Modeling the audience's perception of security in media discourse

Security discourse, encompassing diverse texts and genres, is analyzed through a discourse analytic lens informed by securitization theory. Post-9/11 US security discourse is characterized by the continuous construction of threats and an expansionist strategy aligning global society with US values. Existing research highlights the emotive perception of enmity and the use of Self-Other dichotomies in US security narratives. This study bridges the gap between theoretical frameworks and empirical analysis. It combines securitization theory with discourse analysis to investigate the linguistic configuration of unconventional security issues, specifically focusing on the relationship between media practices and audience's affective and cognitive processes. This research explores the under-researched area of unconventional security issues, such as the portrayal of the Confucius Institute, to understand how such institutions are framed and discussed in the media and their impact on public perception.

The Copenhagen School's securitization theory posits that securitization prioritizes issues as urgent security threats through speech acts by securitizing actors. Successful securitization invokes exceptionality and sanctions power. However, the theory's initial focus on top-down speech acts has expanded to incorporate bottom-up approaches, emphasizing institutionalization and routinization in security issue generation. Securitization is thus viewed as a dynamic, multi-interactive process involving various actors, audiences, and contexts. The study also draws on the dialogic perspective, viewing securitizing speech acts as verbal communicative acts that position actors within diverse standpoints, influencing audience attachment or detachment from securitization. The concept of intersubjective stance, encompassing engagement (intersubjective positioning) and attitude (construing feelings), is employed to analyze how language shapes perception and influences beliefs. Proximization, a cognitive linguistic framework, is incorporated to examine how linguistic choices evoke a sense of urgency regarding external threats, conceptualizing the "Other" as an encroaching threat to the "in-group."

This case study analyzes media coverage of Confucius Institutes in *The New York Times* and *The Wall Street Journal* from 2004 to 2022. A corpus of 124 texts (145,437 words) was compiled from ProQuest, and 13 texts (10,925 words) were selected for in-depth qualitative analysis, focusing on critical events in the Confucius Institute's evolution in the US (2014 and 2020). The texts were analyzed using a combined discourse analysis approach, incorporating key securitization concepts to examine how the issue was securitized dialogically, discursively, and cognitively. The analysis focused on the securitization trinity: existential threat, securitizing actor, and audience, highlighting the dynamic interplay between these elements. The engagement category, encompassing DISCLAIM, PROCLAIM, ENTERTAIN, and ATTRIBUTE, was used to analyze the authorial positioning and stance-taking. The ATTITUDE category (affect, judgment, appreciation) investigated how the media presented emotive perceptions. Proximization was utilized to examine the spatial, temporal, and axiological dimensions of the construction of Confucius Institutes as an external threat.

The analysis reveals that media discourses on Confucius Institutes are characterized by news narratives with a high frequency of quotes (137 quotes, 1.45 occurrences per 100 words), enhancing engagement and credibility. The authorial voice implicitly positions itself through the use of reported speech, grounding value positions in external voices from diverse actors involved in the securitization process (university professors, academic groups, politicians, and institutions). The study found no significant difference in the use of intersubjective stance resources between the two newspapers. The dominant engagement pattern was ATTRIBUTE, while DISCLAIM and ENTERTAIN were less frequent. The pairing of engagement resources with attitude reveals a prevalence of affect and judgment expressions. The media constructs an intersubjective stance towards Confucius Institutes by engaging the audience with socio-politically determined perceptual experiences emphasizing the threat posed by the institutions. Analysis of the proximization demonstrates that the discourse space was constructed dichotomously, with the US positioned within the deictic center and Confucius Institutes in the periphery. The shrinking distance between the two was emphasized through lexical choices highlighting actions of interference, dissemination, theft, bullying and expansion by Confucius Institutes, ultimately threatening US academic freedom and national security. Temporally, the threat was depicted as both historical and imminent, emphasizing the need for immediate action. Axiologically, a contrast was drawn between the US democratic values and the perceived authoritarianism of the Chinese government, further legitimizing the threat perception.

The findings demonstrate the successful construction of Confucius Institutes as an existential threat through dialogical, discursive, and cognitive mechanisms. The media's use of reported speech and strategic selection of external voices shapes audience perception and influences their judgment. The study highlights the role of bottom-up securitization, where media actors interact with existing socio-political contexts to shape public opinion. The cognitive proximization of the threat emphasizes the urgency and legitimacy of actions taken against Confucius Institutes. The study underscores the socially constructed nature of stances and attitudes towards specific entities, as demonstrated by the interactive nature of value positions present in the analyzed discourses.

This study contributes to the understanding of how language shapes the perception of security threats, especially in the context of unconventional security issues. It emphasizes the importance of a discourse-based approach to security studies, highlighting the interplay between language, cognition, and securitization. Future research could explore the impact of different media platforms and the role of social media in shaping perceptions of unconventional security threats. Further research might investigate how different cultural contexts influence the process of securitization and how specific linguistic features shape the affective responses of audiences.

The study is limited to two elite US newspapers. The findings might not be generalizable to other media outlets or countries. The qualitative analysis, while in-depth, is based on a sample of texts, limiting the scope of conclusions. Future work could use a larger and more diversified data set, encompassing various media types and geographic locations. Further research could also explore the role of other linguistic aspects, such as framing effects and metaphors, in shaping perceptions.