Information agenda on entertainment radio stations during the COVID19 pandemic on the example of “Radio Dacha”

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the Russian media, which, regardless of their format, have been broadcasting news about the infection since the beginning of the outbreak on a regular basis. The main purpose of the research is to establish a connection between the epidemiological situation in Russia during the first wave and the nature of the change in the information agenda on the air of the entertainment “Radio Dacha”. To reach this goal the author, using the method of inclusive observation, analyzes 1 219 episodes of the news program, aired from January 2020, when radio hosts first mentioned the COVID-19, to July 2020, when the main restrictions were lifted in Russia. The article shows that depending on the epidemiological state, the number of notes about the coronavirus increased. The maximum quantity of news about the disease was noted in April and May when the country had the highest amount of cases and announced a lockdown. Meanwhile, the content analysis indicated that there was direct and indirect news coverage of the coronavirus. Their ratio is 97 to 3 % in favor of direct news. It means that despite the format of the radio station, the radio hosts only talked about political and social news with little or no entertain ment content. Thus, the epidemic dynamic changed the information agenda, and the worst it was, the more news about the coronavirus went on the air. The news about the infection became the longest discussed subject on the air of “Radio Dacha”.