Mediatization of rumors as a phenomenon of modern media discourse (based on the English-language mass media)

The article deals with the problem of studying the mediatization of rumors as an intersection area for the media sphere and the phenomenon of rumours. When the two channels merge, media discursive practices involving rumors as unverified information emerge. Rumor texts are a special type of media products, regularly circulating in the media sphere, heterogeneous in nature due to the superimposition of the constitutive properties of rumors and gossips as elements of everyday oral communication on the discursive features of mass media texts, and represented in various forms. Celebrity gossip functions as the most typical, conventional kind of mediatized rumors. The research attempts to explain the reasons for the massive media attention to unconfirmed information, as well as to identify the segments of media products most susceptible to rumors. The analysis revealed that popular media is the main locus of mediatized rumors in the space of English-language media communication. A unique ability of rumors to adapt to the conditions of the new historical period in the society development marked by rapid evolution of information and communications technologies, and global mediatization ensures the survivability of rumors as the oldest system of human communication. The penetration of rumors into the mass media causes the emergence of a specific hybrid discourse of a non-evidential type within the media communicative space, and contributes to strengthening convergence as an attribute of modern media discourse. The versatility of mediatized rumors stipulates the interdisciplinary nature of their scientific analysis, while their complex communicative nature and manifestation variability predetermines an integrative approach to studying rumors in linguistic perspective.