The Migration Crisis as It Seems: Speech Manipulation Technology in US Internet Media

The following paper is devoted to the study of speech manipulation technologies in US political media discourse. A number of web-based articles have been taken under consideration for this study. They demonstrate the problem arising from the refugee flow in Europe and create a special “image” of the complicated European situation. It is helpful to see how the situation appears in the Internet media since this type of mass communication is most influential these days. While considering a large amount of media texts, a special speech manipulation technology has been revealed. This phenomenon demonstrates a distinct structure and close interrelations of purposefully selected elements. Going through a number of stages we can find out the technology of speech manipulation – a system of using the aggregate of speech manipulation instruments in order to purposefully guide the reality perception of the mass audience. The external level of the texts enables us to take a penetrating look at the internal intentions. This knowledge will help us not to confuse the migration crisis as it is and the migration crisis as it seems.