Challenges and peculiarities of integration of international media brands with the Georgian media space on the example of “PLAYBOY” magazine

Abstract

Successful international media outlets try their best to cover as many countries as possible and establish their own local editorial offices. Many of them do this successfully, however, there are often cases when the work of local editorial offices turns out to be unsuccessful.
Some of the content of foreign media outlets turned out to be incompatible with the Georgian media space, which significantly hindered their operation on the media market. Since Georgia gained independence, a number of foreign news outlets have attempted to establish their own local editorial offices, however, several of them were soon closed.
The aim of the scientific research is to determine the functions, history, development trends, specifics, authors and goals, methods and forms of its entry into the Georgian media space of a specific international media brand. Also, using the example of the magazine “PLAYBOY”, we will learn and analyze what reasons and circumstances may lead to the closure of Georgian editorial offices of international media outlets.
While working on this publication, in order to achieve the goals of the research topic, it became necessary to use various qualitative and mixed-type research methods. In total, I used five methods. I found that the above methods were quite relevant for an in-depth study of the research issue and significantly simplified the provision of answers to the research questions posed in the work. In particular, these methods are: case study, historical analysis, critical discourse, comparative and content analysis methods.
Using a case study, the reasons for the failure of the Georgian editorial office of “PLAYBOY” magazine were studied and analyzed. Using the historical analysis method, I analyzed the important trends in the establishment and further development of one specific international media brand, “PLAYBOY” magazine, in the past decades and how it was transformed with the advent of the era of globalization.
I used the critical discourse method when analyzing various professional scientific literature related to the research paper. Using the comparative analysis method, I compared the Georgian edition of “PLAYBOY” with its original, American one. The content analysis method helped me to study and characterize both the informational and visual content of the Georgian editions of the international media brand reviewed in the study.
The use of the approaches and methods presented in the research helped me to present the issue under study in a diverse and interesting way, so that not only the scientific community, but also anyone interested in the topic in general, could understand and correctly perceive the issues. I also believe that the work will contribute to the diversity of knowledge surrounding the topic and the activation of scientific discussions.
It is very interesting to study the main trends in the development of media outlets in general under the conditions of globalization. Also, how the conceptual models of international media brands are transformed into Georgian reality. It is precisely these issues that determine the relevance of the research topic. The characteristics, principles of famous foreign media brands, the forms and methods of their establishment in foreign media space (on the example of Georgia) have not been studied in depth by modern media researchers.
The scientific approaches used in the article to study the problem of establishing the largest and most successful media brands in the foreign media space include a broad contextual study of many aspects and facets of the issue, and a conceptual analysis. It is particularly important to observe, through the scientific apparatus, the processes of how the conceptual models of international media brands are transformed into Georgian reality, and what specific features and characteristics distinguish this process.