ИСТИНА

During the last year Russian media system has experienced a new wave of dramatic changes. Since the time when Gazeta.RU, the first ambitious online newspaper was launched, a variety of new web publishing issues including Internet versions of "old media" and net alternatives have affected and re-configurated media market. This paper is the first step in evaluating the landscape of new online media structures in RuNet (Russian sector of Internet). To do that several methodological questions should be answered: a) what is the research subject, in other words where is the border between professional and non-professional online media structures; b) what factors provide the new media options and stimulate evolutionary process; c) who are the owners of new media structures and what is the origin of the capital investments in this media business. The current study reports the findings of the classification of the online media that includes such points as formal, qualitative and quantitative characteristics. This paper also debates the tendencies and perspectives of online media in RuNet. Among the agenda topics are: what will be the dominant factor in Internet outburst (boom) in Russia that is actively discussed, what are the main organizational and managing problems and how do different media companies cope with them. Besides this paper explores some observations of how the rapidly changing new technologies and new media formats challenge professional journalism skills and writing.