Style and language of television news on the Iraqi issue on TRT and RT

Vazir Safaa Radkhi ORCID: 0000-0002-8282-5246 Postgraduate student, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) 117198, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6 1042215304@pfur.ru

Introduction

As communication technologies develop, communication styles between people change regularly. Following the information revolution, journalism has also undergone significant changes and has reached a new level of digital existence ^[1]. Modern information transmission channels are mainly on the Internet. The form of this communicative news distribution environment has had a firm influence on the language and style of messages created by the journalistic community. In some areas, the Internet replaces the good old television thanks to its many advantages. Compared to communication in traditional media, the scope of network communication is broader and has a global and free character. The Internet does not belong to anyone in particular, it seems to belong to the whole of humanity. Such a characteristic of it as "global" is a unique technical guarantee of people's constant access to the network. Network media, unlike traditional newspapers, radio or television, have essentially unlimited possibilities in terms of the volume and forms of information transmission.

Internet culture has become a tangible reality, and media journalism has become a new phenomenon that required detailed study by both philologists and representatives of other scientific fields ^[2]. Due to the processes of globalization in the field and the media, working with new media has begun to require more attention in terms of study, given that the digital world is constantly evolving and has an increasing influence not only on the language and style of TV news ^[3]. For this reason, this study focuses on television and the Internet, which are today the two leading channels of journalistic activity, examines the changes in the understanding and practice of journalism caused by modern technological developments, and discusses the new forms into which Internet and television journalism are being transformed.

Linguists agree that in the modern world, when concentration of attention is often very vague, economy in speech plays a crucial role in capturing and maintaining the interest of the audience. Knowing this simple circumstance will help the sender of a communicative message to express his point of view quickly and clearly, without allowing the listener or reader to become overwhelmed or lose concentration. This state of affairs sets researchers the task of systematizing and describing new norms, tracking and evaluating current language processes in accordance with the anthropocentric vector of development of the science of language, which in modern conditions is tasked with understanding linguistic phenomena through the prism of a person.

Based on the above, the subject of research in this article is the pragmatic potential, which is formed under the influence of a special language and style of TV news.

The research methods used are systematization, generalization, critical analysis, discursive analysis, stylistic analysis, pragmatic analysis.

The media, which occupy an important place in scientific research in the field of communication, as well as the content and methods used by these tools to convey messages, have often been the subject of research before. Television, and already television news, which occupies an important place among the media due to its wide coverage, has also been the subject of all kinds of scientific research many times. This bibliography allows us to see that the main reason for the concern of most studies of the language and style of TV news was anxiety about their impact on the general population, as indicated, in particular, by E.M. Severina ^[4]. This concern is caused by concerns about the impact of the media on modern democratic societies, freedom of speech, which have a formative effect on both individual and public opinion. As A. Duffy notes, the reason is probably not too obvious to ordinary viewers and consumers of mass media, but we have never personally experienced most of what we know or think ^[5]. G.N. Trofimova is convinced that we live in a world created by stories or narratives that we We hear, see and tell where the impact of the media creates and cultivates relationships that are more appropriate to the version of reality created by the media than what reality really is ^[6].

Considering these concepts, G.N. Trofimova says that the influence of mass media on the behavior of individuals and communities has attracted serious attention from scientists in a wide range of disciplines ^[7]. The challenge was to understand the psychological, social, cultural, economic and political impact of the media and their implications not only for democratic and relatively stable societies, but also for developing countries and "unstable" regions.

The globalizing features of online media leave their mark on both the sender and the recipient of communication. Online media, having overcome the local and national boundaries of traditional media, are now targeting a global, i.e., worldwide audience ^[8].

Online media have an unlimited resource in terms of the volume of information transmission and take numerous and diverse information forms. Whether it is newspapers, radio or television, the information distributed per unit of time (program) and space (page) is limited, and the information stored and distributed by online media is truly huge ^[9].

Due to the rapid growth of new media and the digital transformation of traditional media focused on mobile devices and the Internet, the digital characteristics of online news media have increasingly become part of the sphere of scientific research interest ^[10].

Due to the fact that the active development of new media is taking place right now and new information and communication platforms are constantly appearing, it seems relevant to systematize the vectors of digital media development, which will make a certain contribution to the development of ideas about the new realities of implementing communicative interaction through media at the global level. Systematization of digital characteristics of online news media will provide a deeper understanding of their functioning and effective use in the implementation of the task of informing the general public, as well as providing a certain influencing effect on the audience.

For example, the news feed of leading international networks about the 1990 Gulf War, the events of September 11, 2001, and the most recent invasion of Israel by the Hamas group (Operation Al-Aqsa Flood) were seriously criticized. In particular, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 led to a call for increased control over the actions and cooperation of news corporations against Governments. However, it was technological progress that created alternative new media corporations from different parts of the world that were able to attract more attention, especially with regard to the monitoring of news produced by the media.

The scientific novelty of this study lies in the fact that for the first time, using the example of such a discursive area as the Iraqi question, it shows the influence of the language and style of TV news on the pragmatic potential of a communicative message on the example of such channels as TRT (Turkey) and RT (Russia).

The essence of the Iraqi issue: an overview and opinions

In the modern world, in the context of political and military confrontation between countries, some issues are particularly acute, in particular, the Iraqi conflict, which has been going on for several decades. Iraq is a large country with a certain geographical area. He has a shared history that consolidates the values and social networks of families and groups, as well as a sense of belonging among their members. The local society of Iraq consists of groups of people sharing a set of principles, social connections, social networks and interactions. It can be identified by its people (a group of individuals), homeland (the land where people live), social ties, which are considered the basis for the cohesion and unity of the people, as well as language, history, customs and social traditions.

The Iraqi issue is related to the political, economic and social problems faced by Iraq. It includes internal conflicts, power struggles, terrorism, economic instability, as well as problems related to medical and psychological rehabilitation after the war. Opinions on the Iraqi issue vary. Some believe that Iraq needs stability and development of its economy, as well as political reforms. Others stress the need to combat terrorism and ensure security for Iraqi citizens. There are also opinions that the international community should provide greater support to Iraq in the field of development and peace ^[9].

Since 2003, Iraq has moved from a media environment completely dominated by the Government to an environment in which there are sources controlled by a wide range of “players”. On the eve of the invasion, the Baathist government operated five daily newspapers, four radio stations and several television stations, which made up all the daily sources available to the Iraqi public outside the de facto independent Kurdish region in the north. Each of these media sources was shut down in April 2003, when coalition forces took control of Baghdad and ended the rule of the Baath Party. In the power vacuum created after the overthrow of the Baathist regime, and with greater freedom provided by the coalition forces, newspapers, TV stations and radio stations began to appear quickly all over the country again. Depending on the affiliation and financing of these media sources, all of them can be attributed to one of three separate categories ^[10].

The first type of media is state-owned. The Coalition forces found it necessary to bring their policy to the Iraqi people and get them to match their vision of a new Iraq shortly after the start of the occupation of the country. These mass media continued to exist after the dissolution of the Provisional Coalition Government and today they are one of the most successful mass media. The second type of Iraqi media that has emerged is private and party-oriented. Most political parties were outlawed by the Baathist government, and when the parties were created or returned from abroad in 2003, they quickly regained their influence and established themselves and their own vision of Iraq in the media market. The latter type of media in the new Iraq is private and truly independent. These media outlets do maintain varying degrees of bias in their coverage of events, but they are not in any serious way associated with the government or political parties and, most importantly, in our opinion, they are profit-oriented. For the most part, they look at Iraq and the world from a pan-Iraqi perspective in order to reach as wide an audience as possible ^[9].

In general, it must be said that the Iraqi issue is complex and multifaceted, and requires a comprehensive approach to its solution.

TRT and RT TV channels as a special media space

The main function of new media, by definition, is the formation of an information space taking into account the needs of citizens and society in obtaining high-quality and reliable information. As Xi Qing noted, more than one billion people in China live in "digital" – people study, play, do business and finance, work in the medical field and use online services. On average, everyone spends at least twenty-eight hours a week on the Internet.

In modern conditions, the volume of media content in electronic form requires the development of communication channels, new ways of its production and consumption. TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) and RT (Russia Today) TV channels are special media spaces because they belong to state-owned or state-supported media organizations, which has an impact on their information policy and content.

TRT World is a new news network based in Istanbul, Turkey, with offices in London (UK) and Washington (USA). The network is becoming an increasingly important player in the universal media field. These are international news channels with a wide range of satellite technologies in Europe and Asia, and it is especially noteworthy that the network is rapidly gaining an audience in the Middle East, consisting mainly of Arabs living in the English-speaking world. TRT World is a public channel currently owned by Turkish Radio and Television (TRT), which is the largest broadcaster and the largest media organization in Turkey. Although TRT is a state-owned enterprise and the Turkish government appoints the directors of the board of Directors, in accordance with Article 133 of the Constitution, TRT adheres to impartiality as an objective public organization. Founded in May 2015, TRT World has gradually become an important broadcast network, especially in the Middle East. The channel broadcasts news in English from three main offices around the rest of the world. Since its inception, TRT World has been available in over 190 countries and broadcast on major television platforms and streaming devices worldwide. However, TRT World is still considered primarily a regional enterprise and is not yet perceived as global compared to other players such as CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC, Bloomberg, etc. As a result of political events in the Middle East and the emergence of new economic powers in the region, TRT World found itself in a privileged position. Political stability and progress in international relations definitely contributed to the birth of TRT World ^[10].

RT is also a state-owned media organization aimed at promoting Russia's interests on an international scale. Founded in 2005, RT offers news, documentaries, interviews, reports and talk shows in various languages, including English, Spanish, French and German. Its information policy mainly reflects the interests and views of the Russian government.

It is obvious that these TV channels seek to influence public opinion outside their countries and therefore can and are used to promote the political and geopolitical interests of their governments. In this regard, many consider them to be propaganda sources of information that need to be taken carefully and critically analyzed, taking into account the affiliation of their owners.

It must be said that the trend towards the creation of international broadcast networks as instruments of public strategic diplomacy continued with the creation of Russian Today and TRT World.

Features of the news discourse in the context of changes in the media space

The new process of changing public consciousness, which began with the beginning of the influence of mass media on the general population, is one of the developing forms of the evolution of mass media. Classical media, such as newspapers and television, are expected to be replaced by new media in the era of digitalization and are increasingly moving to the Internet ^[11]. In order to guarantee the democratic principles of the State, the media should provide citizens with the opportunity to form their own opinions and participate in political events by providing objective information about politics in the country. The media can report on events taking place in government bodies that are inaccessible to the public, or provide analysis on complex political events:

Sadr, d?n siyasetten tamamen ?ekildi?ini duyurmu?tu. Sadr’?n destek?isi k?zg?n gruplar ise bunun ?zerine Ye?il B?lge’deki H?k?met ile Cumhurba?kanl Saray?’n? basmt?. Eylemciler buralardan g?venlik gleri taraf?ndan silah zoruyla kar?lmt?. Sadr'a ba?l? Seraya es-Selam milis g?c? ise y?zlerce silah dolusu ara?larla Ye?il B?lge ?evresine konu?lanarak i?erideki askerlerle ?atmalara girmi?ti (Sadr announced yesterday that he was completely retiring from politics. Angry groups supporting Sadr raided the government and the presidential palace in the green zone. The security forces used weapons to take the activists out of these places. The Seraya al-Salam militia, linked to Sadr, deployed around the "green zone" in vehicles loaded with hundreds of weapons and clashed with soldiers inside.) (TRT, 2022).

As intermediaries between politics and the people, the media also perform an important controlling function.

By providing the most reliable, complete and understandable information, media consumers should be able to understand the economic, social and political context, express their interests within the framework of a democratic constitutional system and be informed about the intentions and actions of all persons involved in the political process:

Birle?mi? Milletler (BM) Irak Misyon Temsilcili?i'nden yap?lan aklamada, taraflara silahl? ?atma ve ?iddetten uzak durmalar? ?a?r?s? yap?lmt? (In the statement of the UN Mission in Iraq, the parties called for refraining from armed conflict and violence.) (TRT, 2022).

In the message above, operational information is broadcast at an explicit level – a direct call to keep a safe distance from armed conflict.

As modern society becomes more and more differentiated, and the distances that need to be overcome for communication increase, the mass media are becoming increasingly important as a communication platform ^[12]. Based on their democratic nature, the media is tasked with asking questions of public interest for free and open discussion ^[13]. To achieve this goal, journalists actively use quotes and cite the opinions of eyewitnesses:

RT military commander Mohammad Kassab met with Iraqi Aus al-Douri, who has been living in Donetsk for 17 years and works as a doctor there. Aus refuses to leave the city, despite regular shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including attacks on the hospital where he works. According to the doctor, he does not feel like an outsider and strives to help local residents in difficult times (RT, 2023).

The reason why the media leads to changes in social forms lies in the change of groups that have the right to use media channels for the dissemination of information, and in the impact of new ideologies on the existing political guidelines of the country:

"Pen?e-Kilit Harekat? b?lgesinde 12 Ocak 2024 tarihinde bir ?s b?lgemize s?zmaya ?alan ter?ristlerle kan ?atmada be? kahraman silah arkadam?z ?ehit olmu?, ar sekiz kahraman silah arkadam?z da yaralanmt?r. Yaral?lar?m?z hastaneye sevk edilmi? ve tedavilerine ba?lanmt?r ("In a clash with terrorists who tried to enter the territory of the base in the area of Operation Talon-Castle" On January 12, 2024, five of our comrades died heroically and eight of our comrades were injured, three of them seriously. They were sent to the hospital and started treatment.) (TRT, 2022).

To realize the ideological pragmatic potential, the senders of communicative messages use evaluative vocabulary and emotive words, which allows them to appeal to the feelings of a wide audience and evoke an emotional response.

At the stylistic level, there is an abundance of epithets:

Bizleri derin bir ac? ve ?z?nt?ye bo?an bu olayda hayat?n? kaybeden aziz ?ehitlerimize Allah'tan rahmet, kederli ailelerine, T?rk Silahl? Kuvvetleri ile asil milletimize ba?sa?l ve sab?r, yaral?lar?m?za da acil ?ifalar dileriz." ("May God have mercy on our martyrs who died in this incident, which filled us with deep pain and sadness, our condolences and patience to their grieving families, the Turkish armed forces and our noble people, and we wish a speedy recovery to our wounded.") (TRT, 2022).

Correspondents use evaluation strategies and various ways of presenting cognitive information to give greater impact to the produced television reports. At the same time, evaluation strategies can be external and internal.

Various evaluation techniques are used as internal evaluations in TV reports ^[14]. These internal evaluation practices are usually used more often than external ones. Examples of this are the use of some verbs with evaluative coloring, for example, "to declare", rather than the neutral verb "to speak", and/or adverbs, for example, "hesitantly" in reporting sentences of speech presentation methods. Similarly, the use of some evaluative adjectives in constructing ways of expressing a thought, for example, "disappointment" in the example below:

According to her, those forces in Iraq that would have to unite to solve numerous problems are unable to put national interests above party or personal ones. And although, after two months of inactivity, the Iraqi parliament resumed its work, this did not lead to a decrease in tension. Clashes are still taking place between protesters and law enforcement forces, and intense fighting is underway in the provinces located in the south of the country. Against the background of these events, "public disappointment is off the scale" (RT, 2023).

Bringing a text element to the foreground in the mode of speech or mental representation is also considered as an evaluation technique.

“Gen? Irakl? de?i?im ?a?r?s? yaparken protestocular ?ld?r?ld?”

Irak'ta, g?stericilerin yeni se?imler ve yolsuzlu?a son verilmesi y?n?ndeki kampanyalar?n? s?rd?rd s?rada protestocu daha ?ld?r?ld?. Protestocular?n ?o?unu, Amerika ve ?ran'?n ?lkeye m?dahalesine son verilmesini isteyen gen? Irakl?lar olu?turuyor.2 Aylar s?ren g?sterilerde 500'den fazla ki?i g?venlik gleri ve ?ran yanl?s? milisler taraf?ndan ?ld?r?ld?. BBC'nin Orta Do?u Muhabiri Quentin Somerville ve kameraman Nick Millard, son birka? g?n?n? Ba?dat'taki protestocular? takip ederek ge?irdi ("Young Iraqi protesters demanding change were killed" (TRT, 2022).

The report itself is provided with a video sequence shot at the scene and narrated by a channel correspondent while among the protesters. The commentator prefaces the report with the following comment:

Irak hem kmazda olan hem de seriden ayr?lan bir ?lke. Aylard?r gen? Irakl?lar eski muhaf?zlar? ortadan kald?rmak amac?yla sokaklardalar. Iraq is both a country in an impasse and at the same time emerging from it. For months, young Iraqis have been on the streets wanting to sweep away the old Guard (TRT, 2022).

Then it shows how a group of young Iraqi protesters gather on a crowded street, stop cars standing in a complete traffic jam, and set fire to the wheels of some cars, trying to stop traffic, the correspondent continues to comment on the event as if from the inside:

H?k?metlerinin dinlemedi?ini s?yl?yorlar, bu y?zden bu gen? Irakl?lar Ba?dat'ta ve Irak'?n d?rt bir yan?ndaki ?ehirlerde bask?y? art?r?yorlar. Adam?n unutulacan?, protestolar?m?z?n bitmeyece?ini s?yl?yorlar. (They say their government is not listening, so these young Iraqis are increasing the pressure here in Baghdad and in cities all over Iraq. They say that this man will be forgotten and our protests will not stop) (TRT, 2022).

The inner message of this video message is emphasized many times and repeated in various forms of speech and mental presentation throughout the report. This is a reflection of the protesters' "demand" to put an end to the violation of Iraq's sovereignty by both Iran and the United States, taking the form of an external assessment, since it is formed in the form of an explicit comment:

Aylard?r gen? Irakl?lar eski muhaf?zlar? ortadan kald?rmak amac?yla sokaklardalar (For several months, young Iraqis were on the streets intending to overthrow the former government) (TRT, 2022).

Interactivity is the ability of "media/mass media to change the nature of the presentation of transmitted information depending on the actions of the consumer (user)" ^[15]. This feature of digital journalism seems to be the most significant in the new conditions, since it allows the user to directly engage in the digital media environment, because he determines for himself what to watch, on which channel or platform, in which format, listen to information or watch, and so on. The viewer is actively involved in what is happening on the screen, as a full-fledged participant in the events ^[16].

The creators of digital content, in turn, strive to make the use of media products as comfortable as possible for the consumer, customer-oriented. For this purpose, the interactivity of the interface is being developed and deepened ^[17], hyperlinks and hashtags are widely used to quickly search for information. So, in search of the necessary material, the user can use a hyperlink to go to other sources of information, and from there even further, some kind of information surfing turns out.

Interactivity allows the user to react simultaneously to what is happening in the information field of the event: express their attitude to it, put likes, write comments ^[18]. Simultaneity means a method of combining multi-temporal or multi-dimensional moments in one image. In some cases, the dialogue with the audience is built through multimedia technologies ^[19].

A similar speech message is found in the Russian communicative environment:

In Iraq, three more protesters have been killed as demonstrators continue to take to the streets demanding new elections and an end to corruption. Most of the protesters are young Iraqis who want to put an end to American and Iranian interference in the country's affairs. Over several months of demonstrations, more than 500 people have been killed by security forces and pro-Iranian militias. BBC Middle East correspondent Quentin Somerville and cameraman Nick Millard have spent the last few days monitoring protesters in Baghdad.).

Thus, despite the fact that the process of communication through the mass media has many advantages, it also carries the risk of unconscious or conscious misinformation and other manipulative practices, which in some hands can lead to one or another point of view and mood dominating in society. The great influence of the media and the trust that people usually place in them makes it even more difficult to determine whether a particular message that is broadcast in the media is true or false. To this is added the great dependence of the individual on the consumption of mass media products, without which the formation of opinion and, consequently, participation in political processes is practically impossible ^[20]. It is obvious that the role of new methods of manipulation, such as fake news and “troll factories” and bots, in shaping public opinion in a democratic system is very high.

In the era of new digital media, everyone has access to an unlimited amount of information, users can easily enter keywords to search for data. Advances in media communication have revolutionized the field of journalism, in which new formats for broadcasting news and interacting with a wide audience are emerging. Three main trends have been identified that significantly influence the development of modern journalism – this is the steady transition from print publications to online platforms, which radically changes the language and style of communicative messages.

Conclusions

Classical analog media, such as newspapers and television, are increasingly being replaced by technologically new media in the era of widespread digitalization and are increasingly moving to the Internet.

Iraq currently has one of the most diverse media environments in the Arabic-speaking world. The most important aspect in the functioning of these new media, in our opinion, is that the success of the media is determined by the free market, not by government policy. The language and style of TV news on the Iraqi issue on TRT and RT, in general, corresponds to the current trend in the development of new media channels for broadcasting information to a wide range of the population, which include: democratization of language, bright manipulative orientation, high information saturation.

TRT, as a Turkish state-owned broadcaster, presents news on the Iraqi issue using language and style emphasizing a pro-Turkish point of view. The wording used gives priority to the positions and policies of the Turkish government, offering coverage of events with an emphasis on Turkish interests in the region. The senders of communication messages use a formal tone and technique of referring to authorities, providing detailed analysis and interviews with Turkish officials and experts, as well as reflecting Turkey's position on this issue.

On the other hand, RT, a Russian international television network funded by the Russian government, may take an alternative point of view on certain issues. RT's coverage of the Iraq issue reflects pro-Russian views with an emphasis on Russia's interests and positions in the region, and they are also very extensive. The language is characterized by formality and analyticity. From the point of view of the topic, the news is usually devoted to Russia's foreign policy, and includes expert opinions covering the Russian view of events.

In conclusion, it should be noted that as modern industries of various fields of activity consider the future of mass media, it becomes clear that global technological innovations open up new business, career and training opportunities. This situation determines the need for constant monitoring of the dynamics of multimedia journalism.

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