On types of cultural markers of national worldview in Russian regional media discourse

Regional online media are an integral part of the national media system. They inform people, try to persuade them, make an influence on the public opinion, thus, playing an important role in shaping the news agenda and worldview of the region. Media texts of the Russian regional media discourse contain socio-cultural units, the study of which is a relevant area of research, since it can contribute to understanding the worldview of the Russian people. The cultureme is a cultural semantic unit and an exponent of linguistic consciousness in media discourse. The aim of the study is to analyze the features of culturemes functioning in media texts of Russian regional media. To achieve the aim of the study, the following tasks were set: 1) to identify culturemes in discourse and identify the meanings they convey; 2) to propose a grouping of culturemes; and 3) to study the contexts of their functioning. The research material includes media texts of The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) Rossiya 1 – Vesti Local Time for the Central, Volga and Northwestern Federal Districts, namely: Vesti Lipetsk, Vesti Nizhny Novgorod, Vesti Kaliningrad, published between January 2024 and July 2025. The methods of contextual, thematic and content analysis were used to systematize and analyze culturemes. The analyzed media texts, characterized by a predominance of socioeconomic contexts, reflect both regional and national cultural characteristics, the cultural tenets of Russian society. Precedent-based and associative culturemes, as well as those expressing traditions and everyday life, were identified as markers of public consciousness. Russian regional media discourse is dynamic. Analysis of the culturemes contained within it allows us to create a "portrait" of the reading audience–which largely consists of middle-aged and older people–and to learn more about their everyday life, traditions, and historical past. Decoding the meanings embedded in the culturemes reveals the importance of traditional values and the significance of the Soviet period for Russian society. Numerous references to the events of the Great Patriotic War in regional media attest to the active formation of historical memory and the development of a search for spiritual bonds in Russian society nowadays.