Siberian professional magazine for journalists Mediator/Tomskiy Mediator (2000–2022): History of creation, specifics of content and design
Authors:   Tomsk State University, Zhilyakova Nataliia V. 
Published: September 2024

The article analyzes the specifics of the professional magazine for journalists Mediator/Tomskiy Mediator, published in Tomsk since 2000. The magazine has been published for more than 20 years; it captured the formation and development of the local professional journalistic community, and acted as a platform for understanding professional identity, discussing the problems of the media industry. The aim of the article is a comprehensive analysis of the magazine Media-tor/Tomskiy Mediator (Tomsk, 2000-2022): its history, concept, content, problem-thematic spectrum. The following research methods were used: de visu, historical-typological method, frontal and complex analysis of the periodical. The first issue of Mediator was published in 2000; it formulated the concept of a new Tomsk edition: to be a magazine for journalists, “for our own people”, to honestly discuss emerging problems and share painful problems with colleagues. This attitude towards “convergence” determined the special tonality of the Mediator materials: confidential intonation and frankness in statements, sharpness of judgments, and self-irony. The founders of the magazine were journalists; they called on representatives of the media industry to unite, to improve the quality of journalistic texts. The article presents the main stages of the formation and development of the magazine; determines the design principles; reveals the problematic and thematic originality of publications that reflected the self-reflection of practicing journalists, contributed to the exchange of experience and professional growth of representatives of the media industry, and introduced the results of media research. Today, the materials published in Mediator provide an opportunity to obtain biographical data of Tomsk journalists, find out their point of view on the processes taking place in journalism, determine the specifics of the regional professional journalistic community. It can be said that in the 2000s-2010s the magazine took on the function of a “chronicler” of the media sphere: it is in demand now, when the time to comprehend the history of Tomsk journalism in recent decades has come. Mediator was an important factor in the consolidation of Tomsk journalists. This contributed to the formation of the “Tomsk media anomaly” in the 2000s, to the professional growth and establishment of intra-corporate ties that facilitate journalists' interaction. The scientific comprehension of the media, which was a characteristic feature of Mediator, allows referring to its articles as a source of accurate facts, analytical conclusions, and verified information. In addition, the magazine was a school of professional excellence for those who were interested in improving the quality of their journalistic writings. The evolution of the magazine in the 2020s was associated with the strengthening of its informative component and the emphasis on coverage of events organized by the Tomsk branch of the Union of Journalists. However, even today Mediator is the only professional magazine for journalists in Siberia, a platform for dialogue and self-reflection of the regional media community. The author declares no conflicts of interests.