Mass Media as a Destructive Information and Communication Space

Abstract

The aim of the article is to represent major trends of language research in digital communication and establish regularities of sign usage in mass media. The author explores mass media as an environment for functioning of a specific value system that procures existence of social structures that engage mass media and influences transformation of dominant values of the society. The main way of these structur es’ destruction is deformation of meanings and language as a whole, which provides for influencing the consciousness of mass media users. Modern media text as a polycode formation is perceived simultaneously through several channels that ensures significant effect of its influence. Specifics of speech impact, as a unit of media text, expresses its pragmatic focus and determines formation of special cognitive structures. These structures, on one hand, help mass media to represent their value system, and, on the other hand, serve as specific guidelines providing a recipient with a certain mass media induced understanding of events in information environment. Such cognitive structures also spread to perception and interpretation of other fragments of reality. Destructive influence of mass media language also manifests itself in frequent usage of visual signs and way of their usage – reduplication of constant content while the form changes. Such signs allow expressing non-differentiated negative evaluation of events and facts along with argot language. Discreditation of traditional moral and ethical values happens with the help of such signs. Simultaneously such signs prepare mass media users for creation of new ideals and principles interiorization of which becomes easier thanks to active English borrowings. Change of graphical and phonetic appearance of a word happening due to mistakes or intentional deformation promotes indirect destruction of its stable sematic connections.