Regional news media discourse: the experience of communicative and pragmatic analysis of text chains

Rogaleva Ol'ga Sergeevna ORCID: 0000-0001-8141-6312 PhD in Philology Associate Professor, Department of Journalism and Media Linguistics, Omsk State University named after F.M. Dostoevsky 55a Mira str., office 116, Omsk region, 644077, Russia olga_rogaleva78@mail.ru

Introduction

Among the wide variety of modern media studies, there is an area that has been constantly attracting the interests of scientists lately, is being updated with new ideas and continues to form its own conceptual and terminological apparatus - this is media linguistics. One of the urgent tasks of media linguistics at a time when active processes of media regionalization are taking place is a multidimensional study of regional segmentation of the media space, systematization and generalization of the results obtained, as well as justification of the methodological vector of this kind of research, cataloging, typing and development of methods for analyzing the multivariate communicative media environment. In connection with the above, it is obvious that a new branch of media linguistics – media regionalism – not only has the right to exist, but allows us to raise extremely important issues related to the functioning of regional media, with the substantive, pragmastilistic and genre features of regional media that form media images of regions and reflect regional identity.

Literature review

Modern researchers of the theory of journalism are increasingly using the concepts of media space ^{[1; 2, etc.]} and regional media space.

Of all the possible approaches to the media space, the most popular among researchers are:

- territorial approach ("market") – the media space is characterized as a media market or information space of the region ^[1], the space of interaction of those involved in the production, distribution and consumption of mass media ^[2];

- a text-centric approach, when the media space is considered as a set of all media texts, a discursive space.

One of the first comprehensive works devoted to the study of the regional media space was the collective monograph "Novgorod Media Field: Linguistic Research Experiences", which implemented an interdisciplinary approach to the regional media market. It is obvious that the formal homogeneity of the regional media discourse is provided primarily by the territorial community, therefore, the review of regional media, their characteristics, and the designation of trends in the regional media market are the focus of journalistic and linguistic research. Thus, the media market of Veliky Novgorod was characterized by T.L. Kaminskaya ^[3]; the Republic of Mordovia by K.V. Dementieva ^[4].

On the other hand, as we have already said, the concept of a regional information space is formed on the basis of a communicative approach to the territory, which assumes that a geographical space can be considered as a media space if an active information exchange is carried out within its political and administrative boundaries, a "compact cluster of social communications" arises. Natural, geographical and socio-economic factors significantly influence the multi-vector development of the regional media space, determine its features. The main task of the system of regional and municipal (city, district) media remains the organization of information flows within the region and localities ^[5].

The text-centric approach allows us to talk about the regional media discourse, the regional picture of the world: "The regional media discourse is part of the general media space in the country, but at the same time it has many specific features reflecting the characteristics of a particular region. They are systematically manifested in the media agenda, ways of presenting information and interpreting socially significant events, priority topics and genres, organizing dialogue with the audience, and the compositional and stylistic structure of media texts" ^{[6, p. 620]}.

            The issues of defining the basic function of the agenda in regional media as navigation for the audience are outlined by O.A. Fokina ^[7], who introduced the concept of a "regional agenda" into scientific usage and considered its components. This aspect is also reflected in the works of A.A. Novak: "the regional agenda is a thematic area of media content that is thematically related to the vital activity of regions and includes a set of texts that fix the connection with a certain region or regions on the territory of the country in various ways" ^[8].

There are a number of scientific papers in which a list of topics has been formed, and a thematic map of various territorial media courses has been compiled. For example, the thematic dominants of the Novgorod media discourse are described in ^[9], the Stavropol Territory in ^[10], the Republic of Crimea in ^[11], the Belarusian media in ^[12]. The news discourse on socio-political topics in the VKontakte social network of Tomsk and Novosibirsk is an object of study in ^[13].

According to researchers, political topics are in the first place in all regional newspapers (from 20% to 30% in different publications), mainly the activities of the most important actors in the region, mainly its authorities ^{[8, p. 17]}. It is obvious that it is the representatives of the regional authorities who participate in the communication process and form a unique information field.

The nuclear zone of the regional media discourse is the news discourse. A large number of studies have been devoted to the news discourse. The issues of typology of informational occasions, genre and other features of operational news texts are considered and described in the theory of journalism and media linguistics in sufficient detail: ^{[14],[15],[16],[17]} and others .

Most often, scientists study the linguistic and structural specifics of individual news texts and genre forms ^{[18; 19]}. According to T.G. Dobrosklonskaya, news materials "have a carefully developed, highly organized and extremely stable structure, which, combined with stable features at the language level, allows us to consider these texts as globally cliched mass media texts" ^{[20, p. 55]}.

In line with the discursive approach, A.A. Negryshev's statement that the text of media news is a verbal projection of a fragment of event reality arising under the influence of the "forces of discourse" seems to be fundamental. In other words, non-discrete extralinguistic material is refracted into a stream of discrete news texts during selection, sorting, accentuation, choice of means of expression and other processes subject to institutional and immanent speech parameters of discourse ^[21].

However, today understanding a single text becomes impossible without involving other texts, and information flows form complex structures – hypertexts, supertexts. The study of discourse presupposes the identification of functionally heterogeneous fragments in each of the types of discourse. The "scattered" text configurations that arise in the media discourse attract the attention of researchers more and more.

So, L.R. Duskaeva, examines the hypertext of the news. Hypertext news, according to L.R. Duskaeva, is a conditional name for a set of messages related to a common information occasion in the media of different channels, types that differ in source and time of receipt, but referentially "overlap". Unlike a linear newspaper text, the expansion of the hypertext of news on the Internet is carried out in different vectors, i.e. in different sources of information – the media. Such a multi-vector hypertext is created by a multitude of media and their authors, united by an interest in one information occasion: an event, a situation, a fact, someone else's statement, a person ^{[22, p. 39]}.

However, there are other textual associations. The concepts of information wave, information echo ^[23], and discursive depth of the text are somehow connected with the concept of hypertext news ^[24]. Information waves reflect the dynamics of the information space, their appearance is associated with the reflection of the structure of the agenda ^{[23, p. 103]}. According to T.V. Shmeleva, when analyzing news discourse, it is important to take into account the degree of discursion of news: some remain single texts, others generate powerful discourses that are present in the media field for a long time ^{[25, p. 159]}. A whole series of materials, a number of news reports flowing into one another and continuing each other, each of which with its own headlining and its own composition, we will call, after O.R. Laschuk, a chain (or link) ^[26]. The establishment of bilateral relations: "ongoing event" — "chain of messages" and "completed event" — "single message" (O.R. Laschuk), a single text (T.V. Shmeleva) allows us to look at the architectonics of news discourse in a different way.

Thus, it is advisable to divide the events reported in Internet news materials into two large groups. The first one includes a completed event when all the news information is already available on the Network. It can be reflected in one, as a rule, rather short material. The second is incomplete, when news information continues to arrive after the first publication ^[26].

The architecture of a news media discourse, including a regional one, can be considered as a set of single and continuous messages, or chains of texts. A number of chronologically ordered events fit into episodes, plots, forming a picture of the event as a whole. A chain of news texts is a multilevel text formation, when a separate text is both an independent unit and part of a text chain; it is a "discursive fragment", a sequence of texts united semantically and functionally.

Empirical base and research methods

Advertising and information portals are the basic components of the modern regional media space, forming its core. In the top of the most cited mass media of the Omsk region (as of November 2023), according to the Medialogy (https://www.mlg.ru/ratings/media/regional/12673 /), there were such online publications of Omsk and the Omsk region as Ом1.ги , Gorod55.ru , Ngs55.ru , OmskRegion.  These are universal information platforms with a wide thematic range – from incidents and political events to cultural life and sports. Belonging to a common typological profile, the concepts of the sites of these agencies are quite close. Their target audience is Omsk residents who want to receive timely and up–to-date information about local events, incidents, and personalities.

The study covers the publications of four information portals for the period November 2023 - February 2024. Monitoring of regional Internet news resources made it possible to identify information causes that gave rise to chains of news texts represented in the regional media discourse in the winter of 2023-2024. 

The analysis of the regional media space involves relying on a number of methods of discursive and linguistic analysis proper. The analysis technique is based on a structural approach to the analysis of a "discrete text stream" and involves the allocation of fragments in discourse, "quanta" – larger than the text. Content analysis allows us to identify discourse-forming plots and episodes, characters of the regional media discourse. At the same time, "in the development of each information story, it is important to trace the degree of its unfoldment: this will manifest its discoursogenicity (the ability to generate discourse). When considering the plots, it will be clear which media institutions set the tone, pose problems in the regional field, and which provide an information echo" ^{[24, p. 161]}. These text associations – chains – reflect both the specifics of the regional agenda and the communicative and pragmatic features of the news discourse of a particular region.

The results of the study

The content analysis made it possible to identify basic news common to media texts of news agencies, around which chains of media texts are formed that form the news discourse of the Omsk region during this period: the accident at CHP-5; Omsk's participation in the exhibition "Russia"; cleaning Omsk from snow; color design of public transport, etc.

Let's look at examples of "ongoing" local news.

The governor's intention is to repaint public transport in the city and the region in bright colors. The reference points of the "lasting" news were:

1. The Governor's intention expressed publicly:

Khotsenko plans to repaint all public transport in Omsk. The governor is sure that the city should be made brighter (Om1., 7.12.2023)

Khotsenko told how public transport will be painted in Omsk (City 55, 7.12.2023)

Vitaly Khotsenko spoke about plans to repaint public transport in Omsk (Omsk Region, 8.12.2023)

Deptrans: all Omsk buses and trolleybuses will become colored in two years. Private carriers will be offered to change the type of cars at their own expense (NGS55, 01/26/2024)

At this stage, the information is personalized. The main subject is the governor. The unreal modality is desirable.

2. Some details of the external rebranding of public transport:

It became known which buses will appear on the streets of Omsk. The Telegram channel "Not the mayor of Omsk" published a photo showing the new public transport (City 55, 01/25/2023)

 Orange buses will run in Omsk (Omsk Region, 01/25/2024)

In Omsk, buses are already branded in orange (Omsk Region, 01/31/2024)

The unreal modality is replaced by the real one in headings and texts. The governor's intention becomes a fact. The future tense of verbs correlates with the announcement of an event.

3. The appearance of the first "colored" trolleybus:

"Just like a cucumber." New green trolleybuses have entered the route in Omsk (City 55, 02/7/2023)

Green trolleybuses have appeared in Omsk. In the future, all public transport will be branded in different colors (Om1., 7.02.2024)

In Omsk, the first trolleybus in green color entered the route. The Admiral car was branded with a logo with the name of the city (NGS55, 02/7/2024)

The structure of the narrative is agentive: trolleybuses act as the subject.

4. Communicative reactions of city residents:

 "Like my husband's garage doors": a selection of comments from Omsk residents about the new green trolleybuses (NGS55, 02/19/2024)

 "That there are no other problems?": how did the vote for the new color of trolleybuses go. Many people prefer the design of transport from the factory (NGS55, 02/12/2024).

This text chain is an event unfolding in time, built on the principle of a plot, a plot with a plot, a climax and a denouement. As you can see, the elements of the event are presented in almost the same way in different media sources. Let's pay attention to the fact that the communicative response (in the form of a request for the addressees' opinions) is carried out by only one news agency in the regional media space – NGS55, which indicates the presence of different intentions in creating an image of the event in the regional media. Information messages representing the opinions of citizens are aimed, firstly, at prolongation of the discursive plot, and secondly, at emotional and evaluative "toning" of the discursive plot, as a rule negative.

Let's look at another example of text chains. In the winter of 2023-2024, Omsk faced the problem of removing a huge amount of snow from the streets – this is the information occasion around which a chain of news media texts is being built.

1. NGS55: Road services in Omsk continue to eliminate the consequences of yesterday's snowfall. Work is underway around the clock (NGS55, 1.11.2023); the city's road services will continue to remove snow around the clock. In the afternoon, 300 pieces of equipment will work on the streets of Omsk (NGS55, 11/22/2023); snowfall hit Omsk. The services have been put on high alert. At night, road workers took to the highways to clean them (NGS55, 11/19/2023); Omsk authorities made a post for complaints about uncleaned roads. Officials do not deny that there are problems with this in the city (NGS55, 4.01.2024); four times as many criminals will be sent to snow removal in Omsk. It is planned to involve up to 100 people in correctional work (NGS55, 5.01.2024); Khotsenko ordered road workers to search social networks for complaints about uncleaned streets. Let's make our own list (NGS55, 01/16/2024); Where can I complain about the uncollected snow? The governor replied. For this purpose, a special post was published (NGS55, 01/16/2024); Khotsenko went on a raid on uncleaned roads in a new down jacket. We found one similar to Ozon. This outfit, apparently, is cheaper than the previous image of the head of the region (NGS55, 17.01.2024); A snow removal hotline has been launched in Omsk. Calls from Omsk residents will be received around the clock (NGS55, 01/17/2024); "The worst situation is in the Soviet District": Khotsenko looked at the unmade roads in the city. He toured three districts with an inspection (NGS55, 01/17/2024); Galina Zurnajan, responsible for the condition of roads, resigned in Omsk. She led the UDHB for two years (02/12/2024);

2. Om1: Sergey Shelest and Vitaly Khotsenko showed effective work in tandem. On behalf of the governor, the mayor personally checked the quality of road cleaning in the city and made decisions that will help improve this work (About m 1., 4.12.2023); In Omsk, the salaries of employees cleaning the streets from snow were increased. Their income increased by 15% (01/27/2024); the mayor of Omsk sent the chief deputy to deal with the snow. 200 workers and more than a hundred cars were thrown into the fight against the elements (01/27/2024); Omsk Mayor Sergei Shelest helped the janitor with snow removal. The head of the city said that he lives in a private house and knows perfectly well what it means to work with an ice axe and a shovel (01/28/2024); Vitaly Khotsenko and Sergey Shelest raised salaries for Omsk road workers (About m 1., 01/29/2024); In February, Omsk inter-block driveways will begin to be cleaned with additional equipment. Additional dump trucks will also go to Omsk roads to remove snow (01/29/2024);In the upcoming snowfall, Omsk roads will be cleaned in a special mode. The maintenance of roads remains under special control (1.02.2024); the Prosecutor's Office has made more than 120 submissions about poor-quality snow removal in Omsk. All violations are being actively eliminated (2.02.2024); Grader, loader and dump trucks: in Omsk, they showed how roads are cleaned after a snowfall. Complex units of equipment are involved for cleaning (02/5/2024); 215 roads will be cleared of snow in Omsk at night. 162 units of equipment will be on the roads (02/7/2024); Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Dmitry Demeshin held a personal reception of citizens in Omsk. Among the issues that Omsk residents addressed to him were snow removal from roads, water supply, relocation from dilapidated and emergency housing, as well as assistance to the disabled (02/7/2024); Omsk Criminal Code and entrepreneurs can pay up to 20 thousand rubles for uncollected snow (02/8/2024); Omsk residents were told from which streets the snow would be removed over the weekend. Attention will be paid to inter-courtyard and inter-block passages (02/10/2024); Director of the UDHB Galina Zurnajan has left her post. She worked in the department for two years (02/12/2024); The equipment from the reconstruction of the Boulevard of Architects was sent to clean the yards. The contractor wants to compensate Omsk residents for the inconveniences caused by the repair of the street (02/13/2024); In Omsk, the scheme for cleaning roads from snow has been rebuilt. And contractors are involved in cleaning the inter-block driveways (02/13/2024).      

3. Gorod55: Snow turned to ice. In Omsk, they engaged in a round-the-clock fight against precipitation. Workers are removing ice and collecting snow to free up roads and not aggravate the situation before new precipitation (11/24/2023); 350 drivers and workers are missing. In Omsk, there is no one to clear the streets and roads of snow (11/25/2023); "False facts and inaction." Omsk residents told about the real situation with cleaning the streets of the city (9.01.2024); They can not cope. Omsk City Hall will spend 25 million on equipment and contractors for snow removal (10.01.2024); "There is a lot of work." Special equipment of the region will be used for snow removal in Omsk (01/16/2024); Khotsenko instructed Fomin to monitor snow removal in Omsk after numerous complaints (01/16/2024); Shelest continued to monitor the cleaning of streets, which residents of Omsk most often complain about (01/18/2024); The city is covered with snow. What problems prevent Omsk UDHB from cleaning the streets (01/17/2024); Sergey Shelest told how the cleaning of Omsk streets proceeds after a heavy snowfall (01/26/2024); 60 units of equipment went out on the roads of Omsk at night to combat snow. First of all, the road workers cleared the main highways (01/27/2024); "I know what it means to work with a shovel." The mayor of Omsk spoke about snow removal in the city (01/28/2024); On behalf of the governor and the mayor, road workers brought out maximum equipment for cleaning Omsk (02/14/2024); A record-breaking snowy winter. How streets and courtyards are dug out of snow in Omsk every day (02/16/2024).

The informational occasions around which the chains of regional news texts are built are those that acquire a wide public resonance. The regional mass information discourse is constructed as a set of text chains.

The texts in the chain are characterized by independence and relative structural independence from each other. At the same time, text chains have the properties of cohesion and coherence. Coherence is ensured by the commonality of names and predicates: in both examples, repeated names and verbs can be distinguished. A specific local dictionary is formed within the text news chain.

As you can see, the body of media texts studied is dominated by persons of power, there is increased attention to the activities of the governor and the mayor. The actions and statements of the authorities – the governor and the mayor - can be attributed to the nuclear composite block of news text chains in the regional media discourse. They are embedded in the news chain with the help of verbs of speaking: r ordered, gave an assignment, ordered, instructed, set a task, etc. By broadcasting information about solving the socio-economic problems of the region, an image of an effective manager is created.

By grouping the texts by the source of information, you can see the difference in the presentation of the event by news agencies: Gorod55 is the most categorical in the representation of the discursive plot, putting the components in strong positions of the text do not cope, there are not enough drivers and workers, etc.

Conclusions

A chain of news texts is a narrative structure that represents a combined chain of events taking place in a certain space-time context. The governor and the mayor are inscribed into the journalistic narrative as heroes, actors, and characters.

The presence of one or another textual component in the chain may be due to both the specifics of the event itself – stretched over time, and the author's/editorial intention. The specifics of the event determine the mandatory text elements, the author's/editorial intention to prolong the discursive plot – optional elements in the form of a selection of readers' comments. Thus, text chains are open-ended structures.

The text chains may differ: a) in terms of volume and intensity: the hypertext "color design of public transport" is significantly smaller than the second hypertext; b) in terms of the degree of detail and the presence of thematic branches. Scaling of the news stream is carried out by creating news reports of a fatalistic nature, artificially supporting interest in this topic, and news reports of an entertaining nature – for example, about the governor's down jacket, in which he checked the cleaning of streets from snow.

The variability of the representation of an event in different media is found in the density and intensity of the representation of a particular discursive plot, and most importantly – in the actualization of the tone of messages, evaluation, and finally, in the peculiarities of the media's interpretation of the facts of reality, which affects the formation of the worldview of the addressee – a resident of Omsk and the Omsk region.