LINGUISTIC AND PRAGMATIC STRATEGIES OF SHOCKTAINMENT IN BRITISH ONLINE NEWS MEDIA DISCOURSE

Abstract

This article examines linguistic and pragmatic strategies of shocktainment in contemporary British online news media. The study explores language and discourse representation techniques for news events aimed at intensifying emotional impact, increasing audience engagement, and heightening media attention. The primary objective of the article is to identify and systematize specific linguistic and pragmatic mechanisms of shocktainment by analyzing their communicative functions and operational frequency within an empirical base comprising 300 news articles sourced from the British regional online publications Wales Online, Daily Record, and Belfast Live published throughout 2026. The objectives of the study are to identify the principal linguistic and pragmatic strategies of shocktainment in British regional online news discourse, determine the frequency of their occurrence in the analyzed corpus, and examine their communicative and pragmatic functions in shaping audience perception and emotional engagement.
The focus on regional media discourse is due to the limited scholarly exploration of regional media ecosystems in shocktainment studies, which typically prioritize national press. The theoretical and methodological framework draws on media linguistics, discourse analysis, and pragmatics. The research employs linguistic, cognitive-discursive, contextual, and linguocultural approaches to media text analysis. Special attention is given to emotionally charged vocabulary, evaluative nominations, metaphorization, dramatization, and pragmatic strategies for audience engagement.
The results show that shocktainment is implemented through a consistent system of linguistic and pragmatic strategies. Emotionally charged vocabulary acts as a primary device. Headlines utilize dramatization through metaphorical constructions and evaluative language. Political events are often reframed as conflict narratives, moving away from neutral informational presentation. At the pragmatic level, these strategies intensify emotional engagement and stimulate user interaction in competitive digital media environments. The analysis identifies characteristic shocktainment devices, including emotionally charged headlines, expressive vocabulary,