A look at the rhetoric of hatred in Odessa media: today’s realities

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of hate speech spreading by modern mass media. In particular, the work presents the results of the monitoring of Odessa mass media, which will demonstrate the main trends in the hate speech. It has established that the main objects of the hatred in Odessa mass media are Ukrainian-Russian relations, representatives of ethnic and national groups, residents of separate regions and separate social groups. Representatives of ethnic and national groups became «the strongest» object in terms of intensifying hatred during the analyzed period. According to our data, regarding these groups, journalists are expected to use incorrect characteristics, negative context, and unreasonable reference of belonging to a certain ethnic group. The used cited materials (without a journalistic commentary) contain not only negative-evaluative words and expressions, but also open threats, appeals for destruction, which lead to incitement in international hostility and hatred. Some materials trace the emotional enhancement of the context by using incorrect names and negative evaluations.