Prospects of media consumption in the Yakut language and the role of state-owned national media in the formation of content in the digital environment

The representation of national languages in the digital environment can counteract the emerging language shift in the era of globalization and digitalization. The digital environment, where information and services are mainly provided in the language of the majority, is «unfavorable» to the languages of national minorities. As a result, language shift, i.e., the transition of communication to the language of the majority, may occur within a few generations. The results of sociological studies allow us to conclude that currently there is dominance of Internet resources and social networks over traditional print media. The researchers note that creating Internet content in native languages, state-owned national media perform an important function of the preservation and development of languages. Thanks to government support in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the transformation of traditional print media, there are websites functioning in the Yakut language and content produced in social media in the Yakut language. Based on research into this issue, on the data of the sociological study «Media Landscape of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) - 2023» as well as on the results of an expert interview giving a forecast on changes in media consumption in the Yakut language, a conclusion can be made about insufficient demand for information consumption in the Yakut language on the Internet as well as insufficient volumes of such content. The low demand for media consumption in the Yakut language among young people is of concern. When implementing the language policy of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), it is proposed to take into account the varying degrees of influence of different information channels, their loyal audiences, and the popularity level of various media for different ages. The creation of effective official mechanisms for supporting national regional media at the federal and regional levels, the use of new media and modern digital technologies when providing information in native languages, the involvement of the younger generation in media consumption in native languages in the digital environment, will contribute to interethnic harmony and cultural and spiritual diversity of Russian society.