The authors of sociological articles in Cinema Art journal have managed to identify the main trends characteristic of the 21st century through a thorough analysis of the film process: -the system of state support for film production in Russia began to have a negative impact on the situation with film distribution: the Ministry of Culture's financing of only the end result - film production - was reduced to a control and regulatory process, to the implementation of an economic function in the interests of a narrow circle of film producers, who make money from (almost) gratuitous state financial support in the film production process; producers do not care at all about the artistic quality or the distribution fate of the films; -the Russian media's reliance on sensationalism, scandals, crime, vulgarity, etc. (in the pursuit of audience ratings) is palpable; -a content analysis of stories from highly-rated media formats allows us to identify the following system of content attitudes for the perception of media texts: the danger and aggressiveness of the surrounding world; the need to live for today; the sphere of a person's private life becomes a material that can arouse enormous interest in the mass audience, etc; -at the same time, the demand of a significant part of the mass audience for the producers of media texts is different: show us society in such a way that we would like to live in it; -Russia (almost) does not have an artistically trained audience, so entertainment media texts predominate; -the media not only inform, educate, and entertain; the media are a powerful tool for shaping millions of people's tastes, social samples, patterns, feelings, attitudes, ideology, and so on, and ultimately, national consciousness; -the majority of Russian television viewers today make up approximately two-thirds of the urban population and unite older, less educated groups (this is the most numerous and permanent audience, dependent on television in terms of information, values, ideology) and relatively younger contingents, peripheral in the volume and nature of resources, in the type of orientations. They are characterized by a relatively low level of education, a small amount of their own financial resources, because of the dependence on more accessible and cheaper television; -against this background there is an increase in the volume and projects of television series production, including Russian online platforms; this production is largely subject to the following stereotypes: characters' feelings are presented in close-up, without half-tones; key scenes contain suspense; the intrigue is tense and based on fairy-folklore stories; socio-cultural and historical, patriotic significance of the theme; -Russian viewers' trust in these kinds of media texts is caused by their desire to return: from the disunity of recent years to unity, to the values of kindness and mutual assistance; from individual success to that "common" that continues the work of fathers and grandfathers; from the feeling of Russia's "second-rate" to its paramountcy, to the multiplication of its wealth; -against this background, the Internet has significantly transformed the media: a substantial segment of the youth audience has formed, which (almost) has no contact with television, but is in the field of social networks and other products of modern information technology; the most active representatives of this audience become the authors of media texts, many of which, being very successful, attract advertisers.
