Media consumption as a factor of political activity in post-Soviet countries

Abstract

This article examines how media shape interest in politics and explores whether the type of media influences interest in political events. The influence of different types of media, including traditional, old and new, as well as digital media, on interest in the political agenda is examined. The article makes reference to the concepts of types of domination as put forth by M. Weber, the public sphere as described by J. Habermas, the notion of "doxic" space as postulated by P. Bourdieu, and the theories of G. Lassauel and P. Lassauer which study the formation and development of mass media. Lassawell and Lazarsfeld's theories examine the blogosphere and new digital media. This study is based on data from the World Values Survey, which examines differences in media consumption practices in countries that were formerly part of the Soviet bloc. The research subjects are respondents from former Soviet Union countries who participated in the WVS survey from 2017 to 2022. The study includes the following countries: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. The research focuses on media consumption practices in these countries. The aim is to study media consumption in post-Soviet countries and determine how media types influence interest in socio-political life. The theoretical part of the article reviews scientific sources on media consumption and political motivation. The practical part analyzes quantitative distributions of media consumption and political interest based on secondary data from the WVS database, presenting quantitative data as distributions and indices. A correlation analysis of factors influencing political interest and various media sources using data from Kazakhstan is also conducted.