Propaganda as a technology of conducting information warfare in contemporary media discourse

Abstract

This article is devoted to the methods and means of contemporary propaganda in English-language media discourse, based on publications of The Guardian from February 2022 to February 2024. The subject of the research encompasses verbal and non-verbal propaganda techniques, their linguistic markers, frequency of occurrence, and mechanisms of influence on mass consciousness. The object of the study comprises the textual and visual components of publications in the English-language online media outlet, viewed as the primary domain for the implementation of propagandistic strategies. Particular attention is devoted to the functional-pragmatic potential of six methods: appeal to authority, repetition of information, creating the effect of majority support, the “half-truth” method, false analogies technique, and the use of non-verbal symbols. The aim of the present research is to identify, systemize, and linguistically interpret the propaganda methods employed in contemporary media discourse as instruments of information warfare. The methodological framework combines content analysis for the qualitative interpretation of examples, comparative analysis, as well as the author’s original three-level methodology of discourse-analysis, comprising the stages of marker identification, contextual verification based on five operationalized criteria, and quantitative interpretation of the obtained results. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the development and approbation of an original methodological framework that formalizes the process of propaganda identification through explicit criteria, as well as in the perspective of the unity of verbal and non-verbal means. The findings complement existing classifications of manipulative techniques (G. Lasswell, S.G. Kara‑Muza, and E.V. Shelestuk) by providing empirically grounded frequency data and revealing the correlation between method selection and its linguistic realization. The results demonstrate that all six methods are regularly attested in the examined corpus. The most frequent techniques are appeal to authority and repetition of information. On the basis of the obtained data, a set of recommendations is proposed for the development of counter-propaganda measures at the individual, practical, and state level.