Websites of print media in Chuvashia: a comparative analysis of design and content solutions of editorial offices

Abstract

This article examines the digitalization of regional traditional media driven by the intensive development of the Internet communication infrastructure and increasing demand for network platforms as media sources. This study is relevant because digitalization and media convergence processes in the regions face numerous challenges due to the lack of relevant experience among editorial teams of classic newspapers and magazines, insufficient material base and technical re sources to create and maintain websites and accounts meeting the current requests of Internet us ers, shortages of IT specialists, etc. The authors of the article analyze the content and design fea tures of the official websites of major print media in the Chuvash Republic, focusing on the re publican newspapers Sovetskaya Chuvashia and Khypar, and the city newspapers Cheboksary News and Grani. The study covered a period from May 2024 to January 2025. The uniqueness of the design and content solutions used by each editorial team to maintain the websites of their publications was identified and characterized using the qualitative and comparative analysis of in terface elements. The authors note that the factors of convenient searching for information on the website, for example intuitive navigation, a variety of genre materials, multimedia support for publications, are not fully developed and implemented on the studied websites. This affects the ability to attract and retain the audience. To address these issues, the authors recommend spe cific practices to increase the demand for print media websites in Chuvashia. If implemented, they can improve the position of the analyzed media in the regional media landscape.