Mechanism of State Support for Mass Media (Experience of Irkutsk Region)

One of the methods of state financial support of mass media is their distribution of materials on the activities of government bodies on a commercial basis. On the one hand, this is a significant component of the media budget revenues, on the other hand, it is a satisfaction of the needs of government bodies in the mediatization of their activities. The purpose of the article is to describe the methods of implementing state support for the mass media and the experience of Irkutsk region. The article describes the experience of government bodies of Irkutsk region (primarily the Legislative Assembly) in interacting with the media in information and financial aspects. In the scientific journalistic space, there are critically few works related to the economic aspect of the media, even fewer (units) scientific texts devoted to the practice of regions in organizing work on financial support for regional media systems. It is stated that in order to improve the effectiveness of covering the activities of government bodies in the Irkutsk region, it is necessary to change the approach to regulating this area in the region. It is proposed, in addition to the auction mechanism in accordance with Federal Law No. 44-FZ "On the contract system in the sphere of procurement of goods, works, services for ensuring state and municipal needs", due to the specifics of the media product for covering the activities of government bodies, to conclude agreements on the provision of grants. The advantages of the grant system over traditional auctions: targeted financing, flexibility, reduction of bureaucracy, stimulation of development, support of the non-profit sector, transparency and reporting, development of competition.