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Journalistic activity in Kazakhstan is a complex system that occupies an important place in the development and promotion of a national modernized model of public consciousness. The purpose of the study is to analyze the features of the development of the communicative model of the periodical press of Kazakhstan. The following methods were used to achieve the objectives: systematization, survey, and comparative. The results of the study determined that journalistic activity manifests itself in both professional and civil contexts, while outlining the saturation of content on the Internet. The survey of correspondents and journalists determined that the most influential topic that forms the public consciousness of Kazakhs is politics. Due to the active promotion of innovative technologies and the Internet, the media market is overflowing with various information, including fake, which negatively affects the consciousness of society. In order to effectively create a national model of society, representatives of the mass media must adhere to the principles of ethics, and actively promote the fight against fake information together with government agencies and society. The practical significance lies in the use of the results of the study by academics and specialists in journalism and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoring forest resources is becoming a challenge for many countries. Although Russia has the largest forest area in the world, it suffers from high forest losses due to fires and logging. When formulating the National Development Goals in 2018, the Russian government chose forest restoration as one of the key priorities. In this article, I examine the extent to which the National 'Ecology' Project has been able to reverse the trend of forest loss in Russia. Calculations, statistical comparisons, and panel data econometric modeling based on information from government statistics and satellite data from the Global Forest Watch project show that the Federal 'Forest Restoration Project' contributed to a more than 1.5-fold increase in annual reforestation rates in the country but did little to prevent forest loss due to natural disturbances and logging. The meager budget of the national project, which amounted to less than 10% of the federal government's annual expenditure on forestry, was mainly sufficient to renew the fleet of specialized forestry equipment. The national forest restoration program should be continued, and its objectives should be expanded and adequately funded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic took place against the backdrop of growing political polarization and distrust in institutions. Did deficiencies in government performance further erode trust? Did citizens' ideology interfere with how they processed information on government performance? To investigate, we conducted a pre‐registered online experiment in Spain in November 2020. The treatment group was provided with information on the number of contact tracers in their region, a policy under the control of regional governments. We find that individuals greatly overestimate the number of contact tracers. When we provide the actual number, we find declines in trust in governments, willingness to fund public institutions, and COVID‐19 vaccine acceptance. We also find that individuals endogenously change their attribution of responsibilities when receiving the treatment. In regions where the regional and central governments are ruled by different parties, sympathizers of the regional incumbent react to the negative news on performance by attributing greater responsibility to the central government. We call this the 'blame‐shifting effect'. In these regions, the negative information does not reduce voting intention for the regional incumbent government. These results suggest that political accountability may be particularly difficult in settings with high polarization and where areas of responsibility are not clearly delineated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]