Access, loyalty, and trust: changing audiences and media life in contemporary Lithuania

ENThis paper gives an account on how people in Lithuania access news and how they engage in media life. By taking cultural point of view this paper shows how these findings could be interpreted in the context of broader societal changes that also have direct impact on media professional practices (such as the rise of neoliberal reasoning inspired strategies, changes in journalistic profession, and the like). It identifies at least three factors that could be considered as most decisive determinants of media use in a consolidating democracy. The paper also registers other significant developments in media field in Lithuania, namely the rise of new communicative spaces that are being formed due to new technologies and social networks offering individualized participation, information consumption, and news access. Observed developments also have dramatic effects on how both journalists and audiences react to changing conditions in contemporary media and communications.