PRAGMATIC MARKERS OF MANIPULATIVE INFLUENCE IN UKRAINIAN ONLINE DISCOURSE (BASED ON NEWS PUBLICATIONS ABOUT BLACKOUTS)

Abstract

Introduction. Modern media discourse is undergoing significant transformations, evolving from a mere information source into an active instrument for shaping social consciousness. In the context of the current “attention economy” and time deficits, headlines serve as self-sufficient discourse units that perform primary event framing and anchor specific evaluative frames in the recipient’s subconscious. Crisis situations, such as massive power outages in Ukraine, provide a fertile ground for manipulative influence through pragmatic marking.
Purpose. The article aims to identify and systematize pragmatic markers of manipulative influence in Ukrainian online news publications concerning blackouts.
Methods. The research is based on pragmatic and discourse-analytical approaches combined with qualitative content analysis. The study material consists of a corpus of 60 headlines from popular Ukrainian online media outlets (such as “Oboz.ua”, “UNIAN”, “1+1”, “24 kanal”) published between October 2025 and January 2026.
Results. Drawing on the speech act theory developed by J. Austin and J. Searle, the study analyzes headlines as speech acts possessing specific illocutionary force and perlocutionary effects. Ten types of pragmatic markers were identified and classified: emotional-evaluative, aspectual-dynamic, quantitative, collective-spatial, predictive-interrogative, punctuation, epistemic, attributive-quotation, modal, and directive-warning. The analysis shows that manipulative potential is realized through indirect speech acts, where formal representatives (statements of fact) function as covert directives or expressives aimed at emotional contagion.
Originality. The novelty of the research lies in the systematic analysis of specific linguistic tools that form the interpretative framework of crisis events in the contemporary digital environment. The study demonstrates how pragmatic marking functions as a “perlocutionary trap”, where the strategic use of markers like alarmism or revelation creates an emotional background that guides the reader’s further interpretation of the news.
Conclusion. Empirical research confirms that pragmatic marking in media discourse about blackouts is a systemic phenomenon used to implement a strategy of “anxious expectation”. Manipulation in these texts is often “soft” and implicit, as it relies on linguistic means that appear as natural parts of the news while inducing a sense of inevitability, crisis, and loss of control.