The study of the problem is built in the form of a dialogue between an adherent of postmodernism, advocating the equivalence of cognitive systems (mainly science and art), and an adherent of classic science, which considers it as the main cognitive system. The article deals with: the history of inseparability-isolation of cognitive systems; continuum natural sciences – social and human sciences – art; cognitive possibilities of visual and expressive arts; cognitive tools of art (artistic images) and capabilities of artistic works interpretation; cognitive methods of empathy, discovery of concrete facts and competency building; ways of changing the world by science and art. A reader is invited to sum up the arguments of the authors.

The article substantiates the phenomenon of media piarisation. The emphasis is on television and the Internet as multifunctional platforms for implementing PR technologies. There are two directions of media piarisation: political and ideological. It is emphasized, that two of these vectors do not exclude, but rather complement each other, having a number of common points of intersection. A set of methods is used: content analysis of information materials of federal television channels and online publications, discourse analysis of comments of users of social networks, secondary analysis of sociological data. Based on the results of the study, the author comes to the conclusion, that media piarisation is an ambivalent process. On the one hand, communication channels and subjects of PR activity seek to attract attention, inspire resonance – social movements not only in virtual, but also social space (as a result – raising the ratings and direct monetization of ‘success’), on the other, – piarisation leads to discrediting media, when online publications and TV channels are beginning to be perceived as PR tools (which contradicts the canons of the media), as a result of which there is an increase in the ‘crisis of confidence’. In the current communication realities, the process of media piarisation is progressive and irreversible, and media relations are becoming a stable form of media functioning.

The paper is dedicated to the study of events as form of communication and comprises the definition of special events, their objectives, tasks, functions, types, and milestones. As a rule, PR departments are responsible for and engaged in all farms of special events in modern organizations. The authors lay emphasis on interaction of the Public Relations Directorate of Sheremetyevo International Airport with the public and mass media. During the analysis carried out within the tome period from January to May 2018, the authors have revealed that the public relations specialists of the airport prefer the following special events: presentations, exhibitions, competitions, holidays, conferences, interviews, awarding prizes. Particular attention of the media is attracted by the participation of the airport in events of federal scale, such as “Total Dictation”, “Immortal Regiment march”, etc.

The paper is dedicated to the analysis of tectonics as component of educational practice. The field of technological training allows to draw the term out of the bounds of its theoretical application. The main research task is intended to expand the interpretive field in the most precise boundaries. The author analyzes the possibilities of communication as based on the ‘field of objective communication’, where basic behavioral models are organized through identification and discrimination of forms in the process of interaction.

The paper is dedicated to the investigation of the value base and factors of consolidation of modern Russian society, based on the materials of sociological research conducted by the Laboratory on improvement of the efficiency of public and municipal administration of South-Russian Institute of Management – branch of RANEPA (February – April 2018) on the territory of a number of subjects of the Russian Federation: Rostov region, Krasnodar region, Stavropol region, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Kabardino-Balkar Republic, Chechen Republic, Komi Republic, Republic of Karelia, Kurgan and Chelyabinsk region and Primorsky Krai.

As a result of the study, the authors of the article came to the conclusion that in order to strengthen the civil identity, it is necessary to have a clear institutional separation of the zone of responsibility of the state and civil society. In this case, organizations focused on the reproduction and implementation of the civil worldview and civil identity will expand the institutional space in which the existing shortcomings in the work of state bodies and violations of citizens’ rights will be subject to systemic and objective criticism. Civil identity in the regional social and political environment is a field of certain contradictions and many promising efforts, both of the authorities and citizens. This actualizes the large-scale potential of civil identity as the most important political and management project, the implementation of which under modern conditions can ensure the realization of the human potential of society and bring it in line with the objectives of innovative development.

Globalization has changed the world system, creating new challenges and opportunities. As a modern trend, it is obvious, but it is not yet a social change. On the basis of sociological modeling, it is concluded that globalization acquires virtuality features and this tendency increases as the isolation of national communication systems weakens. At the time of change there is a growing substitution of real things simulations (action images) in the economy, politics, culture; computer revolution and consolidation of cyber culture – there are trends of society virtualization.

The information revolution has provided the technical basis for global information networks. Currently, there is a trend of globalization of virtual reality based on the use of information technology, the ultimate goal of which is the formation of a single world of virtual space.  According to the researchers, the intensive development of information and communication technologies can lead to a significant change in social evolution. The result of virtualization is a qualitative change in the functioning of the most important social and political institutions. The expansion of global capitalism on Russian soil has its own specifics. This specificity consists in the fact that Russia is influenced by parallel forces – external (globalization) and internal (market transformation). This specificity is manifested in the political sphere. Globalization has largely dehumanized the ruling elite, and the country’s capitalization has completely removed it from the people.

The paper is dedicate to the analysis of the changes in the quality management system of educational programs driven by modern trends in education. The author represents the model of management of an educational organization based on the system of internal assessment of the quality of education, taking into account interaction and communication of subjects of educational activity, and considers the influence of the competence approach on the system of indicators of the quality of education in the aspect of building communication between the educational organization and the professional community.

The paper systemizes the forms of interaction between the educational organization and the employer. The following are highlighted as promising: development and review of the educational program; conducting master classes, business games, scientific and practical conferences and seminars by leading specialists of partner organizations; organization and conduct of practices and internships; initiation of grants and business projects, competitions and contests; creation of a competitive educational environment by holding for the students and teachers championships of professional skill; carrying out of public-professional accreditation of educational programs.

The paper is dedicated to the new realities of digital space in the context of commercial communications. Based on open sources, the authors analyze the state of the communication market and its digital-drivers, reveal specific characteristics of Internet user, and provide the description of the main directions of users’ interaction with digital channels. Special attention is paid to marketing behavior of ‘generation Z’. Based on the analysis of the behavior of this new generation, authors reveal and systematize some methods of influence and guidelines for communicative strategies in modern communications industry.

In just a few years, the information space has given to the humanity unlimited opportunities to search, analyze, use and create new information available to the selected or unlimited circle of persons. However, this phenomenon has generated new issues: whether such abundance is a boon, how reliable is its content, whether information freedom is safe and objective, in whose interests it exists, and whether it carries opportunities or a hidden threat? These questions do not have a decisive answer, as we are limited in knowledge of a number of information channels. For some sectors of the dynamically developing information space, there is neither clear legal norms nor legislative regulation, and even the conceptual apparatus is extremely poorly developed. For example, commonly used ‘information expansion’ (or ‘expansion of information’) still does not have an unambiguous definition, despite the fact that this term is actively used both in periodicals and in scientific literature. The article attempts to systematize the existing meanings of this phrase, the most often cited in journalism, educational and scientific literature examples of this phenomenon in the media, social networks and online resources, to forecast the further development of this phenomenon, and to define necessary tools of control.

The article explores the problems of communication between Azerbaijan and the OSCE Council, identifies the reasons, and suggests ways to resolve them. Also in this article, the process of forming the reputation of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the system of international relations is being studied. In addition, the main priorities of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy and its strategic goals are considered, attention is paid to issues that need to be resolved in the short and medium term. As a result of the analysis, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that communications with the Russia are no less important for Azerbaijan’s foreign policy than communications with the UN and NATO.

The Internet is the leading means of communication between political leaders and social groups that they represent. In modern society, the specificity of information and political space presupposes that citizens, as a rule, form their ideas on political figures based on their symbolic representation in media space, in assessments and judgments of relatives and friends, rather than as result of direct contact and interaction with political representatives. In this regard, knowledge about the characteristics of information and mass political consciousness, psychological and social features of the functioning of political leadership, the willingness of the masses to follow the political leader, acquire special importance. The need for this knowledge is experienced both by young politicians and by political leaders. For modern politics, the formation of the information image of the leader has become an important integral part.

We must assess the response of politics to a world that is changing fast and in a way that is increasingly intertwined, complex and unpredictable. Our problem with neoliberalism is not the liberal economy that increased world wealth and brought unprecedented prosperity to emerging countries: our problem is the primacy of the economic markets above every other social dimension. We introduce promise as a major category of analysis that respects time unfolding particularities – contrary to abstract generalities – and helps to rescue politics from the abuses of political fundamentalisms of diverse ideological persuasions.

The rapid development of modern media, digital technologies and the Global Internet, the pervasive impact of the press, films, radio and television, the industrialcommercial type of production and distribution of standardized spiritual goods are decisive factors in the spread of mass culture. Active participants and creators of mass information flows are the media. Mass information is actualized in information flows due to its availability to the masses, form simplicity, convenient consumption and transparency. Modern media are the determining factor in the formation of mass culture and it can be safely assumed that their sociocultural role will only increase as humanity moves towards the information network society. The maximally individualized options of mass culture will provide people not only with a new “modern times model”, but also with reference standards of information perception.

The article announces the need for the formation of digital cultural policy. The author sees the transition of globalization to the digital stage, the development of digital culture, the integration of cultural and media policy as the starting points for its appearance. In the era of digitalization, cultural politics finds itself at the intersection of culture, digital technology, media and politics. Digitization creates convergence of these spheres, and relations between media and cultural policy are particularly relevant in this regard. Strategies for managing change in media systems should be the area of responsibility of such a policy, which has a universal solutions, flexible tools and calls for new forms of partnership between the sectors of culture, media and technology sector. The formation of a new ecosystem of digital culture and digital cultural policy will be an important trend in the development of modern media space.