Understanding changing news media use: Generations and their media vocabulary

The role that age and generation play in shaping patterns of (news) media consumption is a particularly significant issue in current media studies. By virtue of the interplay of the theoretical concept of generations and the critical study of language, the article, empirically rooted in the Estonian context, seeks to outline the ways in which language reflects some media-related practices and perspectives. Analysing qualitative data from focus groups conducted in autumn/winter 2011 among Estonian media users aged 16–72, the article attempts to shed light on the complex nature of the generational consciousness that manifests itself through interaction with people of the same age and with a socially shared framework in terms of the perception of news media’s role, as well as the adoption of novel forms of media and technologies. A specific focus is on four generations who reached their ‘formative age’ in one of four possible periods (1) the post-war period, (2) the Soviet period, (3) the period of restoration of national independence, and (4) the period of transformation into a democratic society and highly technologized media culture.