Introducing a model of information integration in the present-day mass media

It is usually assumed that the information presented to the reader is the major factor which primarily influences him. However, this paper sets out to show that the form, the information is presented in, becomes increasingly important and starts dominating the new media discourse. We hypothesize that it is necessary to regard the whole information set-up in order to understand the influence of the news policy in the new media. Thus, the model of the news story formation, the so called “snowball” model, is introduced in the paper. It demonstrates how the integration of the form and content is being built in the modern mass media. The model indicates how different layers are added up to form the new media discourse. Four information layers are highlighted in it: topic; the influence of the journalist’s worldview (interpretation of the topic); establishing contact with the audience and getting closer to the reader (the multimedia approach).