Destructemes in the Content of an Emigrant Journalist

The article examines the destructive component in the professional ideology and media texts of Russian émigré journalists, whose subject matter for analysis and description is the current political regime in Russia and the personalities of specific state figures, the special military operation in Ukraine, the institution of religion, the public consciousness of Russians, and journalism itself as a professional activity. The focus on the specifics of the activities of modern émigré journalists is обусловлен, firstly, by the need to highlight their subjectivity within the configuration of the domestic information space as producers of a destructive professional ideology; secondly, to indicate the expediency of introducing criteria for a destructive media text created by émigré journalists. The aim of the study was to identify and describe the specifics of destruct themes in the professional ideology and media texts of the subdiscourse formed by Russian émigré journalists. The methodological basis of the study consisted of works on media ecology, media linguistics, and migration discourse, which were used to determine the role of émigré journalists in the domestic information space, to summarize the parameters of destructive media text, and to analyze the content of “new players” in online communication in terms of their destructive intentions and meanings. It was revealed that destructive strategies are aimed at encouraging the audience to change its ideological stance regarding the military political conflict between the collective West and Russia and to join the system of anti-values promoted by foreign agents. According to the study’s findings, the key criterion for the destructiveness of such media texts is the active exploitation of various types of stigmatization (anthropological, social, psychological, cultural, and institutional) within the society whose sociopolitical system the emigrant journalist chooses as the target of criticism. The novelty of the study lies in the proposal to the scientific community to identify a specific type of destructive media text created by émigré journalists as a tool for conducting modern information warfare. The conclusion drawn is that it is necessary to study these mechanisms of destruction as an actual threat posed by émigré journalists to the domestic media space. Understanding this fact will help to adjust the mission of risk journalism, strengthen media criticism, and form an effective proenvironmental agenda in conflict-driven media communication.