Constructing threat through proximization in digital news: A multimodal analysis

This paper explores the multimodal realization of social polarization in European digital news through the construction of threat. Drawing from both Media and Communication Studies and Cognitive Critical Discourse Analysis, this study investigates how media framing and event-construal operations shape news interpretations through a proximization strategy. For this purpose, a multilingual sample of 73 European newsbites about the attack on Brazilian congress by the followers of Former President Jair Bolsonaro was collected. The analysis reveals several framing devices and construal operations that present the events in Brazil as relevant and potentially threatening to European audiences. Findings indicate that media framing encourages European readers to sympathize with Brazil’s current government under Lula da Silva, while portraying Bolsonaro’s supporters as an imminent threat, thereby reflecting and reinforcing polarization in public perception. These results offer valuable insights for media discourse analysts, cognitive linguists, and researchers examining polarized discourse.