Media Image as an Object of Scientific Reflection:an Overview of Russian and Foreign Research

The article deals with an overview of Russian and foreign publications devoted to the media image. It summarizes the basis of a given phenomena which was described in major works of modern linguists. The topical issues are related to the origin, specific features, formation factors, functions and research methods. Territory (countries, regions) and personality (heads of the states, politicians, historical personalities) are revealed as the main groups connected with presenting the image in mass media. It is concluded that nowadays the study of media image is in the focus of many fields and a phenomena itself becomes more perspective from linguistic analysis view