The image of an official in media (based on the news websites of Primorsky krai)

The research presents the results of a sociological study into the image of an official on the news websites of Primorsky Krai. The study was conducted by means of content analysis of articles posted on the biggest news websites of the Far Eastern region such as VladNews, Vl.ru and PrimaMedia under Politics from January 01, 2017 to December 31, 2017 (N = 5400). The proportion of articles that characterized “the positive image of an official” was 8.2% (N = 441), and the one that described “the negative image of an official” was 9,2 % (N = 497). Based on the rating of articles, the authors summarized the image of the official and made the main conclusions in this regard. The number of negative articles is only 10% higher than the number of positive articles. The generalized image of an official is of a contradictory nature. On the one hand, it is a corrupt official who is prone to falsification and inaction, and on the other hand, it is an active, openhearted, honest and literate expert. The principal negative characteristic of the official (corruption) occurs in 310 news reports, and the main positive characteristic (professional behavior) is reviewed only in 124 reports.