Constructing threat through proximization in digital news: a multimodal analysis

This paper explores the multimodal realization of social polarization in European digital news through the construction of threat. Drawing from both media and communication studies and cognitive critical discourse analysis, this study investigates how media framing and event-construal operations sha...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Porto Requejo, María Dolores|||0000-0003-0111-9356, Alonso Belmonte, Isabel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)
Repositorio:e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/65561
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10017/65561
https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09579265251333449
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Construal operations
Framing
Digital news
Proximization
Polarization
Filología
Philology
Descripción
Sumario:This paper explores the multimodal realization of social polarization in European digital news through the construction of threat. Drawing from both media and communication studies and cognitive critical discourse analysis, this study investigates how media framing and event-construal operations shape news interpretations through a proximization strategy. For this purpose, a multilingual sample of 73 European newsbites about the attack on Brazilian congress by the followers of former president Jair Bolsonaro was collected. The analysis reveals several framing devices and construal operations that present the events in Brazil as relevant and potentially threatening to European audiences. Findings indicate that media framing encourages European readers to sympathize with Brazil’s current government under Lula da Silva, while portraying Bolsonaro’s supporters as an imminent threat, thereby reflecting and reinforcing polarization in public perception. These results offer valuable insights for media discourse analysts, cognitive linguists, and researchers examining polarized discourse.