Transition Features of the Russian Regional Press to Digital Technology

Baranova Ekaterina Andreevna ORCID: 0000-0003-1794-9936 Doctor of Philology Professor, Department of Communication Management and Relationship Management, RSSU 4 Wilhelm Peak str., Moscow, 129226, Russia kat-journ@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Novoselova Galina Germanovna ORCID: 0009-0009-5032-5026 Press Secretary, FGKU "Rosgeolexpertiza" Postgraduate student of the Mass Communications Department of RUDN University 115184, Russia, Moscow, Malaya Ordynka str., 34 novoselovagalina@inbox.ru Other publications by this author

According to the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia, in 2022, the volume of the "press" segment decreased by 13% [ACAR: The print media market decreased by 13%. Access mode: https://www.sostav.ru/publication/akar-57203.html ]. A similar decline is observed due to the reduction of the "monthly magazines" category. Nevertheless, sales of daily periodicals increased by 1% for magazines and 4% for newspapers.

In 2022, the number of registered media outlets in Russia continued to decline. As in the previous five years, there was a consolidation of publishing houses and agencies. 62% of the registered media are in print media. Nevertheless, according to Roskomnadzor, the rate of reduction in the number of publications has become lower [Monitoring the state of the print media and printing market. 2022 Access mode: https://www.mos.ru/upload/documents/files/8016/PrezentaciyamonitoringpechatnihSMIipoligrafii_202203122022(1).pdf].

If we consider the structure of print publications registered in Russia in 2021, then 52% were newspapers. The largest number of newspapers registered in the Russian Book Chamber belongs to urban ones – 29.6%. The second category in terms of the number of titles is regional newspapers – 29.1% [Monitoring of the state of the print media and printing market. 2022 Access mode: https://www.mos.ru/upload/documents/files/8016/PrezentaciyamonitoringpechatnihSMIipoligrafii_202203122022(1).pdf.].

Despite the active development of technology, social networks and messengers, interest in print media remains high. Although the circulation of European and American newspapers has been steadily declining for almost 20 years ^{[17, p. 5]}, by the end of 2022, the index of trust in the press in Russia not only increased, but also an increase in the audience was noticed in several segments at once. Thus, the average audience of one issue of a daily newspaper increased by 6%, and monthly magazines – by 15% [The interest of a young audience in print publications increased in 2022. Access mode: https://www.akarussia.ru/press_centre/news/id10317 ]. It should be noted that during economic crises, information and ideological wars, as well as armed conflicts, the degree of trust in the print media usually increases.

Despite the fact that the circulation and audience of publications have grown slightly, print media, especially regional Russian publications, are finding it increasingly difficult to adapt to the conditions of the digital environment. Many regional newspapers are experiencing difficulties with the transition to digital platforms. Today, the websites of many newspapers are either a copy of the printed version (Nasha Gazeta, Yekaterinburg), or a rarely updated information resource (Maloyaroslavetsky Krai, Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga Region). Only rare regional media have been able to adapt to the existence of the Internet environment. This experience can be considered unique.

In addition, in Russian regions, paper media is still valued more than electronic media, and the print first approach dominates, rather than digital first ^{[8, p. 44]}. In many European countries, for example, in the UK, the electronic version of the newspaper is considered the main one, and the printed version is considered an additional one. This approach is also called Web first ("Internet first") ^{[11, p. 197]}.

A classic example that can illustrate the above is the website of the newspaper Nasha Gazeta (Yekaterinburg). The resource was launched in 2004 and has been a complete copy of the newspaper for 8 years. It was only at the end of 2012 that journalists began to create separate content for the site, to involve newspapermen to create original materials ^{[4, p. 80]}.

At the same time, quite often it is the local print media that remains almost the only resource that provides residents with information about local events and decisions of the authorities ^{[10, p. 184]}.

In this article, using the example of several newspapers from different regions of Russia, we will look at how the local press copes with the challenges of digitalization.

Research materials and methods

The research is based on interviews conducted by the authors during 2021-2023 with the heads of Russian regional newspapers. The editors were asked questions related to the existence of the press in a convergent environment, and the peculiarities of the editorial policy of publications.

During the study, the authors also analyzed the Internet sites of newspapers, their pages on social networks and messengers. The frequency of updating the material, the originality of the published content, as well as the design of the resources were taken into account.

The main problems of the Russian regional press

Despite the fact that at the beginning of the XXI century there was a strengthening of the position of regional journalism ^{[7, p. 5]}, regional publications face a lot of problems. One of the main ones is the lack of funding. Advertising revenues make up no more than 30% of total earnings ^{[5, p. 36]}. Nevertheless, problems with financing often give rise to teams of enthusiastic journalists who are "burning" with their work, completely immersed in the profession.

As a rule, local publications are financed from the city or regional budget, since many newspapers belong to government structures – city administrations and City Councils. And, as a rule, whoever finances the media controls its content policy and forms the news agenda ^[15]. This can be considered direct pressure on the regional press from the state apparatus ^{[2, p. 14],[13, p. 158]}.

An example of such influence is the government assignments that the Government of the Moscow Region annually approves for all 60 municipal newspapers in the region. In fact, these are materials that describe how and to what extent editorial offices should cover the implementation of federal and regional programs at the local level. The state task includes working out mandatory topics, mentioning specific officials and departments in the materials, and creating certain headings. The volume of the state task is calculated according to a special formula, which takes into account the number of electorate in the city district, the number of pages, the frequency of publication of the newspaper, etc.

Editorial offices receive a subsidy for fulfilling the state task. Serpukhov News (Serpukhov, Moscow Region), for example, in 2019 received financial support in the amount of 9.5 million rubles [Report on the expenditure of budget allocations for information support of the activities of the central executive body of state power of the Moscow Region and media support as of December 31, 2019].

Serpukhov News (SV) and Chekhov Segodnya (Chekhov, Moscow Region), like all municipal publications in the Moscow region, receive state assignments. Editorial offices try to present mandatory materials in an interesting way, so that they are attractive to the audience. At the same time, the regional leadership always monitors the quality and volume of government assignments. The coverage of the population of the Moscow region by periodical printed products devoted to the activities of state authorities of the region, the state of affairs in the Moscow region, the coverage coefficient; the number of copies of publications; the number of printed pages; the volume of circulation is taken into account [by Order of the GUIP MO dated 04/12/2017 No. 38. Access mode: http://www.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi ?from=256395-0&req=doc&rnd=AA9DBEF2A355D3886A46AFBE2543EE07&base=MOB&n=259987&stat=srcfld%3D134%26src%3D1000000001%26fld%3D134%26code%3D65535%26page%3Dinfo%26p%3D0%26base%3DMOB%26doc%3D256395#Cp3bauSPgkY80HhF].

For failure to fulfill the state task approved by the Government of the Moscow Region, the editorial staff of the publication may receive a harsh reprimand, and journalists may be left without bonuses.

When preparing texts, some municipal publications move to the level of press and post-releases, which suits the authorities. Journalists have no space left for creativity. Officials do not understand that it is necessary to publish high-profile materials in the newspaper, and not only texts-reports on the work of the administration. Therefore, one of the problems of regional media is the lack of exclusivity. The basis for media materials are press releases and reports from administration staff. The number of copyrighted materials is sometimes minimized, and there is no need to talk about the variety of content at all. The publication of identical materials in regional media makes it possible to quantitatively, but not qualitatively, increase the citation of the press services of regional ministries and representatives of relevant departments.

The audience of regional publications is aging along with newspapers. According to Mediascope, young people aged 16-24 have little interest in newspapers. The audience of the print press is middle–aged and older people [The audience of the print press. Access mode: https://www.akarussia.ru/files/docs/pechatnaya_pressa_2023.pdf ]. If we talk about the regional press, it is mainly read by people over 60 years old. But this age group does not consume the content that media post on Internet platforms and websites.

Another important problem of newspapers is the publication of news in the printed version with a delay. If the publication is published at least two or three times a week, then the delay is at best three days. When a newspaper is published, the event ceases to be relevant, even if it was relevant at the time the issue was put into print. For example, in April 2023, a month of landscaping was held in the Moscow region. The final clean-up days in the region took place on April 30, and the material about this event in the printed version of Chekhov Today was published only in the issue for May 5 [Chekhov Today. No. 17 (2487) dated 05.05.2023].

The transition of regional newspapers to online platforms

Print media are losing their audience. This is due to the fact that modern people are increasingly consuming information on digital media platforms ^{[4, p. 43]}. The development of technology forces newspapers, including regional ones, to look for new ways not only to earn money, but also to attract an audience. Going online is one way to survive.

Digital transformation is not only an inevitable step for newspapers, but also a trend of the 21st century. In Russia, as in the world, the patterns of content consumption by the audience are changing. There is a predominance of visual material over text, and opinion leaders are beginning to play a big role. In such conditions, editorial offices, including regional publications, according to Ilya Labunsky, founder of the online magazine Prospekt Mira (Krasnoyarsk), need to create a brand of the publication, involve their subscribers as much as possible, and create materials that would evoke emotions in readers. Another important factor is that the publication must understand its audience and its needs ["ALL RUSSIA-2022". Digital transformation of regional and municipal media: features and prospects in 2022. Access mode: https://ruj.ru/news/vsya-rossiya-2022-tsifrovaya-transformatsiya-regionalnykh-i-munitsipalnykh-smi-osobennosti-i-perspektivy-v-2022-godu-18573].

To attract an audience, the editorial board of The Guardian (UK) launched the Guardian Membership program in 2014. In fact, this is a club of supporters of the publication, which offers three levels of membership: from free to paid (60 pounds per month). Guardian Membership gives readers access to a range of newsletters, discounts and registration for events, editorial tours and other privileges [Guardian launches new three-tier membership scheme. Access mode: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/10/guardian-membership-scheme-patrons-kings-cross ].

The Swiss Stampen Media Group, in turn, has tested various types of business models for digital platforms. Two local daily newspapers owned by her, Hallands News (Hallands Nyheter, Falkenberg, Sweden) and Hallandsposten (Hallandsposten, Halmstad, Sweden), offered premium content for some time to attract and retain their audience. It mainly included local news. The new solution was launched in 2013, on the website of the publications, readers could choose whether they wanted to receive the newspaper in print or digital format. It was also possible to subscribe to both formats.

The processes of digitalization and convergence are a new stage in the development of the media. The media of different countries developed differently in changing conditions, this was facilitated by various factors: the peculiarities of the historical development of territories, the degree of Internet penetration, new information technologies, etc. In Russia, regional media are often at the first stages of convergence. There is a gap in the development of new technologies between federal and local media.

Russian federal and large foreign media companies had websites back in the 1990s. In 1994-1997, the Internet resources of Izvestia, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Kommersant, Guardian (The Guardian), Telegraph (The Telegraph, Great Britain), New York Times (The New York Times, New York-York, USA) and others ^{[4, p. 66]}.

The Swedish company Stampen Media Group, for example, began the digital transition in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1995, the website was launched gp.se Since then, the importance of the company's digital channels has grown steadily. The growth in the use of mobile phones accelerated the company's transition to digital technologies, now Stampen Media Group is the leader in the Swiss mobile technology market ^{[17, p. 23]}.

Of course, there are always exceptions to any rule. One of them is the Russian federal publication Top Secret. His website appeared only in 2014. The owners did not understand that the resource was, in fact, a new media outlet, and perceived the online version as a kind of supplement to a newspaper with a news feed. All funds were invested in the development of the newspaper.

Many Russian regional Russian newspapers had their own websites only in the 2010s. Serpukhov News, for example, had its first Internet resource launched only in 2013.

The editorial staff was engaged in the development of the design concept of the Serpukhov News publication, the creation of headings. The journalists had a task to keep the newspaper recognizable through the website. That is why the appearance of the resource, its content and categorization fully corresponded to the printed version.

The editorial office of the newspaper Chekhov Segodnya began the development of Internet technologies a little earlier - in 2007. It was then that the publication had its first website. The initiator of its creation was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Tatyana Evdokimova.

Websites for all municipal newspapers of the Moscow region on the principle of a "single person" were created in 2016 after the reform of municipal newspapers and portals of the region announced by former Vice-governor of the Moscow Region N.S. Virtuozova [Municipal Internet portals and newspapers of the Moscow region will be updated by the summer of 2017 at Virtuzov. Access mode: http://inpodolsk.ru/novosti/aktualno/municipalnye-internet-portaly-i-gazety-moskovskoy-oblasti-obnovyat-k-letu-2017-goda-virtuzova]. Then the Government of the region carried out a major reform of the municipal media, updated their Internet resources. Standard addresses were also selected for all newspapers: inserpuhov.ru (Serpukhov News), involokolamsk.ru ("Volokolamsk Region"), inshatura.ru ("Big Shatura"), inkrasnogorsk.ru (Krasnogorskie Vesti), etc.

The template was developed by a regional company – GAU MO "Agency of Public Information Systems "Moscow region" ("AIS "Moscow region"). This company also developed the Internet portal of the Government of the Moscow region, Social Protection Departments, portals of local governments, RIAMO city portals, resources "All about coronavirus", "Faces of Victory", "Winter in the Moscow region", "Summer in the Moscow region", etc.

In 2023, AIS Podmoskovye is engaged in technical support and maintenance of the websites of municipal newspapers of the Moscow region. Editorial offices only have the opportunity to carry out content creation activities for websites.

The same resources for all newspapers in the Moscow region is a serious problem. Publications do not differ from each other in any way, they cannot place ads on resources for additional income. In addition, Yandex services recognize websites as bots.

Nevertheless, such an experience is typical only for the Moscow region. Some publications, for example, the municipal socio-political newspaper Volna (Zelenogradsk, Kaliningrad region) has created an attractive interactive website volnanews.ru . The publication has a well-structured online resource that contains 8 headings, one of which is interactive. Among the unusual headings on the newspaper's website are "History", which contains archival photographs of Zelenogradsk, and "Guidebook", which shows all the sights of the city on the map. By the way, posting various services on websites, for example, posters, bus schedules, media galleries, city history, etc., is one of the ways to promote a resource on the Internet ^{[6, p. 55]}.

Although the Volna website cannot compete with large regional Internet resources, the publication is gaining a large number of views. In total, the views are comparable to the print runs of a newspaper. The editorial board understands that after some time the circulation of the printed version will decrease, so now the publication is developing its own online resource.

Content policy of regional media

The official website (or a page on the partner's website, which may be a local branch of the Union of Journalists or a municipality) It is considered one of the primary forms of the publication's presence on the Internet ^{[3, p. 6]}.

If we talk about the websites of newspapers in the Moscow region, they are not a complete copy of newspapers. Editorial offices create and post on the resource up to 25 news about the activities of city administrations, Councils of Deputies, municipal and specialized institutions.

The original content on the sites of the Moscow region media is about 80-90%. Publications do not duplicate all materials on Internet sites, since the newspaper format is very different from the online format. Large texts (from half to one page) are published on paper. Only some texts from newspapers appear on websites. Serpukhov News and Chekhov Today, for example, duplicate materials from the headings "People of the district" (about interesting people of the district) and "Retro stories" on the Internet.

According to a study by theorists of the Department of Periodicals of the Faculty of Journalism of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the vast majority of journalists of regional media are engaged in preparing publications specifically for the site ^{[8, p. 44]}. At the same time, employees of all ages, not only young people, are involved in the work on the Internet resource.

In the Moscow region press, as a rule, all journalists create content for Internet resources: in editorial offices there is no division into newspapermen and correspondents of websites. All products of the publications (newspaper, website, social networks) are the result of the collective work of the editorial staff.

The placement of materials on Internet resources in each newspaper of the Moscow region is handled by its own website editor. He publishes texts, tracks the views and attendance of the resource, and keeps statistics. At the same time, the site editor does not prepare and write texts: he does not have time for this. Part of the functionality of the editorial office's website is not available. If the site editor cannot perform the task set by the editor-in-chief on his own, then he makes a request to the technical service and the issue is resolved through the technical support of the site.

The subject matter of the materials posted in various sections of the sites is related to the life of cities. Journalists write on the topic of culture, security, education and housing and communal services. After conducting a content analysis of the materials published on the website of the Serpukhovskie Vesti newspaper, we came to the conclusion that most of the materials are news, some of them do not exceed one or two paragraphs. There are no reports and interviews on the site.

Separate blocks called "News of the Moscow region" are posted on the main pages of all municipal newspapers in the region. The news of the Moscow region is published in this section. The section is filled in by specialists of the GAU MO "Editorial and Information Center of the Moscow region" (RIC MO).

Maloyaroslavets Krai (Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga Region) is experiencing difficulties with maintaining its own website. The current resource was launched in 2019. Its content is handled by the advertising manager. The publication lacks the funds allocated by the City Duma, so the resource is not developing. The editorial board of the Maloyaroslavets Region does not duplicate materials from the printed version on the website.

The multimedia component on the websites of many regional media is poorly expressed. As a rule, the materials are accompanied by a photo, as well as a thematic link to regional government portals, for example, mosreg.ru .

In addition to news and other materials, regional newspapers and magazines sometimes post archives of printed issues on the site. All issues of the publications can be found on the Internet resources of municipal newspapers of the Moscow region. Access to them is absolutely free, as they are distributed for free. The paid distribution of regional newspapers subordinate to the Government of the Moscow Region was canceled in 2019. For the free distribution of printed versions, all publications are charged a certain amount, which is prescribed in the state assignment.

You can also find the archive on the website of the Kaluga Provincial Gazette newspaper (Kaluga, Kaluga region). But the Maloyaroslavetsky Krai edition, owned by the City Duma, does not publish PDF versions in open access. The printed newspaper is distributed by subscription and retail.

Development of social networks

Official websites are not the only platform through which regional publications can access the Internet. Publications also use groups and public pages on social networks, channels in messengers ^{[3, p. 6]}. The resources offer ready-made platforms and thus simplify access to the global network.

One of the key trends in journalism is the development of the social media space ^{[16, p. 107]}. However, if the federal media began to master social networks back in the 2010s, then regional media sometimes only look for possible ways to promote on platforms. The regional press has not yet learned how to build a competent content policy on the Internet. Today, almost all local publications have their own websites and social media groups, but they are not interesting to the audience, do not bring additional profit and do not have a variety of attractive content.

Kaluga Provincial Vedomosti actively maintains social networks. The audience of the periodical is becoming more extensive every year. In 2023, the newspaper is actively developing a VK group and a Telegram channel, where it mainly publishes news content. According to the editorial board, the warmest relations with readers were formed in the OK group. Kaluga Provincial Vedomosti gathered a fairly active and loyal audience in Odnoklassniki, by the way, various practical jokes take place there.

In the Moscow region, municipal newspapers are also engaged in the development of social platforms. According to the leadership of the region, a modern publication cannot live without the Internet, so the editorial offices near Moscow have created accounts on social networks. At the moment, there are more than 300 pages [Virtuozova thanked the journalists of the municipal newspapers of the Moscow region for their good work. Access mode: https://bbnews.ru/virtuozova-poblagodarila-zhurnalistov-munitsipalnyih-gazet-moskovskoy-oblasti-za-horoshuyu-rabotu].

In 2023, the Moscow region media has pages on all social networks. As a rule, VK groups and Telegram channels are the most active. Groups in OK are not gaining subscribers so fast. Anastasia Danshina, editor-in-chief of Serpukhov News, believes that the slow growth of the audience in Odnoklassniki is due to the fact that this social network is not a news resource and is more intended for publishing entertainment content and communication.

By the way, Serpukhov News, like many other regional media, uses groups as a bulletin board for its materials. The editors do not pay attention to the format of the sites. Experts note [How the media work with social networks. Access mode: https://www.sostav.ru/publication/v-chem-uspekh-lenty-ru-ili-smm-instrumenty-dlya-smi-11277.html ], that different social networks need their own way of presenting the material.

But the content for different online platforms of the publication is prepared in different ways. Serpukhov News duplicates texts in different social networks. The editorial board tries to prepare universal news that would be suitable for all sites. Chekhov Today, on the contrary, creates unique content for each social network. Texts are duplicated only in VK and Odnoklassniki.

Newspapers are no longer relevant in the news format, and not only news sites, but also various Telegram channels are taking the palm of the championship in delivering news to the end consumer. The messenger is also actively growing in the media markets of foreign countries, becoming an alternative for a number of other platforms ^{[18, p. 11]}.

Messenger channels for all municipal publications of the Moscow region were created in 2021 [Virtuozova thanked the journalists of municipal newspapers of the Moscow region for their good work. Access mode: https://bbnews.ru/virtuozova-poblagodarila-zhurnalistov-munitsipalnyih-gazet-moskovskoy-oblasti-za-horoshuyu-rabotu]. At that time, journalists were engaged in Telegram channels on a residual basis, but already in 2022, messenger became one of the main platforms for the dissemination of information.

Each municipal newspaper in the Moscow region has its own concept for the development of the platform. Serpukhov News, for example, posts up to 20 posts. Materials published on the platform are duplicated, including in Odnoklassniki and VK. Chekhov Today creates texts for Telegram separately. There is a policy in the editorial office: do not publish photos separately from the text, so the number of characters is limited to only 1000. The Telegram channel is considered the most promising social network in the editorial office of the Chekhov newspaper. It can especially help the publication attract a youth audience. Employees run the channel on the principle of "fast, now, solid tape" and publish 15-20 news a day. On Victory Day, May 9, 2022, for example, journalists marked up 40 posts from the event site at once.

In Chekhov Today, each social network is assigned to a certain employee who independently adapts texts to his platform. "The task of someone who runs a specific social network is to take the original content and adapt it to their platform," said Yulia Grigorieva, deputy editor–in–chief of the publication.

For this reason, the texts on online platforms are very different from the texts on the site. If the Internet resource inchehov.ru If it requires a more formal approach when writing texts (headline, lead, news body, background), then the editorial office does not build the inverted triangle familiar to journalistic texts on social networks. The Telegram channel, for example, uses a playful form of information presentation, newspaper specialists ask readers questions, publish surveys.

Social networks have become for Chekhov Today not only a platform for publishing content, but also a place to interact with readers. Many subscribers send informational reasons to the groups' private messages. Of course, messages do not come every day, the editorial office receives up to six information guides a week.

However, not all Russian regional newspapers operate on this principle. In the newspaper "Maloyaroslavetsky Krai", for example, there is no special person who would only be engaged in filling and developing groups in VK and Telegram. The editorial advertising manager does this work for a small additional fee. The employee adapts newspaper materials to the specified sites.

YouTube and RuTube channels are atypical for newspapers, especially regional ones. Some publications, for example, Serpukhov News, are just thinking about creating pages on these resources. The editorial board has not yet formed an idea of how "SV" can be placed on platforms. One of the ideas is to collect enough video material to start with and immediately upload it to the channel.

Employees of the newspaper Chekhov Segodnya, on the contrary, actively develop communities on YouTube and RuTube, post one or two videos on channels on weekdays. These are usually short videos lasting no more than five minutes. Nevertheless, you can occasionally see longer videos on the channels – up to 15 minutes. Among the published videos are reportage sketches from city events, interviews and even full–fledged plots with voiceover.

In the editorial office of the Chekhov edition there is an operator who is engaged in shooting content, two employees are engaged in editing. Each correspondent can not only write a text, but also take photos, shoot and edit a short video.

SCAPP: an atypical example of the development of a regional magazine

The examples of the Russian regional press discussed above indicate that the publication sites appeared quite late, and some of them are rarely updated today, or are copies of printed versions. If the publication is funded by municipal or regional authorities, then a number of requirements are imposed on the editorial offices, which they must take into account when preparing materials.

Nevertheless, there are atypical examples of the development of the Russian regional press. In our opinion, one of them is the private Sochi magazine SCAPP (Sochi, Krasnodar Territory). In 2012, a small poster appeared in Sochi, which collected interesting events from the life of the city. A year later, in 2013, an application for smartphones was created, which became the predecessor of the magazine's website. The Internet resource "SCAPP" was launched in October 2013, and in December 2016, the first issue of the print edition was published.

The publication's website consists of several headings. The interest is attracted by the "News", where journalists talk about the most significant events of the cultural and social life of the city.

SCAPP tries to implement advanced technologies. In 2021, for example, the editorial board created several covers with augmented reality. When pointing the smartphone camera at the page, it "came to life": a video or a 3D object appeared.

Sochi's SCAPP, unlike a number of the media mentioned above, is actively engaged in social networks. The main platform for the magazine is VK. The journalists plan to develop the Telegram channel. The editorial board wants the content in the messenger to be noticeably different from what is currently posted on other social networks.

Since the magazine is private, it exists largely on the income from native advertising, which appears in many sections and headings of the site. Resorts are buying a large number of advertising integrations from the publication. The editorial office also cooperates with local restaurants and hotels.

Sochi's SCAPP keeps up with the times, however, like most other periodicals in Russia, including independent ones, it is experiencing funding problems. The creator of the project Roman Kuznetsov is trying to find a way out of this situation and attract additional funds. The magazine may soon introduce a paid subscription to the print version.

Conclusions

The regional press plays an important role in shaping the urban media space ^{[12, p. 4]}. The proximity of regional media to the reader is one of the main features. In this regard, local media become involved in the life of the city [Abrosimova, p. 13].

Regional newspapers are vital for the districts. They are not only an effective communication channel, but also an important social institution ^{[9, p. 40]}. The newspaper actually forms public opinion and is a conductor of official information. According to the Association of Public Broadcasting of Australia (CBAA), the loss of regional newspapers will lead to important problems on the ground going unnoticed ^{[20, p. 27]}.

In order to attract the widest possible number of subscribers and generally active consumers of information products, the content of regional media should be exclusive, prompt, reliable, dialogical (providing different points of view), as well as multimedia ^{[19, p. 49]}.

Unfortunately, the Internet resources of Russian regional print media do not always meet these criteria. Publications are experiencing difficulties with the transition to online platforms. Nevertheless, many media managers understand that the Internet will not be able to completely displace the print media market (Smirnova Print, p. 30). Digitalization does not mean death for traditional media, it is rather a new opportunity to conquer "territories", attract an audience, and implement new tasks.

However, the development of local publications is hampered by the policies of government agencies that put pressure on editorial offices. Officials do not understand the specifics of journalistic work. About some Russian regions, it can already be said that there is no real journalism in them.

Only some regional publications manage to cope with existing problems, find sources of funding and attract a new audience.

Employees of the Zelenograd "Wave" strive to create interesting multimedia content, add interactivity. Kaluga Provincial Vedomosti, despite its complete dependence on the regional administration, tries to diversify its own content, actively conducts social networks and touches on the "painful" topics of the region's residents.

Another positive example of a multimedia editorial office is the newspaper Kurskaya Pravda (Kursk). In 2019, QR codes appeared in the printed version of the publication. By scanning them, readers can get acquainted with multimedia content: photo essays, videos, etc. [Official website of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications. Access mode: https://arhive .fapmc.gov.ru/ros-pechat/activities/reports/2020/pechat3.html].

 Lyubertsy Panorama (Lyubertsy, Moscow region) It is also actively developing along the path of media convergence. Along with the template site inlubertsy.ru the publication develops the "Urban Infolubertsy website" (infolyubertsy.ru ) and Radio Lyubertsy Region (radiolubreg.ru ). By the way, the portal "Infolubertsy" is considered one of the leaders in the formation of a news stream about the life of Lyubertsy.

Despite all the difficulties that Russian regional print media are experiencing today, newspapers will remain the main source of information in the regions for many years to come. According to Anastasia Danshina, editor-in-chief of Serpukhov News, "the newspaper will live for a while. The website and social networks are good, but no one canceled the newspaper. Bury the paper carrier early."