Having concluded earlier in the chapter “News Production” that the title is the most significant part of an article, it can be seen how CNN tried to show its attitude in the phrase “...Putin tried..”, later sarcastically describing his reaction as “manly adventures” and “bare-chested patriotism” as well as having an opportunity to mention outlet's article “Vladimir Putin's rise from spy to Russian leader”.

BBC

Despite highlighting eight times that the protests were unauthorized, BBC regarded the events as “the large gathering where people express themselves peacefully”.

The texts were generally neutral; however, they were simultaneously filled with a set of phrases having negative connotations of anger and violence when mentioning the actions of the law enforcement. More focus was on the police actions in general and towards the opposition members. The articles describe in detail how the demonstrators were “barred”, “dragged away”, “bleeding”, “pinned to the ground”, “kicked with a baton”, etc. This pattern continued when describing other aspects, for instance, criticism of the opposition was “fierce” instead of neutral “heavy”. The reaction of protesters became “extreme defiance”.

NBC

NBC claimed the events were a “wide anti-government movement” without focusing on the demonstrations itself. Similarly to BBC, NBC described the actions of the law enforcement calling them “heavy-handedness”. Overall, the wording was neutral.

Nevertheless, the articles unexpectedly brought more attention to the persona of Vladimir Putin, mentioning his name altogether twenty-two times. It was linked as the event allegedly showing “president's power waning” and was “a sign of waning patience” despite the fact that the real reasoning behind the events was elections without the president's involvement. The first researched article was titled “Life is getting harder for Putin…” and another was called “Life is getting harder and harder for Putin” and both evidently reported on the consequences of the events for the president.

FOX News

The protests were referred to by this outlet as the “largest in eight years” and “high-profile”. FOX News' texts were relatively neutral, no evaluative language units were present.

FOX News centered their attention on the police and their role in the protests, particularly on the detentions and “wresting” between the protesters and the policemen. They provided a timeline of events and the number of detainees without mentioning the police's violent actions.

The New York Times

This news outlet described the protests as `peaceful gatherings', supporting the events, and calling them `approved'.

Similarly to CNN, The New York Times showed freedom verging on artistry in their rhetoric. A variety of idiomatic phrases and sentences were used such as “bread-and-butter issues” (meaning “ordinary problems”), “nipping [any opposition] in the bud” (meaning “to stop it before I could develop”). Idiomatic phrases are used to amplify the message and draw he attention of readers by evoking the emotional response. Basic statements about the events seem to be described as epithets: “gloomy standards of living”, “heavy-handed intolerance of dissent”, “an increasingly hard-line”.

However, the outlet brought to light a new direction of the narrative, focusing on the problems which might have resulted in a surge of protests but were not the primary cause. The New York Times addressed corruption and money-laundering cases and linked them to Moscow's wave of protests. Dwelling on the opposition member's role in investigating the issue and the way the law officials dealt with these individuals, the outlet attributed it to the authorities who organized the elections as being corrupt.

The Guardian

The Guardian considered the protest the “largest in years”, “biggest opposition rally” and “mass unrest”.

The texts were linguistically neutral until the description of actions taken by the police emerged in the articles. The articles included a detailed timeline of the law enforcement tactics without giving any evaluative commentaries, although it was said to be “alternating between the sinister and the absurd”. Thus, the events were linked to the present state of the country, being called a “police state”.

The Washington Post

The Washington Post referred to the demonstrations as “biggest anti-government groundswell” and “a revolution of dignity.” The news outlet continued the trend of free-speechness in their texts, utilized phrases which are not usually anticipated to be seen in a news report. For instance, the phrases resembling epithets were used: “balmy July afternoon”, “baton-wielding police”, “relentless pressure”. The aforementioned phrases are an example of emotive language, which is used to evoke a certain emotion in a reader.

The Washington Post focused on the mass character of the events and the significant number of detentions. However, having highlighted the excessiveness of law enforcement actions by mentioning the number of arrests, the outlet did not describe or evaluate the extent of police brutality. The outlet proceeds to link the events to the Russian president's credibility and condemn his weakened “grip on the country”.

Huffington Post

Huffington Post emphasized the endemic of the demonstrations calling them a “flashpoint” and a “standoff” between the legal authorities and the opposition. The outlet asserted that “Kremlin is preventing” fair election. Moreover, the focus was narrowed as the outlet claimed that the activists protested “against President Vladimir Putin's government”. Huffington Post has proven to be by far the most judgemental of the president's persona. Its choice defiant of wording cannot be ignored: “Brute force is one of the few options left for Vladimir Putin…”, “balancing the veneer of a democracy”, “trying to keep a tight grip on the country is a tricky job”. Nevertheless, the reason behind such language cleared out when the opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was titled “Russia's most prominent figure”. By making this statement the outlet showed its approval of the Russian opposition and conversely disapproval of the Russian government.

Reuters

Reuters qualified the protests as “biggest for years”.

The outlet managed to shortly report on all sides of the events and its participants rather than focusing on some parts and developed a particular narrative similar to previously mentioned news outlets. Reuters reported on the protests itself, describing the demonstrators' claims, mentioning the chants.

DW

DW outlined the events from all sides. The outlet regarded the protests both as “peaceful gathering” and “mass unrest” in accordance with the legitimacy of the demonstration. No evaluative language was found, but the police's actions were criticized and called “violent”.

5.1.3 Quoted Sources

Earlier in the Literature Review, it has been established that source-tagging is one of the most efficient tactics of information manipulation in political and media discourse (Hart, 2010). Appearing in a media outlet, certain data is attributed to another news outlet or source in order to communicate particular claims without holding accountability for that. The researched English-language digital news media outlets appealed to a variety of information sources in their articles. Objectively speaking, the articles should represent the opinions of all the participants of the event at minimum, which are the protesters, the police and the oppositions members, organizing the events. The list of quoted sources can be seen in Table 5. The following Table shows which sources were quoted in the articles of each English-language media outlet.

Table 5

Quoted sources of English-language web media outlets

	CNN	NBC	BBC	FOX News	NY Times	The guardian	W Post	Huff Post	Reuters	DW
Protesters	-	-	-	+	+	+	-	-	+	+
Authorities	+	-	+	-	+	-	-	-	-	+
Oppositions members	+	+	-	+	-	-	-	-	+	-
Media		+ TASS Reuters	+ Vedomosti Novaya Gazeta Rossiyskaya Gazeta	+ The Moscow Times Mediazona TASS	+ TASS	+	+ TASS AP Vedomosti	+ Reuters DW	-	-
Independent Monitoring Groups (OVD-info, The White Counter)	+	+	-	+	+	+	+	-	+	+
Experts	-	+	+	-	-	-	+	-	-	-
Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Telegram)	+	+	+	+	+	-	-	-	-	-

Having analyzed the quoted sources of English-language news media outlets, a few patterns can be determined. First, a number of outlets cited other media outlets out of context to bolster the narrative. For instance, NBC quoted Reuters in the context of criticizing president Putin notwithstanding the fact that Reuters did not express any opinion towards the president's persona. Second, few outlets quoted Russian media outlets to criticize them and refute the cited information.

Nonetheless, positive trends can be observed. All English-language digital news outlets had a variety of quoted sources in their articles to present a comprehensive picture of the events. Moreover, the majority included hyperlinks to prove the validity of the quotations.

5.1.3 External Relations

External relations are the connections between the texts and social aspects. According to Fairclough (2003), corresponding semiotic element of Social Structures is language. Languages are considered to be social structures defining the text's potential.

Social Structures

The prevailing social structure of English-speaking countries is individualism (Hofstede, 2020). The individual needs are stressed over the needs of a group. Individual freedom and inviolability are fundamental for this ideology. Thus, the English-language media outlets focused mainly on the violation of human rights for freedom of speech and the brutality of police towards the protesters.

Multimodal Discourse

Fairclough (1998) highlighted the significance of imagery when performing a CDA. Photographs, videos, pictures, and other graphic elements alter a reader's perception of an event.

The visual aspect presented in the articles of English-language news outlets followed a certain pattern. All of the outlets included the photographs and videos of the protesters being detained as well as the photographs of the protesters holding their signs. The pictures of signs highlight the democratic and humanistic attitudes of the English-language media outlets towards the protests. The posters and slogans show the voice of the protesting crowd, therefore, the outlets found it necessary to include in the reports.

To summarize, the English-language digital news media outlets were overall relatively neutral in their reports. However, there were a number of outlets whose vocabulary was bold and eloquent -- features we are not used to see in the media. CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Huffington Post shared a similar style of wording and narration. All of these outlets are considered to be left and lean left. Therefore, a conclusion can be drawn, that left and lean left English-language digital media outlets have a similarly free, eloquent and risky wording, which forms a special reporting style.

The main focus of the texts was placed on the role of police and its brutality. This was supported by the use of imagery, showing the violent detentions.

English-language internet media outlets used a variety of sources in their reports to ensure broad coverage.

5.2 Russian-language news media outlets

Among the most popular Russian-language news aggregators and agencies it had been opted to analyze the following ones: Vesti.RU («Âåñòè»), RIA Novosti («ÐÈÀ Íîâîñòè»), Lenta («Ëåíòà»), AiF («Àðãóìåíòû è ôàêòû»), KP («Êîìñîìîëüñêàÿ ïðàâäà»), Izvestia («Èçâåñòèÿ»), Meduza («Ìåäóçà»), Vedomosti («Âåäîìîñòè»), TASS («ÒÀÑÑ»), and Kommersant («Êîììåðñàíò»). According to Gatov (2015), Vedomosti, Kommersant, and Lenta.ru are not controlled by the government and adapted a more Western approach of reporting. KP, RIA Novosti, and TASS are state-owned and federally funded news agencies (Krasnoboka, 2018).

5.2.1 Vocabulary, Representation, and Identification

The research of the Russian-language news media outlets' vocabulary was hindered by the versatility of the Russian language. While the notions of the English-language articles were narrow and recurring, the Russian-language texts contained a variety of synonyms and cases of the same words. Thus, to track and count the linguistic units of the previously established vocabulary list, it is necessary to determine its Russian language analogues.

According to Cambridge Dictionary the chosen words can be translated in the following way: protest -- ïðîòåñò; rally -- ñîáðàíèå, ìèòèíã; demonstration -- äåìîíñòðàöèÿ, øåñòâèå; crisis -- êðèçèñ; crackdown -- ðàçãðîì. For the research purposes, I propose to refer to the word `demonstration' as to the analogue of the word `àêöèÿ'. It should be noted that the word `protest' in the Russian language is rarely considered to be a synonym of `rally' or `demonstration'. The word `protests' has a meaning of `resistance', `objection', therefore it is perceived as an act of radicalism (Pavlenkov, 1907).

In Table 6 the results of the analysis are presented. The majority of the news outlets referred to the events as to `rallies' or `demonstrations', but Vedomosti labeled the events to be a `crisis'.

Table 6

Vocabulary describing the events

	Vesti	RIA Novosti	TASS	KP	Lenta	AiF	Meduza	Vedomosti	Kommersant	Izvestia
Àêöèÿ (Demonstration)	9	18	18	24	8	39	29	17	24	50
Ìèòèíã (Rally)	15	4	15	39	16	28	5	21	25	8
Ïðîòåñò (Protest)	2	9	-	31	2	36	20	12	-	30
Êðèçèñ (Crisis)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-

The grammar of the Russian language is diverse. One notion can be described in various ways, using synonymous words and cases. Thus, the notions which were repeating the same forms in the English-language articles were expressed differently in Russian-language texts. To determine the participants described in Russian-language texts, I propose the following analogues: protesters -- ïðîòåñòóþùèå, ìèòèíãóþùèå, ó÷àñòíèêè àêöèè; opposition -- îïïîçèöèÿ, îïïîçèöèîíåðû; police -- ïîëèöèÿ, Ðîñãâàðäèÿ, ïðàâîçàùèòíèêè, ñîòðóäíèêè ïîëèöèè, Ðîñãâàðäèè è ÎÌÎÍà; authorities -- âëàñòè, ìýðèÿ, ïðåäñòàâèòåëè ìýðèè/âëàñòè.

Table 7 shows the number of times the participants of the events were mentioned in each media outlet's articles. It can be observed that the majority of the outlets focused on the police and its role in the protests.

Table 7

Vocabulary determining the participants

	Vesti	RIA Novosti	TASS	KP	Lenta	AiF	Meduza	Vedomosti	Kommersant	Izvestia
Ïîëèöèÿ/ Ðîñãâàðäèÿ/ ÎÌÎÍ (Police)	7	8	2	14	2	35	30	4	17	20
Îïîçèöèÿ/ Îïîçèöèîíåðû (Opposition)	3	4	-	3	2	14	3	24	16	-
Ïðîòåñòóþùèå/ Ìèòèíãóþùèå (Protesters)	4	-	3	8	1	14	13	4	6	20
Âëàñòü/ Ìýðèÿ/ Ïðåäñòàâèòåëè (Authorities)	-	9	6	4	5	20	-	16	8	7
Ëþäè (People)	-	3	-	6	-	6	-	1	3	2
Ïóòèí (Putin)	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	5	-	1
Êðåìëü (Kremlin)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-

The data presented in the following table shows the number of times the detentions and the violent actions were mentioned. As it can been seen, some of the outlets did not address the mass character of detentions and brutality of law enforcement.

Table 8

Vocabulary with a negative connotation

	Vesti	RIA Novosti	TASS	KP	Lenta	AiF	Meduza	Vedomosti	Kommersant	Izvestia
Çàäåðæàòü/ çàäåðæàíû/ çàäåðæàíèå (Detain)	6	2	2	21	5	23	23	5	12	20
Æåñòîêî/ æåñòêîñòü (Violence)	1	1	-	4	-	5	5	-	1	4
Àðåñò/ àðåñòîâàòü (Arrest)	-	1	2	-	-	9	-	-	-	1

Table 9 presents the adjectives the news outlets used to portray the events. All outlets emphasized its mass character and illegality. A number of outlets noted that along with the unsanctioned rallies, there were authorized demonstrations.

Table 9

Vocabulary of evaluation

	Vesti	RIA Novosti	TASS	KP	Lenta	AiF	Meduza	Vedomosti	Kommersant	Izvestia
Íåñàíêöèîíèðîâàííûé/ íåñîãëàñîâàííûé (Unsanctioned, unauthorized)	6	14	10	10	7	13	2	7	2	17
Ìàññîâûé (Mass)	1	5	2	5	2	15	3	10	1	3
Ñàíêöèîíèðîâàíûé/ ñîãëàñîâàííûé (Authorized)	1	-	6	7	7	14	2	4	-	3

To summarize, Russian-language digital news outlets focused on the police and protesters in the context of the discursive events. Considerable attention was paid to the illegality of the events, their mass character, and the violence of the protesters towards the law enforcement.

Vesti.RU («Âåñòè»)

Despite being relatively short, ranging in size from 2 to 3 paragraphs long, the news reports of Vesti.Ru were full of evaluative language units. (The following language units were translated from Russian into English by the author of this research). The events were deemed “very non-peaceful” («ñîâñåì íå ìèðíûå») and, in general, a “deliberate provocation” («ñîçíàòåëüíàÿ ïðîâîêàöèÿ»).

The articles had a significant number of phrases denoting a process of contemplation: “which means” («à çíà÷èò»), “apparently” («î÷åâèäíî»), “it looked like” («áûëî ïîõîæå»), “knowing exactly” («òî÷íî çíàÿ»). By incorporating these units in the texts with the basic information about the events the outlet has brought causality into the ordinary news report. Moreover, it has created an atmosphere of direct appealing to a reader, which is unusual for news reports.

The outlet was critical in regard to the protesters. It tried to create a negative image of the protesters, claiming the majority of the crowd were juvenile, and the remaining adults were “less than mediocre” («áûëè … áîëåå íåïîñðåäñòâåííûìè»). In the reports of Vesti.Ru the protesters were also said to be very aggressive towards the law enforcement: “the police tried to calm the protesters, but in response got thrown at with bottles, rocks, and metal trash bins” («ïðîòåñòóþùèõ ïûòàëèñü... îáðàçóìèòü, íî â îòâåò -- áóòûëêè, êóñêè àñôàëüòà è ìåòàëëè÷åñêèå óðíû»), “took the patience of police for a weakness” («òåðïåíèå ñèëîâèêîâ ïðîòåñòóþùèå... ïðèíÿëè çà ñëàáîñòü»), “purposefully escalated the situation” («ñëîâíî íàìåðåííî íàêàëÿëè»).

Conversely, the police were portrayed as patient, and rational when it was needed. They “tolerated everything” («òåðïåëè âñå») and acted “brutally enough” («äîñòàòî÷íî æåñòêî»).

Vesti.Ru mentioned and compared the Ukrainian “Maidan” protests, which are renowned for being extremely violent: «ñíîâà ýòî çíàêîìîå ìàéäàííîå».

RIA Novosti («ÐÈÀ Íîâîñòè»)

Short or long, the articles of RIA Novosti were judgmental. The events were regarded as “anti-government rebellion” («àíòèãîñóäàðñòâåííûé áóíò») which was “uncompromising and wrathful” («áåñêîìïðîìèññíûé è ãíåâíûé»).

The texts contained multiple phrases and words denoting the process of reflecting on the issue. For instance, “you guessed it” («êàê âû äîãàäàëèñü»), “as we remember” («êàê ìû ïîìíèì»), “certainly” («êîíå÷íî»), “but what is interesting («íî âîò ÷òî èíòåðåñíî»), “and all that” («è âñå òàêîå»). The outlet used the pronouns “you/we” in the texts to directly address the readers, creating an artificial dialogue. As described in the previous chapter “Political Language”, the use of the pronouns is one of the tactics to legitimize the desired opinion - by establishing a sense of unity. Here the outlet states that the reader has already known and remembered some piece of data and then proceeds to describe the outlets' take on the event, therefore, creating an artificial dialogue when the reader cannot disagree with the opponent because the outlet states that both of the sides have already agreed on the correctness of the report.

RIA Novosti was highly free-speeched and passive-aggressive in their language. The texts were written in an almost fictional manner, resembled a sentence-long epithets: “in the heart of our motherland” («â ñòîëèöå íàøåé Ðîäèíû»), “defeated wisdom” («ñ ñîêðóøåííîé ìóäðîñòüþ»), “eager to outrage and wanting to take vengeance” («ñ îõîòîé ïîääàâøèñü áåðñåðêåðñêîé ÿðîñòè è æàæäû âåðøèòü âîçìåçäèå»). The mentioned fictional manner of language appeals to the emotions of a reader. When a reader's emotions interfere in the process of cognitive evaluation, the response becomes less objective and logical.

The protesters were portrayed as “a ridiculous group of revolutionaries”, who were chanting “outrageous slogans” and bumping into each other. They were also said to be mostly juvenile or “intellectually innocent” («ñîâñåì èíòåëëåêòóàëüíî íåâèííûå»).

In the reports a huge amount of slang was used, especially when describing the actions and intentions of protesters: “happy anti-regime warriors” («âåñåëûå áîðöû ñ ðåæèìîì»), “will happily bump into each other” («âåñåëî ïîòîëêàþòñÿ»), “will post positive selfies” («çàïîñòÿò ïîçèòèâíûå ñåëôà÷êè»), “shake the regime” («øàòàòü ðåæèì»).

TASS («ÒÀÑÑ»)

TASS's reports were neutral and contained no evaluative language. The outlet reported on the events and its main participants. The articles mainly served as a warning to the readers to be careful due to the fact that the protests were unauthorized. The outlet also reported on protesters being excessively aggressive, and police trying to calm them. However, the outlet neglected to assess the legality and rationality of both sides.

KP («Êîìñîìîëüñêàÿ ïðàâäà»)

The outlet tries to make the events seem absurd, and the used vocabulary exacerbated the sense of the absurdity. The articles were filled with unnecessary details about unrelated topics such as the perfume of a protester, Ukraine, etc.

The texts were not declarative, they contained interrogative and exclamatory sentences such as “What a travesty” («Êàêîå ðàçî÷àðîâàíèå! »), “Is it really a rally in support of the candidates…?” («Ýòî òî÷íî ìèòèíã â ïîääåðæêó êàíäèäàòîâ…?»), “Have they all gone mad here?” («Ñ óìà îíè ÷òî ëè òóò âñå ïîñõîäèëè?»), “For what?” («Ðàäè ÷åãî? »). The language of KP stood out in an unusual way. It was vernacular, full of slang, jargon, and vulgarities. For instance, “like drunkards need to re-up” («êàê àëêàøàì, ïîéòè äîãíàòüñÿ»), “scholars” («øêîëÿðû»), “a drifter” («áëàòíîé»), “bend regime” («ïðîãíóòü âëàñòü»)

The protesters were referred to as a “bunch of scholars” («ñòàéêà ðåáÿò») who “wanted Maidan but did not make it” («î÷åíü õîòåëè...Ìàéäàí. Íå äîòÿíóëè...»).

The law enforcement was portrayed as “polite people in camouflage” («ëþäè â êàìóôëÿæå ñî âñåé âåæëèâîñòüþ»). It was highlighted that there was no police brutality: “there was none and could be none” («êòî-òî æäàë æåñòêîñòè ñèëîâèêîâ? Åå íå áûëî. È áûòü íå ìîãëî»)

In the texts the outlet appealed to the protesters: “guys, there will not be any negotiations” («ðåáÿòà, ïåðåãîâîðîâ íå áóäåò»). And proceeded to approach to them using the pronoun “we”, therefore, distancing the protesters from the reader. In the KP's narrative the reader and the outlet are invariably like-minded.

Lenta («Ëåíòà»)

The articles of Lenta were rather neutral. No evaluative language units were present. The reports contained information about the protests, their locations, and detentions. The latter was done by providing statistics.

AiF («Àðãóìåíòû è ôàêòû»)

The outlet called the rallies an “anarchy”. The protesters were referred to as “protest gig” («ïðîòåñòíàÿ òóñîâêà») and the “youth” («ìîëîäåæü»). This was done to belittle the protesters in the eyes of the reader.

The texts contained the connotations of probability and evaluation: “perhaps” («âîçìîæíî»), “maybe” («íàâåðíîå»), “fortunately” («ê ñ÷àñòüþ»), “apparently” («âèäèìî»). This type of vocabulary is unusual for news reports and indicates the effort of creating a connection between the cause and effect. With evaluative language, AiF's texts contained grammar mistakes and misspellings.

The outlet dedicated a big portion of its articles to the reaction of western media outlets and advised them to analyze the protests and the control measures in their countries.

Meduza («Ìåäóçà»)

The articles of Meduza were neutral and short and contained no extra information. No evaluative language units were present.

The outlet focused on creating the atmosphere of the events by mentioning what the protesters were saying in the crowd.

Those articles might be considered to be an example of how the events could have been described in the most objective manner. Broadly speaking, by mentioning the nature of an event, its social actors and the dynamics between them without evaluating it.

Vedomosti («Âåäîìîñòè»)

The texts of Vedomosti did not contain any direct evaluative language units due to the fact that a large number of statements were attributed to certain sources. Thus, these units cannot be considered to be examples of the linguistic style of this outlet. Nevertheless, words such as “lefties” («ÿáëî÷íèêè») appeared.

Kommersant («Êîììåðñàíò»)

The articles of Kommersant were relatively neutral. The number of words denoting reflection was insufficient, however, the outlet showed a rare and small sense of eloquence in its descriptions: “promising screams” («îáíàäåæèâàþùèå êðèêè»), “red books” («êðàñíûå êíèæêè») meaning passports.

Kommersant reported in a one-sided dialogue manner, referring to the outlet as “we”.

Izvestia («Èçâåñòèÿ»)

The style of narrative was similar to fiction in its eloquence and detailing. The articles included phrases denoting reflection: “notably” («ïðèìå÷àòåëüíî»), “became noticeable” («ñòàëî çàìåòíî»), “in essence” («ïî ñóòè»).

The events were titled a “so-called battle” («òàê íàçûâàåìàÿ áîðüáà») by Izvestia. The outlet criticized the protesters, calling them “protesting suckers” (ïðîòåñòóþùèõ ìîëîêîñîñîâ»), “hooligans” («äåáîøèðû»), who were “mettlesome and sometimes just drunk” («ðüÿíûå -- à ïîðîé è ïðîñòî íåòðåçâûå») and “belligerent' («âîèíñòâåííî íàñòðîåíû).

The protesters “tried to somehow make the police mad” («ïûòàëèñü õîòü êàê-òî âûâåñòè ïðàâîîõðàíèòåëåé èç ðàâíîâåñèÿ»).

In the reports Izvestia focused on seemingly unnecessary details, for example, the lack of protesters' interest in coffee («ïðàâäà, âàíèëüíûé ëàòòå áîðöîâ ñ ðåæèìîì íå èíòåðåñóåò»).

5.2.2 Quoted Sources

To fairly represent the event, all of its participants should comment on it. The main participant of the Moscow's summer protests were the protesters, the police and the opposition, organizing the events.

The following table shows the sources which were quoted by each Russian-language news outlet.



Table 10

Quoted Sources of Russian-language web media outlets

	Vesti	RIA Novosti	TASS	KP	Lenta	AiF	Meduza	Vedomosti	Kommersant	Izvestia
Protesters	-	-	-	+	-	+	+	-	+	+
Authorities	-	+	+	-	-	+	-	-	-	+
Opposition members	-	-	-	-	-	-	+	+	+	-
MVD	+	+	-	+	+	+	-	-	+	+
Media	+ TASS RIA Novosti Interfax	-	-	-	+ TASS Regnum	-	-	+ Interfax	+	+ Ren TV TASS
Independent Monitoring Groups (OVD-info, The White Counter)	-	-	-	-	-	-	+	+	+	-
Experts	-	-	+	+	-	+	-	+	+	+
Social Media (Twitter, Telegram, Facebook)	-	-	+	-	-	-	-	-	+	+

Having analyzed the quoted sources and the way in which they were present, a number of recurring patterns can be identified. The observed patterns are an example of Source tagging, a practice of information manipulation utilized to shift the responsibility from a news outlet onto the source.

First, a percentage of the researched news outlets mentioned unnamed sources in their reports. For instance, “a person close to the mayor's office” («÷åëîâåê, áëèçêèé ê ìýðèè»); “according to one of the interlocutors” («ïî ñëîâàì îäíîãî èç ñîáåñåäíèêîâ»); “people close to the authorities” («äâà ÷åëîâåêà, áëèçêèõ ê àäìèíèñòðàöèè); “Press Office employee” («ñîòðóäíèê ïðåññ-ñëóæáû»); “one of the attendees” (îäèí èç ïðèøåäøèõ»); “a woman standing near” (ñòîÿùàÿ ðÿäîì æåíùèíà»); “a 16-year-old” (16-ëåòíèé ïàðåíü»); “one of the protesters” (îäíà èç ó÷àñòíèö àêöèè»); “an expert” (ýêñïåðò»). The above-mentioned sources are impersonal. The anonymity of an information source has an impact on the validity of the source's opinion. A number of outlets quoted similar sources but in a different way: “Musvocite by the name of Vera Timofeyevna” («ìîñêâè÷êà Âåðà Òèìîôååâíà»); “a girl named Eugeniya told Meduza” («ãîâîðèò «Ìåäóçå» äåâóøêà ïî èìåíè Åâãåíèÿ»); “special correspondent Kristina Safonova” («ñïåöèàëüíûé êîððåñïîíäåíò Êðèñòèíà Ñàôîíîâà»).

Second, a number of outlets created a certain narrative by quoting experts. The reports of some outlets consisted entirely of the expert opinion that was not quoted correctly. This way the outlets reported certain information and then finished the paragraphs by stating “said an expert”.

However, there was a positive trend of quoting sources among the Russian-language news outlets. Lenta, Meduza, and Kommersant provided hyperlinks while citing the sources, thus proving the validity of the statements.

5.2.3 External Relations

Social Structures

Speaking about the social trend that could affect the discourse of Russian-language digital news outlets, Power Distance must be mentioned. Russian power holders are relatively distant from the rest of the society (Hofstede, 2020). The authorities are considered to be the elite, therefore inviolable and de facto right. The research articles portrayed this discrepancy by focusing on the illegality of the events and the wrong attitude of the protesters. In certain cases, the protesters' intellectual capacities were criticized as to compare with the superiority of the authorities and law enforcement.

Multimodal discourse

The imagery provided by the Russian-language digital news media outlets varied. Outlets chose to mainly include the photographs of the large crowds of protesters holding flags, police standing still, and the opposition members. Only Meduza included pictures of violent mass detentions. The files of AiF and KP were random. Photos of Ukrainian flags, people lying on the ground, people in costumes -- all to support the absurdness of the events which the outlets outlined in their articles. TASS did not provide any imagery, perhaps, to leave a reader with a choice of their own perception of the events.

To conclude, overall, few trends of reporting styles can be observed. The news outlets were either neutral and considerate or eloquent, highly detailed, and judgmental. The latter pattern of narrative was shared by state-owned media outlets such as Izvestia, KP, RIA Novosti, and Vesti.ru. These media outlets also created an artificial dialogue between the reader and the outlet that is peculiar for media discourse. The reader cannot disagree with the opinion of the outlet because the outlets unite with the readers by the use of pronoun `we'.

The focus was placed on the illegality of the demonstrations and the violence of the protesters towards the law enforcement. This was supported by the imagery of immobile and calm police as well as the crowds of protesters.

The media outlets cited a small number of sources in their reports, narrowing the coverage.



6. Model of information assessment

On the basis of identified patterns and drawn conclusions of the English-language and Russian-language news media reporting style, I propose that the following model of information assessment can be devised. Regardless of the political direction of a particular media outlet, three aspects support the validity of the presented information.

· multiversity of context

The outlet must provide a fair representation of a broad number of reliable sources. The sources must be the participants of a discourse event or be related to the event. The sources must be named, and their validity needs to be described, for instance, by mentioning their status and role in the event.

· accuracy

The outlet must cite the sources in the context accordingly. Preferably, following the rules of quotation and including hyperlinks when possible.

· fairness

The outlet must cover all existing viewpoints of the event, not neglecting any of the participants. Otherwise it is fair to report on the event itself, without focusing on one particular side.



7. Conclusion

News media has always been seen as a central element in people's daily life. It has jurisdiction over the information flow and sets the stage for political agenda. Undoubtedly, news media has a strong impact on public awareness, attitudes, and social behaviors, acting as a gateway into the outside world.

The nature of news is likely to distort people's perceptions because of a human innate mental predisposition to estimate the events by the ease of which associations come to mind. The more vivid, unsettling, and stimulating the description of an event is, the more emotive and phatic the response of one's mind. By utilizing certain linguistic strategies news media mislead the public, evoking specific positive or negative emotions and triggering the desired reaction.

In this paper, the content of English-language and Russian-language news media articles covering the events of the protests of Moscow's summer 2019 was analyzed and cross-referenced. It is possible to assume that in the majority of the researched news reports linguistic strategies indicative of information manipulation were utilized. Both data from qualitative and quantitative analyses made it possible to distinguish the aforementioned manipulation tactics.

The reporting styles of English-language and Russian-language digital news media outlets proved to be different. The reason for that lies not only in the distinction in the nature of languages but also in the major differences in social structures.

It has been observed that while creating a specific direction of narrative Russian-language web news media outlets used eloquent, highly detailed, and judgmental language in their reports. The articles included idiomatic phrases, vulgar language units, exclamatory sentences to make the narrative vivid, thus, to evoke a desired emotive response of a reader. The majority of the outlets tried to create an artificial dialogue between the outlet and the reader, therefore, utilizing the tactics of “proximity”, i.e. the reader has to agree with the opinion of the outlet because the outlets unite with the readers. Another manipulation tactic that was used is “source-tagging”. A number of Russian-language digital media outlets cited an expert opinion incorrectly in an attempt to prove the validity of the outlet's statements and to lower the liability of the outlet. Among the expert opinion, anonymous sources were quoted with the same aforementioned objectives.

Speaking about the style of English-language media, a few outlets have shared a similarly free, eloquent, and risky wording in their news reports. This has been done in an attempt to create a vivid narrative that would later trigger the desired rection of the public. Only a small number of outlets utilized the tactic of “source-tagging” to incorrectly prove the validity of their claims. However, the majority of the outlets used a specific category of imagery to highlight the negative impact of the events, thus, evoking the negative reaction in the reader.

On the basis of research findings, it has been concluded that the most common linguistic strategies of information manipulation are source-tagging and the creation of vivid, not typical for news media, narrative. Proceeding from there, a model of information assessment was proposed. The model suggests assessing the validity of a news article by analyzing three contextual categories: fairness, accuracy, and multiversity.

However, among the majority of media outlets which utilized linguistic manipulation strategies, there were a number of English-language and Russian-language news media outlets that can be considered to be relatively neutral in their reports. The articles of Reuters, Meduza, and Lenta.ru managed to ensure broad coverage of the events without giving any type of value judgment. In addition, they provided a variety of sources representing all the sides of the events that were quoted. Therefore, the paper cannot ensure that these media outlets are absolutely unbiased, but the presented style of reporting can be considered to be relatively objective.



References

1. Allern, S. (2002) Journalistic and commercial news values news organizations as patrons of an institution and market actors. Nordicom Review 23(1-2): 137-152.

2. AllSides Media Bias Ratings. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2020, from https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-ratings

3. Bednarek, M. (2006) Evaluation in Media Discourse: Analysis of a Newspaper Corpus. London/New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

4. Bednarek, M. (2010) Evaluation in the news: A methodological framework for analyzing evaluative language in journalism. Australian Journal of Communication 37(2): 15-50.

5. Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2012) `Value added': Language, image and news values. Discourse, Context & Media 1(2-3): 103-113.

6. Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2014) Why do news values matter? Towards a new methodological framework for analyzing news discourse in Critical Discourse Analysis and beyond. Discourse & Society, 25(2), 135-158.

7. Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

8. Blackledge, A. (2005). Discourse and power in a multilingual world. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub.

9. Blackledge, A. (2005). Discourse and power in a multilingual world. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub.

10. Cambridge international dictionary of English. (1995). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

11. Cap, P. (2006) Legitimization in Political Discourse: A Cross-disciplinary Perspective on the Modern US War Rhetoric. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars.

12. Charteris-Black, J. (2011). Politicians and rhetoric: The persuasive power of metaphor. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

13. Charteris-Black, J. (2011). Politicians and rhetoric: The persuasive power of metaphor. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

14. Charteris-Black, J. (2018). Analysing political speeches: Rhetoric, discourse and metaphor. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

15. Charteris-Black, J. (2018). Analysing political speeches: Rhetoric, discourse and metaphor. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

16. Chilton, P. (2004) Analyzing Political Discourse: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.

17. conversation. Amsterdam Philadelphia: J. Benjamins Co.

18. Cotter, C. (2010). News talk: Investigating the language of journalism. News Talk: Investigating the Language of Journalism.

19. Country Comparison. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/russia,the-usa/

20. Deutsche Welle. (n.d.). Moscow: Thousands protest local election: DW: 10.08.2019. Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.dw.com/en/moscow-thousands-protest-local-election/a-49979411

21. Deutsche Welle. (n.d.). Russia protests: Police arrest hundreds at Moscow rally: DW: 03.08.2019. Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.dw.com/en/russia-protests-police-arrest-hundreds-at-moscow-rally/a-49878715

22. Deutsche Welle. (n.d.). Russia: Demonstrators defiant ahead of opposition rally in Moscow: DW: 03.08.2019. Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.dw.com/en/russia-demonstrators-defiant-ahead-of-opposition-rally-in-moscow/a-49871247

23. Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. London: Longman.

24. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

25. Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis. The Critical Study of Language. London: Longman.

26. Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research / N. Fairclough..

27. Fairclough, Norman (1998) `Political Discourse in the Media: An Analytical Framework', pp. 142-162 in Allan Bell and Peter Garrett (eds) Approaches to Media Discourse. Oxford: Blackwell.

28. Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press. London: Routledge.

29. Frawley, W. (2003). International encyclopedia of linguistics. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.

30. Frawley, W. (2003). International encyclopedia of linguistics. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.

31. Gatov, V. (2020, April 07). How the Kremlin and the Media Ended Up in Bed Together. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2015/03/11/how-the-kremlin-and-the-media-ended-up-in-bed-together-a44663

32. Hart, C. (2010) Critical Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Science: New Perspectives on Immigration Discourse. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

33. Hodge, A. (2019, August 25). Putin tried to smash the opposition. Instead protests have spiraled. Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/25/europe/russian-street-protests-leaders-intl/index.html

34. Huge Pro-Opposition Crowd Turns Out in Moscow March. (2019, August 10). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/world/europe/opposition-protest-moscow.html

35. Hundreds Arrested in Moscow as Criminal Case Is Brought Against Opposition Leader. (2019, August 03). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/world/europe/moscow-protest-navalny-corruption.html

36. Hunston, S., & Thompson, G. (1999). Evaluation in text: Authorial stance and the construction of discourse. Estados Unidos de Ameìrica: Oxford University Press.

37. Hunston, S., Thompson, G. (1999). Evaluation in text: Authorial stance and the construction of discourse. Estados Unidos de Ameìrica: Oxford University Press.

38. Jowett, G. S., & O'Donnell, V. (2006). Readings in propaganda and persuasion: New and classic essays. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

39. Jowett, G. S., O'Donnell, V. (2006). Readings in propaganda and persuasion: New and classic essays. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

40. Karwat, M. (1982) Political values as ideas of social needs. International Political Science Review 3(2): 198-204.

41. 'Life is getting harder for Putin': Experts say Moscow protests show president's power could be waning. (2019, August 29). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/protests-in-moscow-shows-presidents-power-could-be-waning.html

42. Loker, K. (2018, September 19). Confusion about what's news and what's opinion is a big problem, but journalists can help solve it. American Press Institute. https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/confusion-about-whats-news-and-whats-opinion-is-a-big-problem-but-journalists-can-help-solve-it/

43. Luke, A. (2002). Beyond science and ideological critique: Developments in critical discourse analysis. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 22, 96-110.

44. Mann, W. C., Thompson S.A. (1985)?Assertions from discourse structure. Proceedings from the eleventh annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society. Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Society.

45. Martin, J. (2004) Positive discourse analysis: Solidarity and change. Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 49, 179-202.

46. More than 1,000 people detained during opposition election protest in Moscow. (2019, July 27). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/27/europe/moscow-opposition-protest-hundreds-detained-intl/index.html

47. More than 1,000 people detained in Moscow amid clashes over city council election, monitor says. (2019, July 27). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/07/27/more-than-people-arrested-moscow-after-clashes-over-city-council-election-monitor-says/

48. Moscow police arrest hundreds during protest calling for fair elections, group claims. (2019, July 27). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.foxnews.com/world/moscow-police-arrests-740-protests

49. Moscow police arrest hundreds of protesters ahead of election. (2019, July 27). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/27/moscow-police-arrest-up-to-200-ahead-of-election-protest

50. Moscow Police Arrest More Than 1,300 at Election Protest. (2019, July 27). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/world/europe/moscow-protest-election-russia.html

51. Moscow protests take center stage for Russia's next act. (2019, August 08). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/moscow-protests-take-center-stage-for-russias-next-act/2019/08/08/31c8e62a-b90f-11e9-8e83-4e6687e99814_story.html

52. Moscow protests: Opposition rally 'largest since 2011'. (2019, August 10). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49305129

53. Nearly 1,400 Detained In Moscow's Largest Protest In A Decade. (2019, July 29). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/moscow-russia-protester-detained_in_5d3e6e09e4b0a6d63741cc95

54. O'Donnell, V. (2019). Propaganda & persuasion. Los Angeles: Sage.

55. O'Donnell, V. (2019). Propaganda & persuasion. Los Angeles: Sage.

56. Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (2010). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour. London u.a.: Sage.

57. Potter, J., Wetherell, M. (2010). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour. London u.a.: Sage.

58. Protesters are taking to the streets in Moscow. The Kremlin is watching to see if others will do the same. (2019, July 29). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/29/europe/moscow-protests-kremlin-response-alexey-navalny/index.html

59. Richardson, J. (2007) Analysing Newspapers. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

60. Russia - Media Landscape. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20180320003807/http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/russia

61. Russia arrests Putin critic Alexei Navalny, hundreds more for taking part in anti-corruption protest. (2019, June 13). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.foxnews.com/world/russia-arrest-putin-critic-alexei-navalny-corruption-protests

62. Russia protests: Hundreds detained during unauthorised demonstration. (2019, August 03). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49218726

63. Russia protests: Thousand arrests at Moscow rally. (2019, July 27). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49125045

64. Russian Police Detain Nearly 1,400 Protesters In Moscow. (2019, July 28). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nearly-1400-detained-in-moscows-largest-protest-in-a-decade_n_5d3d9c8ce4b0a6d6374101be

65. Russian police make hundreds of arrests at Moscow protest. (2019, August 03). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/03/russian-police-detain-opposition-leader-lyubov-sobol

66. Russian police wrestle with protesters, arrest hundreds at Moscow election demonstration. (2019, July 27). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russian-police-wrestle-protesters-arrest-hundreds-moscow-election-demonstration-n1035351

67. Russians demand free elections in Moscow, defying protest ban. (2019, August 31). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-protests/russians-demand-free-elections-in-moscow-defying-protest-ban-idUSKCN1VL0DQ

68. Shei?gal, E. I. (2009). Sovremennai?a? politicheskai?a? lingvistika: Problemy, kont?s?ipt?s?ii, perspektivy: Sbornik nauchnykh trudov. Volgograd: Izdatel?stvo VGPU "Peremena".

69. Shei?gal, E. I. (2009). Sovremennai?a? politicheskai?a? lingvistika: Problemy, kont?s?ipt?s?ii, perspektivy: Sbornik nauchnykh trudov. Volgograd: Izdatel?stvo VGPU "Peremena".

70. Simpson, J. A., Weiner, E. S. C., & Oxford University Press. (1989). The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

71. Sivalneva, E. (2019). Political Neutrality and Bias in News Coverage: Discourse Analysis. (Unpublished bachelor's project). Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.

72. The Protests That Have Rocked Moscow For Weeks - Explained For Brits. (2019, August 10). Retrieved May 7, 2020, from https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/russia-protests-moscow_uk_5d4d4c06e4b01e44e478af60

73. Thompson, G. & Hunston, S. (2000). Evaluation in Text: Authorial Stance and the Construction of Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

74. Thousands defy crackdown in Moscow's biggest protest for years. (2019, August 10). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-protests/thousands-defy-crackdown-in-moscows-biggest-protest-for-years-idUSKCN1V00CV

75. Thousands defy crackdown in Moscow's biggest protest for years. (2019, August 11). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/10/thousands-defy-crackdown-in-moscows-biggest-protest-for-years.html

76. Thousands march in Moscow demanding open city elections. (2019, August 10). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/10/thousands-march-in-moscow-disqualification-city-elections

77. Thousands protest for fair elections in Moscow, largest in 8 years. (2019, August 10). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.foxnews.com/world/thousands-protest-for-fair-elections-in-moscow-amid-wider-crackdown-on-opposition-leaders

78. Thousands protest in Moscow after opposition barred from city vote. (2019, July 20). Retrieved May 07, 2020, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-election-rally/thousands-protest-in-moscow-after-opposition-barred-from-city-vote-idUSKCN1UF0D1

79. Van Dijk, T. A. (1984). Prejudice in discourse: An analysis of ethnic prejudice in cognition and

80. Van Dijk, T. A. (1993). Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis, Discourse & Society, 4(2), 249-283.

81. Van Dijk, T. A. (1995). Discourse analysis as ideology analysis. Language and Peace. Aldershot: Dartmouth Publishing.

82. Van Dijk, T. A. (2000). Ideology and Discourse: A multidisciplinary Introduction. University of Barcelona.

83. Van Dijk, T. A. (2003). Critical discourse analysis. In D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin & H. Hamilton (Eds.), Handbook of ...