The problems of the Arctic region in modern international journalism: examples and features

Автор: Natalia S. Avdonina, Olga I. Vodyannikova, Anna A. Zhukova

Журнал: Arctic and North @arctic-and-north

Рубрика: Reviews and reports

Статья в выпуске: 34, 2019 года.

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The article is devoted to the review of problems of the Arctic region presented in modern international journalism on the example of the travel essay by the international journalist S. Pashkevich “Letters from the Edge of the World. Traveling to Russian America” and the TV program “30 days in the Arctic with Ville Haapasalo”. These works are selected as examples of international journalists covering the problems of the Arctic region in different formats (print and tv) and the longterm perspective. As a result of the analysis, we can conclude on the general topic of chosen journalism works — the way of life of residents. The choice of problems is determined by the genre features of the texts presented: if Pashkevich's letters are more of a lyrical journalism work whose purpose is to show the life of “Russian” Alaskans with an emphasis on general Russian-American history; Ville Haapasalo's TV program combines entertainment and information components, and to a certain extent entertaining component (stories about hunting, fishing, participation of the facilitator in these classes) is balanced by the presentation of various problems from which residents of the Arctic region of Russia.

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The Arctic, print journalism, television journalism, Alaska, infotainment, international journalism, indigenous people

Короткий адрес: https://sciup.org/148318494

IDR: 148318494   |   DOI: 10.17238/issn2221-2698.2019.34.159

Текст научной статьи The problems of the Arctic region in modern international journalism: examples and features

One of the main tasks of international journalism is the coverage of international politics.

On the one hand, this information is necessary for politicians, on the other hand, as Armen Oganesyan, the editor-in-chief of the magazine “Mezhdunarodnoe Obozrenie,” says, “In each of us lives a citizen of the world, and this is a pledge of inescapable interest in the new.”1 The genre space of international journalism consists of all known journalistic forms.

The purpose of this article is to review the coverage of the problems of the Arctic region in print and television journalism by the example of a travel essay by international journalist S. Pashkevich “Letters from the World's End. Journey to Russian America" and the TV program "30 days in the Arctic with Villa Haapasalo". "Letters from the edge of the world. Travel to Russian America" represents a travel essay in the epistolary genre. The program “30 days in the Arctic with

For citation:

Ville Haapasalo” is an example of a television project in the style of infotainment, that is, a combination of entertainment and information components. Since most people have limited experience of staying in different countries, the idea of foreign countries is formed at the expense of various informational actors, including the media [1, Aalberg T., p. 388]. To study the presentation of international news, researchers use the theory of the agenda, the essence of which is as follows: the more the media pay attention to specific topics, the more they become essential for the audience [2, Wanta W., p. 367]. The theory of the agenda can be applied not only in the content analysis of an array of media texts of various media but also within the study of a specific work, which will be shown in this article.

The main heroes of the travel notes of Pashkevich are priests, fishermen and crab hunters, dog drivers, indigenous people, and museum staff. The main topics of the “Letters from the End of the World” include the following: the lifestyle of ordinary Americans, Alaskans, ethnic cuisine, the life of Indian tribes, the history of Alaska. Throughout all the reporting letters, the author turns to historical facts, for example, talks about the founders of Alaska: “But Sitka appeared as a place open to all the winds and the world, facing the ocean. It was here two hundred years ago that Alexander Baranov founded Novo-Arkhangelsk, the capital of colonial Russian America.”2 In “Letter One,” there is a fragment about the discovery of Alaska by the Russians. Note that in each letter there are historical facts, so the work of Pashkevich can be compared with a documentary film, which has frames of the present moment and retrospective filming.

The example of Pashkevich’s interlocutors shows the Alaskan way of life. The author uses the concept of “a man of heroic destiny” — a person with a non-standard biography, a special type of activity, possessing special character traits. And then he says: “We are fortunate enough to communicate with such people,” that is, with this phrase Pashkevich refers all the people he met in Russian Alaska to the category of “people of heroic destiny.”3 Such people include all Alaskan Alaskans who were met along the way: Porshkevich of Alaska Coast Guard in Alaska (“Dear male profession, which is done by tough — guys in the best sense of the word”), the same father Michael, who “... was once ... Californian hippie. He then turned to Orthodoxy, after which he decided to go on the road of service.”4.

Pashkevich, describing the way of life of his interlocutors, always emphasizes that many of them are descendants of Russian travelers, discoverers of Alaska or ordinary citizens, although they became part of the “melting pot”: “Russian America is a part of our common history with the United States. It no longer exists, and those who lived here when the Russian tricolor developed over Alaska long gone. However, Russian America continues to live in names on geographical maps. There are a lot of them, and they are scattered throughout Alaska!”5.

In Pashkevich's work, the negative aspects are practically not affected, on the contrary, these travel notes are a rare example of real journalism aimed at finding a dialogue between countries and cultures based on a collective historical past. The author emphasizes that Alaska is a distinctive land edge, but the essential thing is Alaska's gold is not natural wealth, but people thanks to whom this state has kept its history. Without them, Alaska would not have continued its development, so the final letter is called “Genuine Alaskan Gold”: “The most crucial thing in Alaska is not beautiful nature, not fish in the ocean, not oil, and not gold. The most important thing here, the most authentic Alaskan gold is its people. They came here and made Alaska what it is. They saved this majestic northern nature — so that moose can be found right in Anchorage, and the sea lions rookery is located directly in the bay of Kodiak. They discovered natural resources here — the very legendary gold and oil. They built highways, airports, and marinas. They circled this vast land in single-engine airplanes — and they also traveled the whole of Alaska up and down. These people have preserved here the memory of the Russian past of Alaska, which has become their past. And they turned Alaska, this end of the world, into a fantastic place where you want to live and where you want to return.”6 Another format is the TV program “30 days in the Arctic with Ville Haapasalo".

On the one hand, this is a TV project about a Finn who loves and honors Russian traditions. With each trip, the presenter gains experience, new skills, meeting interesting people, learn recipes of traditional dishes, tastes local products and shares his impressions with the audience.

On the other hand, these are stories about people and their destinies. Each issue depicts the daily life of people, their life and cares. The guide is usually a resident, telling him about the mysteries and mysteries of the visited place. He shares local legends and bikes with Ville, and at the end of the program, they can prepare a local dish together.

Despite the positive and entertaining aspects, which is typical for the info-equipment, the program also tells residents about difficulties: openly and suggesting their solutions. Based on the interview with the presenters of the program's characters, one can identify the main problems that concern the population of the Arctic region.

On the Yamal Peninsula, precious natural resources pose a real threat to the normal life of the indigenous people — the Nenets. The peninsula is conditionally divided into two parts; the first belongs to the Nenets, the second to large oil refineries. Now the industry is concentrated in the north of the peninsula, modern technologies of arrangement and exploitation of oil and gas fields are used, which allow minimizing environmental risks and damage to the economic activity of the tundra population leading a nomadic lifestyle.

Norilsk residents are concerned about the environmental problem: “there are many exhausts into the atmosphere that are immediately felt to the visitor,” and many people are not satisfied with the climate, which is very difficult to get used to as non-local. Many are concerned about the issue of employment: "stable work is only at the mine, there is no other alternative, and this work is quite dangerous."On the Taimyr Peninsula, there is an acute question of the vital activity of indigenous peoples, which has been preserved since the times of the Soviet Union. Since that time, the local indigenous people — the Nganasans — began to pay more attention. Programs have been developed aimed at sustainable development and the creation of favorable and comfortable conditions in the province for the aboriginal population and traditional management. Such programs exist now, but the problem is that the implementation does not always consider the original culture and spiritual values of indigenous peoples. Also, locals point out the influence of Norilsk Nickel on the migration of deer and fur animals.

In Tiksi (Republic of Sakha), the problem of alcoholism is separate, which local people associate with the harsh natural and weather conditions.

In the program “30 days with Ville Haapasalo” there are always several main characters: the host himself and the accompanying locals. E.g., in issue number 5, devoted to the way of life of the Nenets, leading through dialogues with residents shows their life.7 It is worth noting that Haapasalo does not merely set forth clear facts about a given nationality. He penetrates the originality of the Nenets, lives for several days in a camp where three kindred families live. Only from the dialogue between the author and the leading member of the family, the viewer learns about the details: patriarchy prevails in Nenets families, women are engaged only in the decoration of the plague, parents themselves teach reindeer breeding to children through a special nomadic school, parents also send children to a regular secondary school, and bring children to the period of holidays to the tundra. The spectators see that the Nenets are nomadic, but it becomes clear not from the moderator’s story, but because the program shows the nomadic process, where the peculiarity of the people is manifested: the ability to work together, respect for the guest and care for him, the communion of children to work from early childhood, the preservation of peace and decent conditions for the older generation.

The general theme of the analyzed journalistic works — the lifestyle of residents. The choice of S. Pashkevich heroes was evident — people of simple professions. The choice of heroes of Haapasalo is also predictable — these are residents who are experiencing life problems in an area. As for the problematic, it is worth noting that the selection of the issues discussed is due to the genre features of the analyzed works: if Pashkevich’s letters are more like a lyrical journalistic composition written to show the life of “Russian” Alaskans with an emphasis on common Russian-American history, the Ville Haapasalo TV program combines entertainment and information components, and to a certain extent the entertainment component (stories about hunting, fishing, participation of the leader in these classes) is balanced by a focus the viewer on the various problems faced by the inhabitants of the Arctic region of Russia.

Список литературы The problems of the Arctic region in modern international journalism: examples and features

  • Aalberg T., Papathanassopoulos St., Soroka S., James C., Hayashi K., Iyengar S., Jones P., Mazzoleni G., Rojas H., Rowe D., Tiffen R. International TV news, foreign affairs interest and public knowledge. Journalism Studies, 2013, no. 14 (3), pp. 387–406.
  • Wanta W., Golan G., Lee Ch. Agenda setting and international news: media influence on public perceptions of foreign nations. Journal and Mass Communication Quarterly, 2004, no. 81 (2). pp. 364–377.
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