Media functions: evolution and interpretation of concepts

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the approaches of various humanities and social sciences to the definition and interpretation of the concepts of "journalism functions", "media functions", "media discourse functions", as well as consideration of the factors of their transformation in different historical periods. An activity-based approach is used in order to correlate the concepts of the type of activity, type of creativity, purpose, mission, and functions of modern mass media. In this paper, we propose to identify the following key approaches in the analysis of modern media that do not have spatial boundaries (philosophical, cultural, political, psychological, sociological and philological), allowing a multifaceted approach to the characterization of media as an integral object, complex in its structure and functionality, to expand understanding of the role of the media in a multipolar world and the values split. In this study, in addition to the comparison method, structural-functional, sociological, cultural and philological approaches were used. The scientific novelty of the article is the identification of the expanded functions of the media in modern society, where traditional roles are complemented by cognitive, adaptive and semantic aspects. The research focuses on the changing importance of the media in the context of digital transformation, globalization and information wars, emphasizing their role in the formation of meanings, social values and management of social processes. The media, in turn, perform many functions, including informational, ideological, cultural, communicative and cognitive. Their role varies depending on socio-historical conditions, having both positive and negative effects on society. In the context of modern challenges, it is of particular importance not only to combat "fakes" and disinformation, but also to form new social values.