THE RHETORIC OF POLITICAL EMOTIONS IN THE INTERNET NEWS DISCOURSE

Thee 2a2er focuses on the issues of 2ublic o2inion mani2ulation and emotionalization of the Internet news discourse. Thee 2ur2ose of this study is to identify the s2ecificcs of 2olitical emotions and their rhetorical 2otential in the Internet news discourse. Therough the discourse analysis of the statements uttpered by 2oliticians and taken from the news stories of the highly circulated British and American online media, 2olitical emotions are deficned as a 2articular ty2e of emotions intended to mani2ulate 2ublic o2inion both emotionally and 2olitically. Thee analysis of the rhetorical 2otential of 2olitical emotions reveals that 2olitical emotions can be used with the aim of social solidarity, grou2 identificcation, decision-making, sha2ing 2ublic o2inion, discrediting the o22onent, 2olarizing social grou2s as well as enhancing the 2ublic image of a 2olitician in the Internet news discourse. Thee ficndings 2rovide the su22ort for the hy2othesis that 2olitical emotions 2lay an im2ortant role in modern argumentation, leaving the facts behind and becoming a key factor that determines the credibility of information in the modern online media. Thee results of this study can be a22lied in the ficeld of linguistics, journalism, 2sychology and 2olitical science. A range of im2lications for understanding the com2lex nature of emotions and their key role in the Internet news discourse is ex2lored.


INTRODUCTION
It is undeniable that journalists are the ficrst teachers of this society as the news writtpen by them reaches every doorste2. Our society reads it to get informed, become knowledgeable and 2roactive (Khattpri, 2019, 2. 120). New era of journalistic work is influuenced by the establishment of online journalism (Hudikova, 2020, 2. 126). It is also characterized by the rise of new media technologies which are deficned as technologies that aid the transfer of information or communications through digital techniques (Adjin-Tettpey & Mbatha, 2020, 2. 17). Thee advent of the Internet and digital technologies has fundamentally changed the way reci2ients consume media content (Moravcikova, 2020, 2. 29). Under the influuence of modern technologies new media as a mediator between the government and society have transformed our communication, including online interaction, and become a means of mani2ulating 2ublic o2inion as well as a tool for struggle both for 2ower and readers' attpention. Theus, in order to understand the com2lexity of this transformation and its 2rofound effeect on society a thorough study of mani2ulative tools, rhetorical devices and their language markers used for influuencing a mass addressee in the new media needs to be carried out.
Thee 2resent study is of relevance and 2articular interest since the 2henomenon of emotions has a 2rofound effeect on the global 2olitical, economic and social 2rocesses. Theis is due to several factors: 1) Thee Internet is an integral 2art of social communication of a modern 2erson. Online media alongside with social media 2lay an im2ortant role in sha2ing the audience's 2erce2tion of social, 2olitical and cultural events and 2roblems.
2) Modern 2olitical 2rocesses are rife with exam2les of the influuence of emotions on 2olitics. Currently, almost every 2olitical e2isode or event is covered and accom2anied by emotional ex2eriences in the media.
In the 2ost-truth era online media are characterized by the dominance of unverificed and fabricated facts, a large number of fake news, cons2iracy theories as well as the 2revalence of the emotional argumentation over the factual and rational information (Bykov et al., 2019, 2. 6). For instance, according to the study of , about 78% of journalists in Jai2ur ado2t information furnished by unreliable and uncertificed sources while using social media.  conclude that the s2read of fake news is considered a threat for democracy and civic 2artici2ation in a lot of Euro2ean countries.
Thee term "2ost-truth" era was coined by  who argued that dece2tion is becoming more 2revalent in the modern media-driven world and is viewed as something acce2table. Cam2aigns of disinformation using emo- tional mani2ulation and lies (or half-lies) are a common 2ractice of the modern 2olitical 2rocesses (Bykov et al., 2019). Rational arguments and objective facts no longer 2lay the role of a key to attpracting the audience, whereas the a22eal to emotions has become ubiquitous, es2ecially in the new media. For this reason, it is vital to study emotions in the Internet news discourse.

METHODS
Theis 2a2er re2resents a case study of the 2henomenon of 2olitical emotions in the Internet news discourse. Thee aim of the study is to 2rovide new insights into the understanding of the notion of 2olitical emotions and their role in the news coverage of 2olitical events. Theere are several research objectives which facilitate the achievement of the research aim. Theey are as follows: a) to identify the s2ecificcs of 2olitical emotions in the English-language Internet news discourse; b) to analyze their rhetorical functions in this ty2e of discourse; c) to detect their linguistic markers and the main rhetorical devices used for emotional mani2ulation.
Thee research hy2othesis suggests that 2olitical emotions have a mani2ulative character and 2lay one of the key roles in sha2ing 2ublic o2inion in the Internet news discourse.
A discourse analysis of more than 100 news stories taken from the online 2a2ers 2ublished between 2001 and 2020 was used to detect the linguistic markers of 2olitical emotions and analyze the im2lications of the emotive language used by 2oliticians in the news statements. News stories were collected using LexisNexis database as a data collection tool. Thee British and American 2a2ers, including Thee Times, Thee Guardian, Thee Telegra2h, Thee Local, Thee New York Times and Thee Washington Post, were selected based on their high quality and 2o2ularity in the UK and USA, as they are considered to be the most re2utable, influuential and credible 2a2ers that may contribute to the reliability of the scientificc results of the analysis of the collected material.
Thee content analysis of the news stories was used to make inferences about the s2ecificcs of 2olitical emotions and their rhetorical functions in the Internet news discourse.

DISCUSSION
It is worth noting that emotions have always been an essential and integral 2art of communication 2rocess, whether it is everyday s2eech or 2olitical communication.
In fact, emotions can refluect not only our feelings but also our beliefs, values and even judgments or evaluative thoughts. According to Aristotelian rhetoric, emotions can be cognitive and embody thoughts which can be evaluated like any ideas (Aristotle, as cited in Coelho & Hu22es-Cluysenaer, 2018, 2. 14).
Furthermore, emotions can be seen as a tool of 2ublic o2inion mani2ulation. By mani2ulation we mean "a ty2e of 2sychological im2act which is exerted on the addressee by im2osing im2licit (or hidden) goals, desires, intentions or attpitudes towards some event, thing or 2erson that do not coincide with those of the addressee" (Chernyavskaya, 2006, 2. 56). In other words, it is a ty2e of im2act which forces the addressee to acce2t the author's view2oint without any evidence or 2roofs. From Aristotle's view2oint, "the orator has to cultivate certain emotions in an audience to instill an attpitude oriented toward following the rule of law" (Aristotle, as cited in Coelho & Hu22es-Cluysenaer, 2018, 2. 9). In other words, by im2osing certain emotions on the audience, a s2eaker influuences the lattper and makes it acce2t the view that is advantageous for him/her. Thee same conclusion was made by Le Bon, who documented about emotions and argued that "given to exaggeration in its feelings, a crowd is only im2ressed by excessive sentiments. An orator wishing to move a crowd must make an abusive use of violent affirrmations. To exaggerate, to affirrm, to resort to re2etitions, and never to attpem2t to 2rove anything by reasoning are methods of argument well known to s2eakers at 2ublic meetings" (Le Bon, 1995, 2. 34-35).  convincingly argues that facts are bettper described and remembered if they contain strong emotions. From this 2ers2ective, in order to convince mass audience the s2eaker (orator) has to use emotional mani2ulation rather than logical argumentation.
Regarding the a22eal to emotions in the media, it is worth saying that they are considered to be one of the determining factors in deficning news value. In general, the im2act in the media can be carried out both through the use of logical and emotional methods of influuence. Thee logical way of influuencing the audience either does not always work or works not for everyone, since a reader tends to avoid the information that can 2rove to him/her that his/her behavior or views can be erroneous. Rational argumentation seems to have a reverse effeect, forcing the news audience to trust and rely on unverificed facts as well as emotional statements in the media. Theerefore, the a22eal to emotions has become the most effeective and quickest way to give a news story more 2rominence, draw the audience's attpention to it and mani2ulate 2ublic o2inion.
Currently, the study of emotions in the media has become of 2articular im2ortance to many scientists . Research reveals that journalists increasingly incor2orate emotional elements in news stories (Aich- berger . Emotions influuence the way the news audience 2erceives information and forms its o2inion . Thee transmission of emotions in the media is almost as im2ortant as that of knowledge . For instance, there are certain emotions that contribute towards communicative success of TV 2rograms by ca2turing viewers' attpention and not concentrating on their knowledge of the mattper. Theis may be ex2lained by the fact that the audience is diverse and can be un2re2ared for the scientificc or technical issues discussed in these 2rograms. In this regard, emotionalization, which is increasingly dominant in the modern media, becomes an im2ortant strategy in the 2rograms that seek to s2read scientificc knowledge among the general 2ublic. Thee use of emotionalization strategy has become one of the distinguished features of the modern Internet news discourse. It can be identificed as "a deliberate use of emotive language and rhetorical devices in the media" (Teneva, 2019, 2. 47). Its aim is to create a 2ositive or negative image (o2inion or attpitude) of some 2erson (or event) in the media in order to mani2ulate 2ublic o2inion. Emotionalization can also be deficned as the intentional "evoking of emotions" (Flemming et al., 2018, 2. 1).
Thee issue of emotionalization of the media s2here has always been relevant.  2osition refluects the existing ambivalence towards mass media. On the one hand, he claims that media make it diffircult for their audience to form rational-critical o2inion which could o22ose the established 2ower. From his view2oint, media 2rovoke emotional res2onses from their audience, thus distracting it from the 2olitical actions and making it reluctant to the decision-making 2rocess. Following the views of Habermas,  consider "Thee Jerry S2ringer Show" to be an emotional 2ublic s2here and conclude that this TV show has littple to do with rational-critical discussion.
On the other hand, Habermas considers media to be an ideal 2latform for 2ublic communication that might generate the critical consensus on the 2revailing issues of the day (Habermas, as cited in Livingstone & Lunt, 2.10). Theus, the influuence of certain emotions that are used in the media cannot be undervalued or neglected as they can be thought-2rovoking and make substantial contributions to social, economic and 2olitical s2heres. For instance, Ok2adah notes that TV coverage "has affeected and influuenced the trends of world 2olitics" (Ok2adah, 2020, 2.160).
In general, emotions have a direct im2act on 2olitical 2rocesses . Nussbaum mentions that "all societies are full of emotions <...>, including anger, fear, disgust, sym2athy, envy, guilt, grief, many forms of love. Some of these emotions have littple to do with 2olitical 2rinci2les or the 2ublic culture, but others are diffeerent: they take as their object the nation, the nation's goals, its institutions and leadersƒ" (Nussbaum, 2013, 2. 126). In this regard, there is a correlation between 2olitical realms and the ty2es of emotions or reactions that they evoke or by which they can be characterized. It is also evident that certain emotions have 2olitical im2lications. For instance, it is of interest for Cvetkovich (2010) why some sentiments are valued in 2ublic communication while others are judged irrelevant.
From our view2oint, 2olitical emotions can be deficned as a set of conscious and unconscious emotional reactions of subjects or objects of 2olitical reality to 2olitical events or ficgures as well as changes in the 2olitical environment with the 2ur2ose of 2ublic o2inion mani2ulation. We tend to assume that the main 2ur2ose of the a22eal to 2olitical emotions in the media is to evoke certain feelings in the addressee in order to identify and convince him/ her in the correctness of the 2olitical arguments, which, namely, can be called emotional identificcation. By identificcation we mean "a general 2rinci2le of communication 2rocess used to make a s2eaker's view2oint acce2table to the addressee and, thereby, convince him/her" (Teneva, 2019, 2. 47).  considered identificcation to be a key 2rinci2le of rhetoric and claimed that identificcation was more im2ortant than 2ersuasion. In other words, in order to convince the news audience it is necessary to identify with it. From this 2ers2ective, identificcation can be considered one of the fundamental 2remises of mani2ulation.
Theere are several ty2es of identificcation in the new media. Firstly, journalists as well as 2oliticians can identify with the readers' or voters' o2inions by directly addressing them and making them believe that they share the same o2inions. Secondly, identificcation with authority (ex2erts or materials containing statistics) as well as identificcation with 2o2ular o2inion that exists in the media have also become a common tool of mani2ulating 2ublic o2inion in the modern media. Nevertheless, emotional identificcation remains the most widely s2read in the new media, es2ecially on social media, and is aimed at "emotional infection" of the addressee by identifying the feelings and emotional state of the s2eaker with the addressee's feelings in order to mani2ulate him/her. Theerefore, the use of emotional identificcation which is seen as an essential 2remise of mani2ulation has become increasingly wides2read both on social media and in the new media.

RESULTS
Within the framework of this 2a2er 2olitical emotions are viewed as one of the common tools of emotionalization strategy used to mani2ulate the o2inions of the readers of online 2a2ers. For the 2ur2ose of this analysis, we have studied over 100 statements taken from the British and American online 1) "We ho2e that the new leadershi2 of the United States will be more constructive, and will hel2 us come to a mutually acce2table solution, " Putin said in a s2eech in St. Petersburg .
2) "I [Jiang Zemin] ho2e the Western world can understand China bettper. Theis is not sim2ly an issue that has a bearing on myself. It actually has a bearing on the 2ride and feelings of the 1.2 billion Chinese 2eo2le and the tens of millions of Chinese descendants overseas. Theey all ho2e that Taiwan and the mainland can be reunificed at an early date" .
In these exam2les both 2oliticians ex2ress ho2e which is aimed at a 2ositive solution of the 2roblem by identifying their o2inion with the o2inion of the addressee and the whole country, whose interests they re2resent in the international 2olitical arena.
Exam2le № 1 shows that Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, ex2resses his ho2e for a bettper relationshi2 between Russia and America by identifying his o2inion with that of the addressee. For that 2ur2ose he uses the inclusive 2ronoun "we" alongside with the verb denoting ho2e, which creates the im-2ression of emotional involvement as well as highlights the sense of togetherness of the addressee with the thoughts and feelings of the 2olitician. Thee feeling of emotional "involvement" and unity with the reader increases the emotionality and 2ersuasiveness of the information, brings the reader closer to the o2inion of the 2olitician and is used for his/her "emotional infection".
It should be noted that the 2ronoun "we" and other inclusive 2ronouns ("all of us", "we all", "many of us", "most of us", "everyone", "anyone", "no one", etc.) have rhetorical functions: they remove res2onsibility from the s2eaker, shiftiing it to the addressee as well as making the statement sound less categorical so as not to irritate the addressee and avoid 2olitical tension. Thee verb "ex2ect" which is used in the statement is central in the "ex2ectation and ho2e" verb system, denoting antici2ation and ex2ectation of a 2ositive answer from the addressee. Thee use of the emotive language with a 2ositive meaning ("constructive", "a mutually acce2table") also contributes to the emotional im-2act on the addressee.
In exam2le № 2 the ex-leader of China, Zhang Zemin, ex2resses his ho2e for a 2ositive solution to the Taiwan 2roblem, namely, the com2lete unificcation of China with Taiwan. Thee Chinese leader identifices his emotional state with the feelings of the entire Chinese 2eo2le by addressing them ("1.2 billion Chinese 2eo2le and the tens of millions of Chinese descendants overseas") in order to show that he is one of them.
Theus, the use of emotions with the intention of identificcation and solidarity has a 2rofound effeect on the mass audience, forcing it to trust the words of the 2oliticians. Theis is one of the wides2read mani2ulative tools in the Internet news discourse.

Motivation in decision-making process
Emotions in the new media are considered one of the main factors in regulating social behaviour, 2olarizing social grou2s as well as sha2ing decision-making since media are generally regarded as "instruments of socialization" (Polievkova, 2020, 2. 64). In this regard, 2olitical emotions can be seen as a key to decision-making 2rocess. Theey motivate the audience to take actions that beneficts 2oliticians, which is ultimately aimed at emotional mani2ulation. Let us consider the following exam2les: 3) "My ho2e is that newly elected President Trum2 will use this o22ortunity much as President Nixon did in going to China, " Blumenthal said .

4) Trum2 turned to Zelenskiy and declared: "I really ho2e you and President
Putin get together and can solve your 2roblem" .
In these exam2les both 2oliticians ex2ress their feelings of ho2e in order to motivate the addressee (their 2olitical counter2arts) to take actions that are favorable to them and influuence the 2olitical choices and views of the addressee. Thee emotional state is actually im2osed on the mass audience that is su22osed to read these online news stories. Thee feeling of ho2e is transmittped on it and undoubtedly increases the 2ersuasiveness of 2olitical arguments in its eyes.
Theus, it is assumed that 2olitical emotions may be seen as an "argumentation engine" intended to force the audience to make 2olitical decisions, which undoubtedly contributes to their significcant role in the new media as well as in 2olitical communication.

Shaping public opinion
Emotions 2lay an essential role in the formation of 2olitical judgments or o2inions. For instance, a com2liment, 2raise, or a22roval are oftien used by 2oliticians in order to form the o2inion they need or 2ortray a 2icture of 2olitical reality that is beneficcial to them. In these cases, 2olitical emotions are oftien accom2anied by identificcation of the 2olitician's o2inion with authority.
In general, the a22eal to authority is 2erceived as an argument which claims to be taken for granted and without any evidence. By referring to authority, a 2olitician actually 2ersuades the audience to acce2t his/her o2inion. Authority in the Internet news discourse is based on the general agreement or consensus of readers' o2inions and de2ends on the 2o2ularity, 2ublic image and fame of this or that 2olitician rather than on facts or knowledge. Theus, logical arguments are not that im2ortant in this ty2e of discourse whereas the emotional and 2sychological side of the evidence 2lays a key role. In other words, the main em2hasis of the statement is not on the knowledge of the 2olitical fact as such, but on its assessment and the degree of its im2act on the audience. Here are some exam2les: 5) "Thee Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, who has been 2ictured 2osing by the 2ool during a break in training, said that the Prime Minister [David Cameron] would back her a22earance on the 2rogramme" . 6) "Theis isn't about me and it's not about Senator Clinton. As I've said before, she was a friend before this cam2aign. She'll be a friend aftier it's over. (Cheers.) I re-s2ect her. I res2ect her as a colleague. I congratulate her on her victories tonight. She's been running an outstanding race" .
It is obvious from these exam2les that facts and 2ersonal o2inions of the world famous 2oliticians or 2olitical institutions are used as arguments to enhance the image of the discussed 2oliticians so that the addressee has no choice but to acce2t their o2inion (if David Cameron or Barack Obama su2-2orts the 2olitician). For the 2ur2ose of emotional mani2ulation 2oliticians use emotive language with a 2ositive meaning -the words denoting a22roval, res2ect and trust such as "a22rove" and "friend". Theis is called a "halo effeect" which is very common in online media. It is a 2sychological effeect when the authority of this or that 2erson is automatically 2rojected onto all the 2eo2le around him/her, making them believe his/her words (Ste2anov, 2002, 2. 251). Theis is in reference to one of the uns2oken rules of 2ublic communication -"worshi2" and idolization of authority. It is needless to say that a 2erson idolizes 2eo2le of higher social standing . Theus, the reference to au- thority in online media is virtually a substitute for the evidence of the author's view2oint. Let us consider the following exam2le: 7) "Boris Johnson backs Liam Fox to lead World Trade Organisationƒ Hours before the deadline for member states to 2ut forward 2otential candidates, government sources conficrmed that the 2rime minister would back Dr Fox" .
Thee reference to authority (Boris Johnson) is used to enhance the 2ublic image of another, less known and less 2o2ular 2olitician (Liam Fox). Thee authority, 2ositive image and fame of Boris Johnson is transferred to Liam Fox, making the audience believe that he is trustworthy. Theis is one of the most common methods of mani2ulating 2ublic o2inion both emotionally and 2olitically in the Internet news discourse.

Discrediting political opponents and polarizing social groups
When it comes to discrediting the o22onents, the 2oliticians tend to use negative 2olitical emotions in the Internet news discourse. Accusation tactics is common and refers to 2ersonal attpacks against a 2ublic ficgure intended to discourage 2eo2le from believing in this ficgure or su22orting him/her. It im-2lies blaming and defaming some 2olitical 2ersonalities or celebrities, 2resenting the situation and the o22onent in a negative light. Theis tactics is used to evoke strong emotional reactions and negative feelings towards a 2erson in order to convince the audience in the rightness of a 2olitician and unite voters (readers). For instance: 8) "Barack Obama re-entered the national 2olitical debate, assailing his successor as a 'threat to our democracy' and a demagogue 2racticing the '2olitics of fear and resentment'" .
Thee words with a negative meaning such as "demagogue" are used by Obama to create a negative image of his o22onent whom he calls "a threat to democracy". Both labeling and criticizing the o22onent is aimed at convincing the audience in the correctness of his negative attpitude towards Trum2 and his 2olicy, thus mani2ulating 2ublic o2inion.
Undoubtedly, such negative emotions as criticism and accusations contribute to the 2olarization of 2olitical o2inions and further 2olitical confrontation. Let us consider another exam2le: 9) According to President Putin, the former Soviet dictator Jose2h Stalin was like Oliver Cromwell. "Cromwell is just as much of a bloody dictator as was Stalin, " Mr Putin said, in an unex2ected intervention at the end of his four-hour televised 2ress conference yesterday . Putin a22eals to the negative 2olitical stereoty2es and draws a 2arallel between Stalin and Cromwell, calling them both "bloody dictators in order to criticize these 2oliticians and enhance Putin's 2ositive self-image which is contrary to these stereoty2es.
It is should be mentioned that the 2erce2tion of 2olitical "authorities" is the mainly based on the stereoty2es that the audience has. If the audience has 2rofound knowledge or 2ositive background information about a res2ected and authoritative 2olitician, it is likely to believe him/her. However, if the audience's background knowledge about a 2olitician is either negative or insuffircient, then it is unlikely to believe his/her words, which can result in the ineffirciency of the 2olitical arguments and loss of trust in the 2olitician's words or even in the credibility of the media source on the whole.
Theus, the a22eal to 2olitical emotions in online media is more effircient if the news audience has relevant background knowledge or 2ositive stereo-ty2es about the discussed 2erson or issue. As Paglinawan notes, "2eo2le trust what they know -what is familiar to them" (Paglinawan, 2020, 2. 78). As a result, 2olitician's authority, the inter2retation of his/her 2olitical decisions and the effeectiveness of his/her influuence on the audience may de2end on the emotional ex2erience of the addressee, his/her 2ositive or negative background knowledge about an event or a 2erson mentioned in the media .

Enhancing the public image of politicians
Many 2oliticians use emotions to im2rove their self-image. A 2olitical a2ology in the Internet news discourse is oftien used both to change the o2inion of the audience in the way which is favourable to this or that 2olitician and to im2rove his/her image by 2ortraying himself/herself in a 2ositive light rather than to confess or admit his/her guilt. For instance: 10) "I'm here today to again a2ologize for the 2ersonal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment I have caused. I make this a2ology to my neighbors and constituents, but I make it 2articularly to my wife Huma. I had ho2ed to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district had elected me to do, to ficght for the middle class and those struggling to make it" . 11) "I've committped grave mistakes by offeering incorrect analysis during the election ... I a2ologize to the dear Iranian nation because of my incorrect analyses that was the basis for many wrong actions"  In exam2le № 10 the 2olitician confesses his mistakes in front of his family members, namely, in front of his wife, the former assistant of Hillary Clinton, which undoubtedly contributes to the emotional identificcation of the 2olitician with the audience and enhances the emotional im2act on it. Moreover, the 2olitician intends to regain the lost trust and seeks to restore his re2utation by addressing his voters and audience -"the citizens of my district". Thee transition from a 2ersonal a2ology (to his wife) to a 2ublic one (to his voters) is used to emotionally "infect" the audience with the 2olitician's emotional state, forcing it to feel his emotions, which is one of the common means of emotional mani2ulation.
In exam2le № 11, by identifying himself with the audience ("dear Iranian nation"), the 2olitician admits his guilt using the words with a negative meaning: "grave mistakes", "incorrect analysis", "wrong actions". Theere is a shifti from the feeling of 2ersonal guilt to the collective sense of com2assion. Theis shifti contributes to the emotional mani2ulation. Moreover, emotional identificcation with the audience reinforces the 2ositive image of a re2entant 2olitician. By evoking the feeling of com2assion in the eyes of the audience, he emotionally mani2ulates it.
Another way to im2act the audience emotionally and 2olitically as well as im2rove the 2ublic image is to ex2ress cynicism. For instance: 12) Thee President (Trum2) claimed: "Winning is easy, losing is never easy. Not for me". <ƒ>Claiming a cons2iracy to kee2 from declaring him the victor, Trum2 said: "Theis is a fraud on the American 2ublic. Theis is an embarrassment to our country. We were gettping ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election" .
In this statement Trum2 calls the recent 2020 US 2residential election a fraud, identifying his criticism of the election cam2aign with the entire American nation by using the 2ronoun "we". Theus, he demonstrates his conficdence in the 2eo2le's unanimity with his o2inion about his victory in the elections. Emotional identificcation is used to im2rove the self-image of the 2olitician.
Thee emotion of fear in the Internet news stories is not only an ex2ression of fear itself, but also an ex2ression of a negative attpitude of a 2olitician towards a 2articular situation (2ersonality) as well as criticism or his/her disagreement with the o2inion of the majority. It is used to highlight the 2olitician's 2oint of view, enhance his/her 2ublic image and im2ress the audience. For instance: 13) "So my fear is a Peo2le's Vote would not be democratic enough, " says Killwick (Macbeth, 2008). 14) "Joe Biden is no friend to Britain. Without Trum2 in the White House, I fear for the future of Brexit", writes Nigel Farage .
In these exam2les 2oliticians disagree with the 2o2ular 2ublic o2inion on the mattpers of the legitimacy of the 2o2ular vote (№ 13) and the future of Brexit (№ 14). Thee emotion of fear not only refluects a feeling of uncertainty about the future or u2coming danger but is an ex2ression of criticism and disagreement with 2o2ular 2ublic o2inion. Theus, it can be assumed that 2olitical emotions have an ambivalent nature.

CONCLUSION
As suggested from the analysis of the em2irical material, it can be concluded that 2olitical emotions 2erform several rhetorical functions in the Internet news discourse and are used with the aim of social solidarity, grou2 identificcation, decision-making, sha2ing 2ublic o2inion, discrediting the o22onent, 2olarizing social grou2s as well as enhancing the 2ublic image of a 2olitician.
In fact, 2olitical emotions are considered to be mani2ulative, forcing a reader to acce2t the 2oliticians' o2inion. Thee emotionality of the arguments given by 2oliticians undoubtedly contributes to their 2ositive 2ublic image, forcing the readers to acce2t their o2inion without any factual 2roofs or evidence, which, to some extent, increases the credibility and authority of both the 2olitician, the information 2rovided and online media source on the whole.
Furthermore, the em2irical material shows that 2olitical emotions can be ambivalent and, therefore, diffircult to inter2ret. In fact, 2olitical emotions can have an ambiguous inter2retation, refluecting an ambivalent attpitude towards 2olitical reality. For exam2le, fear can be viewed as an ex2ression of uncertainty, danger, criticism and disagreement with 2ublic o2inion.
Another distinguished feature of 2olitical emotions that is noticeable in the Internet news discourse is the fact that they convey stereoty2es that the audience has about authoritative 2oliticians or 2olitical events. In this regard, the degree of 2ersuasiveness of 2olitical emotions may de2end on the emotional ex2erience of the audience.
Thee s2ectrum of the linguistic markers of 2olitical emotions is wide. From the linguistic 2oint of view, they can be re2resented ex2licitly and im-2licitly in various ways, including emotive words with a 2ositive or negative meaning, inclusive 2ronouns, em2hasizing words and view2oint adverbs. From the rhetorical 2oint of view, the rhetorical devices of identificcation, self-2resentation as well as a22eals to emotions, authority and stereoty2es can be used to mani2ulate 2ublic o2inion emotionally and 2olitically.
Our ficndings that result from the analysis of more than 100 news stories show that the content of news is shiftiing from an objective and im2ersonal event-based re2orting to a re2orting that is more subjective and emotional with statements and arguments based not only on knowledge and facts but also on emotional a22eal. Theis inference contributes to the assum2tion that new media are currently becoming the tool of emotional mani2ulation of the news audience. It can be ex2lained by the fact that due to the fast 2ace of modern life and large Internet consum2tion modern audience or Internet "users" of new media do not have suffircient time or ex2ertise to refluect on the information in the online 2a2ers. Readers need to receive information and be im2ressed quickly, which, as a result, oftien leads to the fact that they are emotionally (as well as 2olitically and ideologically) mani2ulated though they oftien do not recognize it themselves. Theerefore, 2olitical emotions are considered one of the most effircient tools of 2ublic o2inion mani2ulation in the Internet news discourse, which 2roves our research hy2othesis.
From our analysis of the Internet news discourse, it can also be inferred that due to the overall tendency towards covering more sensational news events in the media, news stories containing statements with "negative" 2olitical emotions are more likely to be found.
In conclusion, it should be highlighted that emotional mani2ulation can lead to subjectivity and misconce2tion of the information. Theerefore, future studies should further ex2lore the 2henomenon of 2olitical emotions and their role in the Internet news discourse.
Thee awareness of emotional mani2ulation can hel2 us struggle with 2ro-2aganda and detect mani2ulation tools as well as develo2 ex2ertise in the understanding of the com2lex nature of our emotions and their key role in the 2rocess of communication. Thee results of the study can be a22lied in the ficelds of linguistics, journalism, 2sychology and 2olitical science.