Network influencers in business and politics as gatekeepers of the media communication field

Abstract

The article traces the development of the theory of the influence of various factors on the choice of information by subjects who, in turn, have the rights and opportunities to offer selected information to a mass audience. Having received the name of gatekeeping theory in the mid-20th century, it expanded in its meanings and coverage of various positions in the field of media communications. In the course of the Internetization and mediatization of public space and with the advent of social networks in the 21st century, in addition to the term "gatekeeper", the concept of "influencer" arose with various interpretations, statuses of susceptibility to influence and their own influence. An overview of the classifications of influencers and their place in politics and the business environment in the modern period is given.

The article focuses on the problems of the transition of the gatekeeper-influencer from a neutral subject to a professionally and corporately oriented employee of the media structure and an autonomous newsmaker of the media field; from a subject attracting attention with opposition to a conductor of state interests.

The core of the article is an analysis of Telegram channels of the influencer pool (war correspondents-bloggers), the most popular during the special military operation (SVO), and the quantitative development of their resources is considered. Using the method of qualitative research – an expert focus group and based on the model of "ten principles of propaganda" by E. Morelli, an assessment is given of the level of their presence in the messages of war correspondents.

Conclusions are made about the change in the role of government officials from a controller and observer to a full-fledged participant in the media process; about the conditions for effective autonomous influence in the media environment; substantive theses of Telegram channel messages during the SVO period that attract the attention of consumers; the grounds for the audience's trust in the authors of military-political Telegram channels.