PODCAST PHENOMENON IN THE SYSTEM OF INTERCULTURAL AND SOCIAL-POLITICAL EVENTS’ REPRESENTATION

Abstract

This article analyzes the podcast as a research subject of modern political and sociological science. The purpose of the work is to consider podcasting through the prism of the thematic nature and groups of texts (mainly socio-cultural and political), their narrative structure, functions in public communication of the digital media environment, and other significant aspects. The methodology of the research is focused on the typological analysis of the functional and content characteristics of the podcast as a polycode formation in terms of matching the choice of the current format (podcast-monologue, podcast-conversation, podcast-series, etc.), topics, issues, rhetorical techniques, markers of attracting attention. A conclusion is made about the specifics and prospects of podcasting development, and a general algorithm for analyzing the podcast as a cultural and socio-political phenomenon is proposed, taking into account significant “markers”. It was also concluded that the development of the podcast sphere in the world indicates the high socio-cultural significance of this phenomenon of Internet communication and the need for its comprehensive understanding at the levels of political and sociological analysis. The field of application of the results is political theory, sociology, cultural studies, history, and journalism. The analysis of podcasts allows us to identify the features of their functioning as social phenomena. First of all, this is a high level of the author’s response to events, which is reflected directly on the air and can be determined through the topics and issues of the publication’s information policy. There is also a saturation of the podcast content with a variety of opinions. The main “body” of the media product is formed by expert opinions in the formats of conversation, commentary, and interviews, which include so-called “situational elements” in the media texts: letters, quotes, audience comments, questions, and even life hacks. There is a management of the attention of consumers of information with the help of accuracy, relevance in the choice of a particular topic by podcasters (podcasts act “point-by-point”). It is due to this effect that consumer activity is not only retained, but also increases, and audience interests grow in the process of conscious, rather than random, work with certain audience “layers”. We can say that a podcast is a kind of socio-cultural and political strategy, which is based on a situational choice of the subject of discussion with certain accents