Russian Regional Journalism: Struggle and Survival in the Heartland takes an intimate look at the enormous challenges and small victories experienced by local Russian journalists across the post-perestroika and Putin eras. The book examines 13 years of journalists’ struggles for independence and meaning as they weigh their professional goals and community obligations against their growing dependence on local elite. Russia’s sub-national levels—its provinces and communities—remain understudied but important. Local newspapers are the only means by which news reaches many rural Russians, and Russia’s "heartland" regions are a significant source of support for the current national regime. The book contributes importantly to our understanding of Russian journalism, and to our understanding of local journalism generally, an increasingly vulnerable institution in countries around the world. Russian Regional Journalism seeks answers to a number of questions: How do challenging political-economic environments constrain and guide the ways Russian journalists imagine their roles and do their work? Can journalists represent their regions in meaningful, distinct ways, and are they seeking autonomy or mere survival? How does local Russian journalism fit within the global context of local journalism? Russian Regional Journalism will serve as a valuable companion text for senior-level or graduate courses on Russian media and culture, global media, local journalism, media production, and media sociology. The book will also be of value to anyone interested in journalism’s ongoing challenges in a diverse, changing world.
