.
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