The phenomenon of value conflict in the mass media space

Gurushkin Pavel Yurievich PhD in Politics Associate Professor, Department of Mass Communications Management, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg region, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya str., 7-9 gurupavel@ya.ru Other publications by this author     Labush Nikolai Sergeevich Doctor of Politics Professor, Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya str., 7-9 n.labush@spbu.ru Nikonov Sergey Borisovich ORCID: 0000-0002-8340-1541 Doctor of Politics Professor, Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya str., 7-9 s.nikonov@spbu.ru

Puyu Anatoly Stepanovich ORCID: 0000-0002-1220-4217 Doctor of Sociology Professor, Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya str., 7-9 a.puju@spbu.ru

Society has always been characterized by contradictions arising on this or that issue, the political field has become a new battlefield. Politics itself presupposes different positions and their clash. And if earlier the political activity of citizens was a kind of democratic conquest, a new stage, gained value, then gradually (with the expansion of the possibilities of mediatization), the political conflict began to play a separate, independent role. Of course, this role has gained scale – when it comes to a network society.

Modern media discourse is woven from various kinds of political fabric, including in terms of political contradictions, their coverage, engagement of media sources, etc. This has always been inherent in public discussions, and now – with the current level of technology development – all this has acquired the status of a supergeometric progression, besides, everything becomes known momentarily and everywhere, begins to live "its own life", that is, a political conflict can develop in several planes: in reality, in the mass media (mass media), in social media and, ultimately, in the minds and minds of the audience representatives.

The purpose of the study is to determine the role and place of media in the processes of managing political and value conflict in modern society.

Tasks:

- to consider the phenomenon of conflict in the context of global mediatization processes;

- to reveal the nature of the concept of mass media space and its role in political and value conflicts;

- to determine the role of the media in the transformation of social contradictions into political conflicts.

The theoretical and practical significance of the study lies in the fact that it substantiates the need to revise classical approaches to the consideration of such categories as: information war, political and value conflict in the media space.

Research methods:

The research uses activity-based, axiological and systematic approaches that allow us to penetrate into the essence of the phenomenon of the mass media space and trace the transformation of values in it that are the subject of conflict relations.

The permanently rapid saturation (and even oversaturation) of society with information, the spread of advanced information technologies that affect all human life processes (politics as one of the significant ones), the opportunity to take an active part in these issues themselves (or the illusion of it), leads to an aggravation of the problem of effective use of information (media) resources. And also to the question of their concentration in certain hands, that is, the obviously uneven distribution of new means of production (information and political content), which is a consequence of a kind of digital capitalism, that is, inequality, leading to the possession of an information advantage.

Baichik A.V. writes: "One of the features of all types of social conflict is expressed in the fact that the management of conflict processes always takes place in conditions of not only incomplete, but also deliberately distorted information. The information society also generates new types of conflicts, among which, first of all, it is advisable to highlight the conflict between actual and necessary information, between information abilities and information needs" ^{[2, 99]}. In this regard, the study of the phenomenon of political conflict itself, and in particular its media reflection in terms of values, seems timeless in importance and relevance. It is necessary to study the mediatization of the political (ideological, ideological, ideological, etc.) conflict, which through mass communication has an impact on the system of public relations.

Political conflict can also be discussed as a civilizational achievement – a mechanism for the development of a (political, civil) system, overcoming stagnation, an indicator of the presence of competition in the political field and its sublimation into confrontation between groups of political actors, public figures or the population (while we are not talking about violent methods of conducting political struggle). It is also quite reasonable to assume that all sorts of contradictions of the modern information society lead it to a state where conflict is present on a permanent basis, and the political emphasis only highlights the necessary facets.

The question of the positive functions of conflicts and the opinion about their need for social development find both supporters and opponents. Nevertheless, modern conflictology directly suggests that the constructive element of a political conflict displaces its destructive component in terms of effect. Contradictions in the information space also allow the actor to reveal his capabilities, get emotional release, learn more about the opponent, get an impulse for development and self-improvement. In the modern information and digital environment, these processes can be significantly accelerated without losing a strong constructive (as well as destructive) effect.

Nevertheless, political struggle or political activity does not boil down to conflict, especially since political conflict is ideally a controlled process that can and should be managed, it is a tool, but very effective in the arsenal of forces fighting (or pretending to fight) for power and the votes of the electorate or producing a kind of value expansion for one purpose or another. And this, perhaps even to a greater extent, is a kind of "heating up" of the conflict. Especially in the framework of electoral "pre–production" (the stage of presenting a political program and explaining the rejection of the program of a political opponent or ideological competitor).

"The presence of contradictions does not automatically lead to conflict, but the modern information environment accelerates the process of transformation of contradictions into conflict" ^{[2, 117]}. Explication of contradiction in society through conflict allows not only to formalize the concept, but also to explore social changes associated with social contradictions. Therefore, it is quite natural that a relatively new phenomenon appears in the study of conflict management – CR (conflict relations).  

Conflict in the research plan can be considered as a value (in itself) and as a conflict about values (irreconcilable – in principle).

With regard to the "information support" of a political conflict, the channels and scales of its course and promotion, it is important to distinguish between the concepts: "mediatization", "mass media", "mass media space" ("media space"). All these concepts are related to information, which as a phenomenon becomes the dominant factor in the development of public relations.  "Information", "media" and "mass media" spaces, in turn, also have their own specifics and features.  

New types of information and forms of communication, new ways of transmitting (exchanging) information and carrying out communication, powerful informatization and digitalization of all spheres of public life raise the question of different spatial organization of information. Modern spatial organization is a multidimensional system where hierarchical relationships determine the interdependence of elements. The information space is the primary element that "reflects reality in human consciousness through a symbolic system and forms a semantic and value foundation in the process of reflection."

The information space is a conceptual space in which any information is created, moved and consumed, the nature of which is rooted in a material substance. Linking the entire surrounding reality, it arises in addition to the subject ^{[9, 127]}.

The category "information space" refers to the philosophical understanding of the fullness of the material world with information as a property of matter and therefore it is advisable to interpret the phenomenon in a broad sense. In relation to the broad meaning, it is advisable to apply a narrow understanding of the information space, characterizing the use of information transmission media, social information, starting with signs, sounds and ending with modern media capabilities. In this sense, the information space is considered as a sphere of relations between people and communities about information. Therefore, the concept of "information" is used here in a functional sense, implying an alienated information product circulating in society.

Media and mass media spaces make up the information space. The media space is a new qualitative state of the information space, which is associated with the abundance of information and communication media in society (transition to a post–industrial society). This is a space in which information circulates based on the use of technical means of transmission. And the information of such a space is intended both for a specialized audience with appropriate content, and for the mass. The media space is created by all means working with information, communication (transmission of information) in society takes place on the basis of all means, that is, media communication takes place. "What is inherently anthropogenic in the spatial organization of information is more precisely defined as a media space" ^{[2, 111]}.

The mass media space is saturated with information of a mass nature (important for the community). The sources of information in it are the media, consumers are the mass audience. The mass media space has the property of universality, since various fields of social activity find in it a means of realizing their intentions, but at the same time, in its technological characteristics, it has a national-specific coloring, expressed in the ways of creating (searching), processing, distributing and storing information ^{[6, 122]}.

The appeal to the spatial coordinates of information allows us to analyze the possibilities of mass media to be both a subject and an object of political changes in society, to trace through temporal and spatial parameters the nature and orientation of the value priorities of social development.

As for the frequent synonymy of the use of the concepts of "media space" or "media space", it seems that the formulation "mass media" more accurately conveys the specifics of this phenomenon, which is important in the scientific study of the phenomenon, allows you to rely on empirical material of professional media. The media space includes the mass media space and is filled with all kinds and types of information produced by all types of media. The mass media space is created exclusively by mass media intended for a wide audience. At the same time, the reports of journalists from a "wide audience" have quite a lot of power, since the media are perceived by many as informed and unbiased sources. Interaction with the press is an effective form of communication ^{[3, 65]}.

The processes taking place in the media space are characterized by such features as "generatability, fullness, changeability of subjectivity, mediatization, mediation and conflictogenicity."

The mass media space, thanks to new media, largely has the characteristic of virtuality. Thanks to new media in the mass media space, the mass producer of information, and not only the consumer, becomes a participant in the communication process. Virtual communication, along with the destruction of spatial barriers to the dissemination of information, has removed obstacles to the spread of opposing and antagonistic values, but not touching, and therefore not previously conflicting value systems. The mass media space was created by man, it has a strong impact on his consciousness, will and actions.

The attitude to the information space as a structural organization makes it possible to identify such elements as the information field, information flows, information environment, information system, information resources. These same elements stand out both in the media and in the mass media space.

The media acted as a factor in the transformation of contradictions that were resolved through conflict clashes or minimized by passing into other forms, solving the issue of the causal relationship of contradictions and conflicts and especially conclusions about the positive role of conflicts required the inclusion of a study of the mass media space - the form of organization of information that is created by the media, the environment in which it takes place deployment of the conflict process ^{[4, 231]}.

The appeal to the mass media space is caused by the need to isolate the information space formed by information media, on the other hand, by the importance of scientific understanding of the changes taking place in the sphere of action of mass media at different levels (channel, nature) and range (especially to accompany artificial or natural political contradictions, political conflictogenesis). These changes relate to the values of the political spectrum and conflict relations arising from the intensification (expansion) of contradictions.

The "value aspirations of political forces" are circulating (replicated) in the mass media space, thereby value orientation (attracting attention) is carried out both large and small social groups and individuals. But the media as such also perform their "part" here, and social media in particular. After all, as practice shows, all means (in the sense of media) are good for increasing political capital – traditional, new, mass media... In this sense, political discourse "puts on everything" to gain a competitive advantage and within the framework of conflict relations, the course of conflict.

Conclusion.

The struggle of values and their conflict is a reflection of the political process in the conditions of pluralism of political forces and democratic procedures. The special role of values in the political process stems from the fact that they act as significant social guidelines for the subject.

A political conflict can "grow out" of a clash not only on some issues on the agenda, but on a more conceptual level - the level of values, which, as it turns out, can "meet" in the virtual information space, also characterize and emphasize the diversity of society (norms, customs, traditions, etc.). Thus A certain ideological (civilizational, value-based) character may also be layered on the socio-political or socio-economic basis of the conflict.

The mass media space is the "official" environment of political conflict, the media act as a factor in the transformation of contradictions into conflict clashes or other forms. The media can be not only witnesses or broadcasters of the conflict, information intermediaries, but also subjects (consciously or not) of the conflict, its actors influencing the course of the conflict, its transition from stage to stage, "catalysts". "The media act as an instrument of value confrontation in social conflicts of different levels and forms" ^{[1, 177]}.

At the same time, it is necessary to understand and separate the media (impact on a wide impersonal audience of editorial offices) and the QMS (interaction of the audience with each other, targeted informing by the customer). Let's assume that some kind of conflictological "educational program" can take place through the media (in a more detached, balanced way). Moreover, the activity of the media is valuable in itself, since it is aimed, among other things, at broadcasting values, spreading a system of views on the world, society, and the political situation.

With the participation of the QMS, as a rule, programmable information occurs and, as a result, an aggravation of the conflict (atoms of the audience can communicate with each other, the mass audience is divided into factions and can be controlled and pushed to action). The mass media field serves as a platform for the presentation, transformation or growth of political positioning, presentation of the struggle of political views.

With regard to the completion (resolution of the conflict situation), changing its status, we can only talk about a certain phase of the process. In addition, such a category may not be considered completely valid. The conflict can be regarded as settled with the disappearance (liquidation) of one of the conflicting parties (if there were two of them). The nature and type of conflict, the level of conflict interaction are important, which can determine both the positions of journalists and the roles of the mass media.

A. V. Baichik believes that "The sum total of the possibilities of mass media influence on the course and outcome of a social, and even more so a value conflict, is their ability to acquire the status of a political entity capable of establishing its own political order and rules of conduct for participants in the conflict" ^{[2, 122]}.

As part of the conflict agenda, the media can chronicle events, mediate and make forecasts. They influence the formation of attitudes and behavioral patterns of social groups in conflict conditions, and have the potential to form stereotypes of constructive (or not) behavior.

The study of the mediatization of political conflict in a value-based way allows us to identify the features and patterns of formation of models of "conflict behavior" in the information field (participating and observing parties), the choice of motives, strategies and opportunities in the conflict, goals and ideas about the development of the conflict.