Mass media of Poltava region about LGBT discourse

Abstract

The practice of functioning of regional mass media in Ukraine confirms the unwillingness of some of them to cover topics related to the LGBT community according to the professional standards of journalistic activity. This problem has not been the subject of scientific research yet, which explains the relevance of the proposed scientific article.
The purpose of the proposed article is to study the readiness of journalists of Poltava’s mass media to highlight the theme of LGBT community and respond to the manifestations of intolerant behavior regarding LGBT representatives in society; to investigate the desire of journalists to work with NGO’s such as Tochka opory, Insight and TERGO.
The purpose of the article determines to solve a number of tasks: to find out the opinion of Poltava journalists on key issues related to the highliting the theme of LGBT community in Ukrainian mass media; to indicate the main tasks of regional media in forming a tolerant attitude towards representatives of LGBT.
Research methods. To accomplish the tasks, the author of the article used the following methods: analytical, system and comparative analysis, which helped to clarify the specificity of the presentation of the topics related to the LGBT community in the mass media of Poltava; a method of content analysis, which made it possible to reveal the readiness of journalists of specific mass media of Poltava region to cover the theme of the life of the LGBT community.
Poltava journalists among the main reasons for the unpopularity of the topic of LGBT named the following ones: the novelty of the subject for the Ukrainian information space; the lack of a clear idea about professional standards for writing texts about the LGBT community; unwillingness of the society to perceive information on the subject of LGBT; fear of losing an audience; this topic is not so relevant to the public as economic or social issues.
The aforementioned problem of LGBT discursivity in mass media environment of Poltava region requires further research, whereas precedents for an aggression to LGBT that took place in March-April 2018 in Poltava, affirmed the importance of such content in regional mass media. The coverage of LGBT themes in regional mass media will dispel the myths that exist in society, will contribute to the formation of a tolerant attitude towards representatives of the LGBT community.