CULTURAL EDUCATION AS A KEY SOCIAL FUNCTION OF TELEVISION

This article discusses the cultural and educational function as one of the key social functions of television in terms of maintaining its status as one of the main mass communication media in Russia. While studying of the practical implementation of the cultural and educational function, we introduce a typology of cultural and educational TV programs. It includes informational (cultural news), analytical (interpretation of cultural events and phenomena), with an entertainment component (programs which include elements of the TV show so as to attract a wider audience to cultural topics) and mixed (combining features of other types of programs) programs. We describe examples of programs of each type on modern Russian television, their characteristics, and assess their role in the implementation of cultural education as a social function of television. Typological and descriptiveanalytical methods were used, as well as the method of content analysis.