This paper is a response to studies conducted in other countries on how the socioeconomic status of families affects the media use patterns and media education strategies imposed by parents on their children. Admittedly, research on the subject in Slovakia is largely lacking. Our study is based on an assumption of a close relation between the level of education, household income and parents’ preference for the purpose to which children are allowed to use digital media. Our research was conducted on a sample of 572 parents with children aged between 3 and 8 living in the Žilina self-governing region. Based on the analysis, a mild correlation was observed between household income and the preference to allow children to use digital media to avoid boredom and fill in the time without parental attention. The correlation between the level of education and preference for digital content was not confirmed. The research has led to a conclusion that most parents tend to prefer exploiting the entertainment potential of digital technologies while minimizing screen time. The conclusions of this research are compatible with similar studies pointing to the prevalence of restrictive (quantitative) mediation present in Slovak families.
The term “celebrity” is neutral and designates people with both admirable and intimidating histories. The media tend to overlook the moral dimension of celebrities and frame them by their own rules. This study describes the media framing of a toxic celebrity in Slovakia: the controversial businessman Marián Kočner, currently on trial for ordering the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak in 2018. Long before the killing, Kočner had become well-known to the broader public and appeared as exerting influence on political events. The authors have analysed media texts related to Kočner from 1998 to 2017 and identified 12 generalising frames which could be applied to frame any toxic celebrity. These frames have been aptly titled (Chichikov, mafioso, key player, toxic person, tycoon, Black Peter, Richman, spin doctor, Robin Hood, narcissist, showman, innovator), defined and related to the tonality of the texts (positive, negative, neutral) and to the timeline of Kočner’s media image. The study refers to the only gradually increasing negativity of his media framing along with the overall weak sensitivity of the media to his moral character and highlights the difference between serious and tabloid media, with the framing in the latter focused on luxury and gossip reporting.
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