ИСТИНА

The considerable decline in revenue in recent years has put many local media outlets at risk of closure. Under these conditions, the most active local media have started to search for opportunities to widen their audience. In Russia, for instance, many journalists got involved in social projects. Despite the widespread concepts of “public journalism”, “social journalism”, “citizens' or participatory journalism'', social projects implemented by the local media remain insufficiently studied. The current research, which is conducted at the Faculty of Journalism of Lomonosov Moscow State University, examines the phenomenon of journalists’ participation in the solution of social problems. The study focuses on the qualitative analysis of 126 social projects by 65 Russian local media from 36 regions of Russia. The findings showed that 75 per cent of the explored social projects were realized owing to the active participation of citizens. Such a collaborative approach to the solution of social problems can essentially help overcome social apathy caused by people’s uncertainty about their future, which is a trait of post-authoritarian societies.