Cognitive imbalance problems in news reports of media reports

Abstract

We consider the problem of linguistic representation of events, which consists in the discrepancy between the meaning and content of the title and the main text of publication, as a result of which metamorphoses of network media image arise. The study is devoted to the phenomenon of functional-semantic incongruence of the title and text, which distorts the media images of events that form the information agenda of popular news feeds and online media on the Internet. A number of publications from various popular online media, selected by rating indicators, are analyzed. The main attention is paid to news publications in which the meanings of the title contradict the semantic content of the main text. As a result of a comprehensive content analysis of numerous examples, significant semantic differences between headlines and full texts of the media are identified and described, the main linguistic causes of these contradictions and semantic shifts leading to functional losses are determined. The linguistic problems of perception and the impact of such media images on the mass audience are identified and emphasised. Particular attention is paid to the fact that such changes can lead to serious violations of the information picture of the day and distort it. Methods for determining the degree of incongruence are proposed. Based on the identification of the functional-semantic incongruence of the title and the main text of the news message, the principles for determining the level of clickbaitness, the toxicity coefficient are proposed. Based on the study of news reports in the online media, it is established that such a functional-semantic incongruence of the linguistic representation of events has a significant impact on the state of the linguistic and information security of the entire Internet space and its users. The results of the study can be used by scientists in the field of mass communication, mass media, journalism, as well as practitioners in the field of creative industries, which include media production.