Media image of the region in the media: linguistic aspect (on the example of the Arkhangelsk region)

Context and relevance. The media image of a region is formed not only through media publications, but also through recurring linguistic ways of describing a territory: nominations, evaluative vocabulary, metaphors, syntactic constructions, and frames. The relevance of the study is determined by the need for a philological description of the linguistic mechanisms through which the Arkhangelsk Region is represented in federal and regional online media. This issue becomes particularly significant in connection with the growing role of the region in the Arctic and transport-logistics agenda, as well as with the need to form a coherent image of the territory in media discourse. Objective. The aim of the article is to identify and describe the linguistic means by which the media image of the Arkhangelsk Region is constructed in federal and regional media discourse, and to determine the differences between the federal and local models of regional representation. Hypothesis. It is assumed that federal and regional media construct different discursive models of the Arkhangelsk Region: federal media discourse presents the region mainly through the strategy of legitimation and functional positioning, whereas regional media discourse uses the strategy of dramatization associated with the coverage of territorial problems. At the same time, in both cases, the cultural and historical identity of the region is insufficiently expressed. Methods and materials. The material of the study consists of publications from the federal news agency RIA Novosti and the regional online portal 29.ru for 2024, devoted to the Arkhangelsk Region and the city of Arkhangelsk. The study applies linguopragmatic, lexical-semantic, discursive, and comparative methods of analysis. The analysis focuses on key words, evaluative vocabulary, axiological modality, metaphorical models, thematic frames, syntactic features of news texts, and vocabulary related to regional identity. Results. The analysis of RIA Novosti publications showed that the image of the Arkhangelsk Region in federal discourse is formed mainly through the strategy of legitimation. Its linguistic markers include vocabulary with the semantics of positive dynamics: “growth,” “development,” “strengthening,” “expansion,” and “integration.” Positive evaluation is usually expressed implicitly: it is conveyed not through direct emotionally evaluative vocabulary, but through statistical data, official statements, and institutionally significant events. Regional media discourse on the portal 29.ru demonstrates a different model of representation: it is dominated by the strategy of dramatization, which is implemented through negatively marked vocabulary such as “problem,” “danger,” “search,” “sentence,” “discontent,” “debts,” “price increase,” and “victim.” Regional media discourse more often presents the Arkhangelsk Region as a space of everyday difficulties. At the syntactic level, this is supported by short news phrases, passive constructions, and quotations from eyewitnesses, victims, or dissatisfied residents. A comparative analysis revealed a difference between federal and regional media discourse. Federal materials create a more neutral-positive image of the region, but often describe it through its function: as an Arctic region, a transport hub, and a participant in major economic processes. Regional materials, by contrast, provide more specific everyday details, but more often associate the region with problems and conflicts. What federal and regional discourses have in common is the insufficient representation of cultural and historical vocabulary: lexemes and concepts associated with Pomor identity, historical and cultural heritage, wooden architecture, Solovki, the White Sea, and the image of M.V. Lomonosov remain weakly actualized. Conclusions. The analysis makes it possible to conclude that the media image of the Arkhangelsk Region in contemporary online media is constructed unevenly. Federal media discourse creates the image of the region as a strategically significant territory, while its cultural and historical identity remains in the background. Regional media discourse presents the region as a socially problematic territory. As a result, the image of the region becomes discursively split: for the federal audience, the Arkhangelsk Region is represented as a resource-based and Arctic territory, while for the local audience, it appears as a space of social problems. The results of the study indicate that, in order to form a more coherent and positive image of the region in media discourse, it is necessary to strengthen the cultural-identification component in the media: to refer more often to the history of Pomorye, northern culture, local heroes, tourist sites, natural heritage, and social initiatives. This would allow the social-problem agenda to be combined with the actualization of the cultural, historical, value-based, and identification meanings of the Arkhangelsk Region.

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