The dissertation comprehensively researches theoretical and practical problems of educational journalism functioning in Ukraine, and also identifies genre and specific features of content on educational topics, studies and improves scientific approaches to the definition of key competencies of a journalist writing on education topics.
The result of quantitative content analysis showed that among 3352 analyzed publications of the selected media ("Osvita.ua", "Pedpresa", "NUS", "Osvitoria") 81% were notes. The low number of analytical genres is especially noticeable with regard to the topics of preschool, inclusive and vocational education. Most of the materials of "Pedpresa" (83%) and "Osvita.ua" (63%) are borrowed or supplemented by the materials from the sites of the Ministry of Education of Ukraine, the Center for evaluating the quality of education or other sources. Consequently, we can talk about the lack of analytical content on educational topics in the analyzed media. The above theses are also confirmed by the results of the expert survey.
On the scale from "1" (low) to "10" (high), the experts (21 journalists and editors of educational media) gave the average point rating of "5" for the level of educational journalism in Ukraine. On the scale from "1" (quite enough) to "10" (critically insufficient) respondents agreed with the statement that Ukraine does not have enough analytical content on education topics on the average "7.5" points. Results of national survey of teachers who are key consumers of the educational content show that satisfaction of respondents with coverage of subjects of education in narrowly specialized mass media ("Osvita.ua", "Pedpresa", "NUS", "Osvitoria", others) is higher than concerning widely specialized mass media. At 8.08 points out of a possible 10 teachers assess the need to create new resources (sites, platforms) for the publication of information and analytical content on education topics.
The analysis (within the content analysis) by categories of key concepts and topical issues of the education sector, developed in cooperation with experts and using data from the MES, revealed a low level of coverage of certain sectors of education, in particular vocational and technical education, as well as the areas of science and andragogy. Critically low level of information on "brain drain", development of science and innovation parks, multinational experience and technology transfer, continuity between pre-school and primary education, inclusion in pre-school educational institutions, achievement of students in international competitions.
There are several practical and theoretical problems related to the topic of our PhD thesis: Low, according to experts, audience requests for high-quality, innovative educational journalism. Lack of analytical and insignificant level of author's content on educational topics in the specialized publications studied (see numbers above), as well as the lack of balance in coverage of various branches of education, deform the educational journalism context and create the need to transform the genre and content of the Ukrainian educational media. The lack of research on the competencies of an educational journalist does not allow to fully explore the digital tools, which an educational journalist should operate and the key abilities, which are important for the author of the educational content. Dichotomy of educational and pedagogical journalism concepts leads to quasi- genre deformations and causes theoretical confusion in the approaches of Ukrainian scientists to the study of genre and thematic features of educational journalism. A tangential aspect is the weak presence of the analyzed media in the media quintet (desktop version, mobile version, mobile application, tablet version, adaptations for use in "smart watches"), which is a necessary component of the digital evolution of modern Internet media. At a time of alternating societal changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, educational-media partnerships are reaching a new level of collaboration, an expansion of such collaboration using edutainment approaches is required.
