Emotionalisation Strategy in the Internet News Coverage of the COVID-19 Vaccines

Abstract

The study encompasses the issues of public opinion manipulation in the post-Covid era. Within the framework of the research, the author delves into the discourse analysis of the most common rhetorical devices used by journalists for implementing the emotionalisation strategy and politicizing the Covid-19 vaccines, including emotional identification with newsreaders, self-presentation as well as appeals to pseudo-authorities. The reliability of the scientific results is supported by the analysis of more than 100 news stories about the Covid-19 vaccines collected from the online versions of the British and US highlycirculated papers. The conducted study shows that emotionalisation of the news coverage of the Covid-19 vaccines is aimed at political decision-making, enhancing or discrediting the image of the vaccines and the countries, polarizing social groups and manipulating public opinion in the digital information warfare. The study promotes deeper understanding of media manipulation tools, thus helping individuals develop media literacy skills.