Factualization and polycode in institutional media discourse (based on the magazine “Sciences et avenir”)

The paper examines the means of implementing the discursive categories such as factualization and polycode in institutional media discourse. The study's relevance stems from the necessity to enhance communicative interaction quality and to investigate discursive categories for heightened perlocutionary impact in media discourse. Accordingly, the article defines media discourse as an institutional type, emphasizes the genre diversity within media discourse, explores factualization as both a communicative strategy and cognitive process, offers a typology of media facts, and investigates the role of the polycode category in establishing verbal-visual unity. The research material utilizes the French popular science journal Sciences et Avenir as a representative of institutional media discourse. To analyze the empirical data, an integrated approach is employed, combining qualitative content analysis and visual analysis techniques. The materials presented in the article lead to the conclusion that there is a partial convergence of content and formal discourse structures.