The functions of mass media and their implementation in national TV news programs (the case of the Kuril islands)

The article deals with the issue of implementation of the institutional functions of the mass media in modem Russia. The news items about the life of the Kuril Islands were chosen as the main object of the study. Basing on the content analysis of the national TV news programs of 2016, the author determines the subject area of TV pieces about the region and specifics of the journalists’ work with materials about it. Relying on this analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that in the case of the Kuril Islands the media is more likely to realize the information function, as well as partly the function of emotional relaxation.