RELIGIOUS MASS MEDIA AND "RELIGIOUS STUDIES"- MASS MEDIA OF RUSSIA TODAY

The article examines the Russian religious mass media and the Russian secular mass media specializ- ing in the coverage of religious and social topics. The largest segment of religious media is Orthodoxian mass media. Islamic mass media are well represented in the constituent entities of the Federation with a large propor- tion of the Muslim population. Religious confessional publications are characterized by an apologetic-missionary position, focusing on their own denomination. The number of secular "religious studies"-media in Russia is small. At the same time, they are clearly divided into two camps: supporters of the current model of state- confessional relations with the special position of the Russian Orthodoxian Church and several other traditional religions – and adherents of liberal-secularist views