Manipulative means in the headlines of publications about criminal incidents

Abstract

The article considers the headlines of news about criminal incidents published on the URA.news website. They are informational in nature and represent a nomination, a “name” of the text, expressing its content in a condensed form. The distinctive feature of such headlines is an event (criminal incident) objective reflection. The site mainly contains headlines of messages about two types of criminal incidents: a message about a criminal incident and a message about the reaction of government agencies / law enforcement agencies to a criminal incident. The article analyzes the first type of headlines – news about criminal incidents. They are constructed according to a strict scheme that specifies both the content and the place of each element in the sentence: place – subject(s) – criminal act – object(s). Such headlines widely use various manipulative means and techniques: special ways of nominating the subject or object of the action; projecting the focus of attention onto the community the subject belongs, and vice versa; detailing the description (of the subject, action, etc.); the technique of intimate communication with the reader; the technique of destroying stereotypes. The main purpose of manipulative means and techniques using that allow the author to express his assessment of what is happening and convey it to the reader is to influence the perception of the criminal guilt degree by focusing the reader’s attention on certain circumstances of the incident.