On rhetorical appeals: Emotionalization and politicization of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in American and Russian news discourse

Abstract

The relations between language and politics in COVID-19 news coverage have become significant issues following the rise of Chinese COVID-19 cases in 2022. This study aims to investigate specific rhetorical appeals and language means used by journalists to manipulate public opinion and propagate certain ideologies in American and Russian online news discourse. The study employed computer-assisted content analysis, rhetorical analysis and van Dijk’s sociocognitive approach to identify and describe biased representations of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in 307 Internet news stories. The content analysis revealed frequent mentions of politicians and political institutions in American and Russian coverages of Sputnik V. The findings of rhetorical and discourse analyses show similarities in the use of rhetorical appeals and language means. The study concluded that the coverage of Sputnik V was highly emotionalized and politicized in pro-government and opposition media. Journalists utilized ideologically loaded language and rhetorical appeals to disguise their biased opinions and create a distorted image of Sputnik V in the online news coverage. Implications of the present research findings for developing ESL and EFL courses in general and enhancing students’ reading comprehension skills are also discussed.