MEDIA PARTICIPATION IN THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ON THE ISSUE OF BRITAIN'S EXIT FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

The role of media in influencing society is steadily increasing in modern political communication. Being part of this trend, authoritative media serve to inform citizens about current political events and processes within the framework of the political agenda they form, and interpret political facts. The article shows the experience of media participation in the political campaign for Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, which took place mainly in 2016-2019. The authors chose the Sun and the Guardian newspapers because these media clearly represented the 'Leave' and 'Remain' parties. As a result, they actively participated in the political campaign and had a significant influence on the outcome of the vote. Three key stages of the implementation of the declared political campaign are identified in the article and the positions of the Sun and the Guardian at each stage are determined. The article uses content analysis of publications on Brexit in the two popular British newspapers (which made it possible to clarify the main technologies used in public opinion formation), as well as the method of comparative analysis (which helped to compare the positions and actions of the editorial teams in the Sun and the Guardian). The research has shown that the success of a political campaign much depends on the activity of the publication's newsroom positioning itself as a political actor.