The present study aims to describe the dynamics of spatial-temporal relations in daily newspaper texts. This includes agreements on what constitutes the 'present', the extent of the 'past' and the 'future', and where the reader's hypothetical place in space is. The temporal dimensions that emerged in Estonian newspapers (Päevaleht, Rahva Hääl, Eesti Päevaleht) were strongly future-oriented. This was a characteristic tendency throughout the 20th century and it can be noted even today. The orientation towards future is notable in comparison with Finnish (Helsingin Sanomat) and Russian (Pravda) newspaper texts.

Social actors is the central category in the constructions of social reality-representation of actors is related to values, can offer behavior models and identification basis for recipients of the mass media messages. Representation of social actors definitely has changed over time and differs in cultures. In representation of social actors not only qualitative aspects of actors are important, rather their visibility in quantitative terms as well. According to the social constructionist approach, those who are more visible in the media content are visible in society as well. In the present study, the composition of social actors in Finnish, Estonian, and Russian dailies during 20th century will be analyzed. We hypothesize that transformations in those societies were accompanied by a growing plurality of social positions, more balanced gender relations, and higher visibility of minorities. We suppose that between analyzed countries we will find significant similarities and differences as well, some of them explained through common and/or individual histories of the countries, some of them are rather co-products of modernization processes reflected in analyzed countries' mass media discourses.

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The article gives an overview of the history of censorship in Soviet Estonia, concentrating on the regulations that dictated the content of humorous texts and images from pre-1990s. The Estonian media communication developed in the interaction of two contradicting fields of influence: on the one hand, it was affected by the official institutional sphere, and on the other, by unofficial, reflexive and collective citizenship. During active Sovietisation in 1940s-1950s, people were deprived of any laughter and ambiguity. Public sphere was under the close scrutiny of political censorship. In the next two decades until the late 1980s, the reflexive and critical streams became more visible in the society. This was accompanied by publishing more and versatile humorous texts, the presence of humorous texts in printed press, and convergence of talented authors into a school of renowned humour journalists. Humour was institutionalised in both cultural and political sphere, and after 1987 it gained even new functions, becoming a forerunner for glasnost and an instrument of de-Sovietisation. On the basis of the present study, we can claim that the presence of humour in journalism is an indicator of emotions in the public sphere.