Modifying stance in media translation

Introduction

Resent decades have witness the exponential growth of research in the field of media linguistics [Duskaeva 2018; Lushchinskaya 2019] stimulated by the development of digital media as one of the key means of news dissemination. Media texts found on various multimedia digital platforms combine both verbal and media elements, the core media content being produced by leading news agencies, national or regional mass media [Dobrosklonskaya 2020]. Digitalization makes news accessible at any location, while globalization enables news to cross national boundaries [Bielsa, Bassnett 2009]. Luschinskaya posits that each media text is created along certain guidelines underpinned by the journalists’ and editors’ world view, the combination of background knowledge, values and cultural standards [Luschinskaya 2019: 62]. Moving along media chains, communicative events undergo modifications [Blackledge 2005]. The choice of texts and arguments to cite depends on the power struggle associated with certain beliefs or ideologies [Schäffner, Bassnett 2010]. The same is true for multilingual contexts when media cover news from other countries, which usually entails recontextualization across linguistic, cultural and ideological lines [Schäffner, Bassnett 2010: 6].

The interaction of media communication and translation gave rise to media translation studies that have gathered traction in the twenty-first century [Zanettin 2021]. While producing the original media text the authors choose what things should be highlighted or made obscure, what information they should include or exclude, whether some things should be presented implicitly or explicitly. The same choices are made in the course of media translation: the decision to cover certain international events and the stance of the translated text are determined by institutional policies and ideologies [Schäffner, Bassnett 2010]. Stance is understood as implicit or explicit expressions of the author’s subjective position [Englebretson 2007], which often takes the shape of ideological standing in media texts. Bearing on the fact that ideological stance can be changed in media translation, it is important to study the way such transformations work to gain insights into institutional practices, to investigate specificity of translation in media discourse.

Modern research on media translation rests at the intersection of media studies, communication and translation studies, it focuses on the way news is produced and disseminated globally in the current technological environment [Zanettin 2021]. The transformations of the source text (ST) in media translation are viewed as adaptation [Sun, Zhao 2022] or transediting [Stetting 1989; Schäffner 2012]. Transediting means adaptation of the text to the new social or/and cultural context, which goes in line with the functional pragmatic approach to translation [Mossop 2020].

The purpose of the present research is to investigate the practices of the digital platform ИноСМИ which is a part of one of the leading Russian information agencies Russia Today (RT). The mission of ИноСМИ (InoSMI) is to serve as a gateway for domestic audience to news produced by foreign journalists. We attempt to compare and contrast the original articles written in French and English and their transedited versions published by ИноСМИ. The aim is to trace changes of stance the media source texts undergo in transediting. Specifically, we are interested in revealing how transediting affects the main structural elements of a media text: its headline, lead and body.

The structure of the article is as follows: first, we provide an overview of modern scholarship on media linguistics and media translation, then describe methodology and material and, finally, analyze the results of our empirical study.

Theoretical background

An impressive body of research pioneered by Innis and McLuhan [McLuhan 2003; Innis, Innis 2022] shows that the medium influences the way information is transmitted and perceived by recipients. The idea that the medium shapes the way we perceive the world, impacts society and culture gained prominence due to technological advances which, in their turn, stimulated the development of media studies [Cooren 2015].

The linguistic aspects of media communication became the focal point of media linguistics that aims at uncovering the way linguistic units function in mass communication environment [Lushchinskaya 2019]. The key feature of media texts is their hypertextuality linking the news content with visual texts such as video or pictorial materials [Dedova 2010]. In an attempt to establish some structure in media texts, Dobrosklonskaya classifies them according to the authorship of media content and the platforms which are used to disseminate such texts. Accordingly, three types are established: media texts of the first order produced by leading news agencies, media texts of the second order generated by bloggers and vloggers, and, finally, media texts of the third order encompassing the so called ‘personal content’ [Dobrosklonskaya 2020: 30]. The present research examines the materials produced by the Russia Today news agency [Acheto, Zelentsov 2024] that fall into the category of the first order media texts.

One more important feature used as a basis of media texts’ classification is their function. Dobrosklonskaya postulates that media texts are produced either to inform or to impact [Dobrosklonskaya 2014]. Bearing on it, the scholar describes four main functional types: 1) news, 2) comment and analysis, 3) features and 4) advertising: the information function being dominant for news, while the combination of information and impact functions is typical of the comment and analysis type which is inherently evaluative [Dobrosklonskaya 2014].

However, some researchers argue that no media text is unbiased. Qin and Zhang posit that the selection of news for journalistic coverage depends on the target readership as well as the ideological position of news agencies [Qin, Zhang 2017]. Linguistic features of media texts can be instrumental in determining their subjectivity. The perspective journalists take manifests itself on the linguistic level as stance of media texts. Stance is viewed in terms of agreement or disagreement [Chen, Ku 2016], it is complemented by such parameters as certainty, necessity etc. [Simaki et al. 2018]. Analyzing stancetaking Englebretson highlights its ubiquitous nature postulating that different linguistic phenomena and their combinations may contribute to stance in discourse. The scholar shows that various lexical and syntactic units are capable of expressing evaluation and attitude serving as markers of stance [Englebretson 2007]. In line with this view, we assume that stance manifests subjectivity and can hardly be clearly defined. Sometimes stance and modality are used interchangeably by scholars. However, according to Fairclough, modality in the text concerns with what is true or what is necessary, while evaluation takes place when we treat something as desirable/undesirable or good/bad [Fairclough 2003]. Adopting a broad-based approach, we posit that being subjective, stance encompasses modality, evaluation and sentiment. Englebretson postulates that stance is consequential as it entails real consequences for the person or the institution involved [Englebretson 2007: 6]. In media communication, the consequences of stancetaking mean the impact journalists’ positioning produces on the addressees.

Investigations in the field of communication show that alongside linguistic elements, visual signs have become a powerful means to reach the recipients. Being an integral part of media texts, visuals garner attention indicating the stance of the message [Ferreira, Vlachos 2016].

The notion of stance, specifically the ideological one, acquires salience in multilingual news exchange. In the process of translation, the stance of the original text is transformed to meet the expectations of target readers and/or in accordance with the political positioning of the news institution determined by its official status [Pang, Lee 2008]. There has been a convergence around the notion that the ideological dimension of a translation depends not only on the ST but also on the stance of the translator and its relevance for the recipients [Munday 2007; Tymoczko 2009]. The departure from a ‘faithful’ translation of a source media text has become commonplace, which resulted in questioning the applicability of the term translation to this process. Researchers propose new terms for practices in news media translation that include transcreation, cultural and situational adaptation, gatekeeping and transediting [Untari et al. 2023; Zanettin 2021]. Stetting (1989) uses the term transediting in reference to journalists’ drawing on material in other languages for writing their own texts, which is aligned with the function the target text (TT) serves. According to the functional approach, the purpose that the TT is expected to achieve for its recipients is paramount for translation [Reiss, Vermeer 2014]. As one of the purposes of a media text is to attract the addressees’ attention, the most frequent changes established in transediting of international news are found with headline and lead [Bielsa, Bassnett 2008]. Kuiken et al. (2017) show that apart from traditional headlines designed to give readers understanding what the media text is about, journalists extensively use rewritten headlines based on clickbaiting. Rewriting of headlines involves structural and stylistic changes which are expected to ensure the text’s eye-catching and sensational qualities [Bazaco, Redondo, Sánchez-García 2019]. It is possible to assume that the headline and its rewritten clickbait version differ in terms of their ability to lure the addressees and affect them emotionally. The research on clickbaiting is relevant for our investigation of the ИноСМИ texts that tend to have two headlines, one of them being a clickbait. It is important to consider both types in terms of their stance. Specifically, we aim to reveal whether the stance of the original headline is modified or remains unchanged in the translated headline and its clickbait version.

Drawing on the research in the fields of media linguistics and media translation we focus on a case study of translations of international news published on the digital platform ИноСМИ which is a part of the Russia Today, one of the leading national media companies.

Methodology and Material

One of the ways for the domestic readers to get access to international news translations is using digital platforms where they can find materials published by mainstream national news agencies that Dobrosklonskaya (2020) calls media texts of the first order. Serving as gatekeepers, journalist translators have to deal with ideological conflicts stemming from the discrepancies in ideological positioning expressed in the source media text and the position taken by their own news agency. As a result, a translator is no longer seen as an invisible, faithful transporter of meaning, on the contrary, translation assumes the form of social and ideological engagement involving selection, reframing and refusal of information among other techniques [Tymoczko, Gentzler 2002]. In this light, the Pragmatic Functional approach to translation is instrumental for the present research. According to it, the decisions taken by translators are determined by a specific pragmatic situation [Nord 1997]. In news translation it encompasses the expectations of the target audience and the policies of the news agency the translator is affiliated with.

The corpus selected for the present research includes 92 translated articles published by ИноСМИ (target texts) in 2022–2024 and the original articles in English and French written by foreign journalist serving as source texts. The media texts chosen for analysis are found on the ИноСМИ digital platform (https://​inosmi​.ru/).

The sample media texts incorporate linguistic and non-verbal elements such as photographs and pictures which create a semiotically complex texture. We postulate that the pragmatic effect of such media texts depends on the synergy of semiotically heteroge- neous signs and all the elements are relevant for meaning making and its rendering in media translation. We set our research in the framework of Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA). It takes into consideration verbal and non-verbal components of a text focusing on their social dimension, on the way they are used in relation to power and ideology [O’Halloran 2004], which is aligned with the social semiotic approach developed by Kress [Kress 2009].

The application of MCDA to our sample media texts involves the following stages. First, the analysis of individual semiotic choices in multimodal source and target texts is carried out. Then we focus on the semiotic means to express stance in original and transedited media texts. Specifically, we are interested in the way stance is manifested in 3 main sections of the linguistic part of the text: headline, lead and body. We also examine messages the pictorial components transmit and the way they tie with the stance of the linguistic part of the text. Finally, comparison and contrast of stance manifestation in the ST and TT is carried out. It aims to reveal what types of modifications of stance are used in the linguistic and pictorial strata of translated media texts.

Results and discussion

The sample ИноСМИ media texts are multimodal: they start with a headline which is followed by a picture, then goes a lead preceding the body. The layouts of the original media texts and their translated versions reveal certain similarity.

To trace the way stance is expressed in the ST and TT, we conducted a case study of the article ‘Tournee de Macron en Afrique: Nazdarovie!’¹ (Macron’s visit to Africa: Nazdarovie!). It was published by the French magazine Causeur on 5.08.2022 and its translation appeared on the ИноСМИ site four days later.

The original headline contains onyms providing information about the agent, the French president Macron, and the location — Africa. However, the focal point of the headline is the Russian word Nazdarovie which alludes to the issues raised in the article revolving around the French vs Russian influence in Africa. The examination of the translated headline shows that in Russian it has 2 versions, one of them being a clickbait. The clickbait translation is ‘Во Франции начи­на­ют пани­ко­вать: Россия вер­ну­лась!’² (The French start panicking: Russia is back!), the other headline translation is a literal one ‘Турне Макрона по Африке: Nazdarovie!’ (Macron’s African Tour: Nazdarovie!). Both translations preserve the original spelling of the barbarism nazdarovie which is a transcription of the Russian word using the Latin alphabet. It is eye-catching both in the ST and in the TT, however, it has different associations for the French-speaking and the Russian-speaking audiences. For the French it can be a word that sounds alien and alludes to the Russian presence in Africa. From the pragmatic perspective nazdarovie can be treated as an emblem, a sign whose main function is to identify, to assign an individual to a certain group [Karasik 2010]. Being used in the headline, this barbarism unequivocally signals that the text is about Russians. The word has become recognizable due to the wes- tern cinematography which has created an ethnic stereotype of Russians using nazdorovie while consuming alcohol.

For the Russian readers such stereotyping can seem inappropriate. Negative associations with inebriation aside, the phrase na zdorovie, which literally means to your health, is not that common in the Russian communicative practices. Which is also the case with hasta la vista, the emblematic expression that foreigners find indicative of being Spanish, while it is rarely used by Spaniards nowadays.

The pragmatic function of the barbarism’s usage in the original headline is to intrigue the addressees, it also serves the purpose of foreshadowing the main topic of the article. The clickbait translation is evaluative: the French are portrayed as intimidated by the Russians’ clout in Africa. It shows that the stance of the original headline is significantly modified in the clickbait and is almost unchanged in its literal translation.

To support the headline, the editors chose some pictorial elements that provide visual clues for the addressees about the topic of the article. Pictures serve as anchors riveting the viewers’ attention and stimulating them to read the article. According to Kress and van Leeuwen (2020) pictorial elements are endowed not only with denotative meanings but also with connotations as they can express evaluation and sentiment. Bearing on it, the photograph in the source text is subject to the visual analysis of stance. The picture of President Macron contains factual information expressed in its linguistic segment: the photograph is taken on July 27, 2022 during the press conference in Cotonou, the capital of Benin. The setting seems official with France’s and Benin’s national symbols providing a background to the president addressing journalists (Fig. 1). It aligns with the appearance of the politician and sends the viewers clear signals about the importance of his visit and his diplomatic status.

Fig. 1. The Causeur photograph. Retrieved from https://​www​.causeur​.fr/​t​o​u​r​n​e​e​-​d​e​-​m​a​c​r​o​n​-​e​n​-​a​f​r​i​q​u​e​-​r​u​s​s​i​e​-​b​o​k​o​-​h​a​r​a​m​-​2​3​9​423

The analysis of the target text reveals that the original picture is substituted by the one featuring President Macron in Africa in quite an informal surrounding. The French president is wearing a white shirt, its sleeves rolled up, he is smiling and shaking hands with locals (Fig. 2). However, the stern facial expressions of those around him show that the joviality is not quite sincere and the greetings are a part of Macron’s PR campaign. Moreover, the informal appearance of Macron may diminish the scale of the event, questioning the importance of his African tour. It is evident that the substitution of the original pictorial element of the media text resulted in the change of stance as the picture in the TT elicits emotions that differ from those produced by the ST.

Fig. 2. The ИноСМИ photograph.  Retrieved from https://​inosmi​.ru/​2​0​2​2​0​8​09/

The next part of the media texts to consider is its lead. The source text introduces the topics covered in the article in the following way: Du 26 au 28 juillet, le président de la République s’est rendu en Afrique avec à l’agenda trois dossiers sensibles: le retour de l’influence russe sur le continent, la persistance des menaces djihadistes et la mémoire de la colonisation. Entretien avec l’économiste Loup Viallet³. (On July 26–28 the President of the French Republic visited Africa with three objectives in mind: to oppose Russian influence on the continent, to tackle the persistent jihadists’ menace and to deal with the memories of colonization. In this regard we interview the economist Loup Viallet).

To attribute salience to this part of the media text, they use bold type and graphically separate the lead from the body⁴.

The analysis of the TT shows that it has a part detached from the body of the article and executed in italics, which makes it look like a translated lead. A close examination shows, however, that it is not related to the original lead. In fact, it is a synopsis of the article imbued with evaluative commentaries that explicate the position of the ИноСМИ: Авторы фран­цуз­ско­го жур­на­ла «Козёр» изо всех сил про­дви­га­ют «фран­цуз­скую повест­ку» в Африке, при­зы­вая бороть­ся с вли­я­ни­ем России в Мали и ЦАР. Но при этом они сами вынуж­де­ны при­знать: эти быв­шие фран­цуз­ские коло­нии разо­ри­лись и попа­ли в руки джи­ха­ди­стов, а интер­вен­ции Франции в послед­ние годы не улуч­ши­ли их поло­же­ние⁵ (The authors of the French magazine Causeur try with all their might to promote ‘the French agenda’ in Africa calling to oppose the Russian clout in Mali and CAR. However, they have to admit that these former French colonies have gone bankrupt, have fallen into the hands of jihadists and France’s intervention in the recent years has not improved the situation).

The focus in this commentary is on France’s responsibility for economic and social problems of African countries and the futility of France’s attempts to improve the situation. Negative connotations are found in the expressions ‘try with all their might to promote ‘the French agenda’’ and ‘to go bankrupt’. The commentary also elucidates the news agency’s attitude to French journalists depicting them as adversaries who fail to achieve their goals. Being ideologically loaded, this element of the media text showcases the stance of the whole transedited text highlighting the perspective from which the recipients are expected to view the message of the article.

As for the original lead, in the TT it is turned into the introductory paragraph of the body, which runs as follows: Недавно пре­зи­дент Французской Республики посе­тил Камерун, Бенин и Гвинею-Биссау, совер­шив поезд­ку по Африке с тре­мя ост­ры­ми вопро­са­ми на повест­ке дня: воз­вра­ще­ние рос­сий­ско­го вли­я­ния в реги­оне (Макрон назвал Россию «одной из послед­них коло­ни­аль­ных импе­рий»), сохра­не­ние джи­ха­дист­ских угроз и пре­одо­ле­ние памя­ти о фран­цуз­ском коло­ни­а­лиз­ме. В этой свя­зи мы берем интер­вью у экономиста-африканиста Лу Вьялле⁶ (The President of the French Republic has visited Cameroon, Benin and Guiné-Bissau recently. He traveled to Africa with three thorny issues on the agenda: the restoration of the Russian clout in the region (Macron called Russia ‘one of the last colonial empires’), the existence of jiha- dists’ menace and the memories of France’s colonial past. In this regard we interview the economist Loup Viallet).

This part of the transedited text has a parenthetical element which makes reference to Macron’s prior speech when he called Russia a colonial empire. From the standpoint of translation techniques, it can be classified as addition. In translation practices, addition is justifiable if it helps to clarify the message of the ST. However, the expansion, including citation that denigrates Russia, does not serve the purpose of elucidation. It aims at revealing Macron’s hostility to Russia drawing on his previous speeches. This reference is styled as a translator’s note, a technique that tends to facilitate the comprehension of the ST [Paloposki 2010]. Although the authorship of the note is not indicated, the recipients can infer that they hear the voice of the translator. According to Buendia, translator’s notes serve two purposes: 1) they supplement the text as explanations, 2) they provide commentaries that are subjective [Buenida 2013]. The scholar calls the latter type discursive notes, specifying that they are not ‘restricted to providing verifiable information as they also express a particular judgement and/or attitude. In using these notes, the translator is purposefully guiding the interpretation of the text and accords it with a socially acceptable meaning’ [Buenida 2013: 159].

In fact, the pragmatic function of the note containing the citation of Macron’s negative commentary about Russia aims to create conflict, arousing indignation in the target audience. Using additions, such as in-text ideologically loaded notes, the translators alter the stance of the media text.

The additions in the TT also take the shape of in-text translator notes that are explanatory. In the ИноСМИ texts such notes are arranged as parenthetical elements which are not found in the original.

Il se trouve aussi que Barkhane se repositionne, en descendant au Tchad et au Niger, et est encore présente au Burkina. La menace djihadiste descend vers les côtes, notamment de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, vers la Côte d’Ivoire, le Togo et le Bénin, pays qui est plus stable depuis la présidence de M. Talon qui est un homme pragmatique, qui ne cherche pas de fausses polémiques sur le Franc CFA, tel que certains démagogues africains le font⁷. (Apart from that, the operation Barkhane is being repositioned, moving to Chad and Niger, partially affecting Burkina Faso. The jihadist menace shifts to the coastline, especially in West Africa, effecting Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin. The last one has become more stable under President Talon. He is a pragmatic person who does not seek false polemics on the CFA Franc, as some African demagogues do).

The transedited version has two translator notes: Что каса­ет­ся опе­ра­ции Barkhane (про­во­див­шей­ся в основ­ном фран­цуз­ски­ми воору­жен­ны­ми сила­ми), то она пере­ме­ща­ет­ся в Чад и Нигер, лишь арьер­гард­ные бои ведут­ся в Буркине-Фасо. Джихадистская угро­за, осо­бен­но силь­ная в Западной Африке, тянет­ся к стра­нам под назва­ни­я­ми Кот‑д’Ивуар, Того и Бенин. Особенно обид­но за Бенин — стра­ну, кото­рая ста­ла более ста­биль­ной при пре­зи­ден­те Талоне. Он праг­ма­тич­ный чело­век, не оспа­ри­ва­ет наши валют­ные про­ек­ты (вве­ден­ный в быв­ших коло­ни­ях Франции «запад­но­аф­ри­кан­ский франк» от Африканского финан­со­во­го сооб­ще­ства). В общем не спо­рит с нами так, как это дела­ют неко­то­рые афри­кан­ские дема­го­ги⁸ (As for the operation Barkhane (which was mainly carried out by the French military forces), it is moving to Chad and Niger partially affecting Burkina-Faso. The jihadist menace, which is strongly felt in West Africa, is stretching to such countries as Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin. It is especially disheartening that it affects Benin, the country that has become more stable under President Talon. Being a pragmatic man, he does not question our currency projects (namely, the West African franc introduced by the African financial agency in former French colonies). He does not argue with us as some African demagogues do).

The notes used in this excerpt are devoid of any ideological connotation: ‘which was mainly carried out by the French military forces’ and ‘the West African frank introduced by the African Financial Agency in former French colonies.’ Both of them provide some factual information about the operation Barkhane, specifying its participants, and explain the details of the currency project mentioned in the ST. Since the notes are neutral in stance, they do not change the positioning of the source text.

To summarize, the findings show that additions can be shaped as translator notes which are marked graphically as parenthetic elements. If they are used for the purposes of explanation, e. g. explication of some realia, they are neutral and do not alter the stance of the original. When the notes are interpretative, they express the subjective views of the translator and confront the message of the source text, changing the stance according to the policy of the news organization.

One more type of additions found in the TT encompasses editorial commentaries. They are marked paralinguistically by parenthesis and italics, and linguistically by references to their authorship — прим. ИноСМИ (The ИноСМИ note).

The analysis reveals that editorial commentaries are interpretative and biased. They are employed to serve as a counterbalance to the position of the ST authors. To exemplify it, consider the commentary about CFA — West African currency, which was mentioned earlier in explanatory translator notes: ‘Et le Franc CFA reste la monnaie la plus stable du continent’⁹ (The West African franc remains the most stable currency on the continent).

The ИноСМИ introduced editorial commentaries that run as follows: ‘А запад- ноаф­ри­кан­ский франк (навя­зан­ная Францией быв­шим коло­ни­ям в Западной Африке общая валю­та. — Прим. ИноСМИ) оста­ет­ся самой ста­биль­ной валю­той’¹⁰. (The West African franc (the common currency imposed by France to its former colonies in West Africa. — the ИноСМИ note) remains the most stable currency.) The editorial note contains the lexeme to impose which means to establish or bring about as if by force. The implication is that the currency is used almost against the will of African countries. The lexeme’s negative evaluation is set in contrast to the rest of the sentence. The expression the most stable currency connotes appreciation as the introduction of the common currency seems to have brought about some positive financial effect. While introducing commentaries the editors try to diminish the achievements of their political rivals, like a fly in the ointment such additions can spoil the overall positive impression.

Editorial commentaries are also used to question the veracity of facts mentioned in the ST. Speaking about the Russian influence in CAR, the French economist Loup Viallet says: ‘C’est aussi le pays qui a adopté le Bitcoin, sur proposition de Vladimir Poutine, il y a deux mois’¹¹ (Two months ago, this country also adopted Bitcoin as legal tender following the suggestion of Vladimir Putin). Its translation into Russian contains the editorial commentary that aims to disprove the facts mentioned in the ST: «Это так­же­стра­на, кото­рая нача­ла раз­ви­вать про­ект наци­о­наль­ной крип­то­ва­лю­ты по пред­ло­же­нию Владимира Путина два меся­ца назад». (Так в тек­сте, ника­ких офи­ци­аль­ных сооб­ще­ний о таком про­ек­те рос­сий­ско­го руко­вод­ства для ЦАР не появ­ля­лось. — Прим. ИноСМИ.)¹² (It is also the country that two months ago started to develop the national crypto currency project suggested by Vladimir Putin (that is what the text says, there has been no official information about the Russian government’s project for CAR — the ИноСМИ note).

Additions in the form of translator notes and editorial commentaries are marked either linguistically or paralinguistically. At the same time TT contains additions that are covert and can pass unnoticed for the recipients. The example of such unmarked extension is the translation of the following statement about Libya: La Libye s’est effondrée en 2011¹³ (Libya collapsed in 2011). The transedited version has a new element ascribed to the speaker: ‘Ливия после наше­го втор­же­ния потер­пе­ла крах — еще в 2011 году’¹⁴ (Libya collapsed after our intrusion in 2011). The ST does not contain any mentioning of France’s responsibility for the tragic events in Libya, the addition of phrase after our intrusion is an intentional distortion designed to denigrate Russia’s political opponents. The addition changes the neutral stance of the ST attributing some negative evaluation to it.

Unmarked additions are not restricted to a lexeme or a phrase level. They encompass several sentences, as is the case of the last paragraph of the transedited interview with the French economist, which was invented by the editors: Франция, обла­да­ю­щая ядер­ным ору­жи­ем и в про­шлом импе­рия с замор­ски­ми тер­ри­то­ри­я­ми, регу­ляр­но ста­но­вит­ся мише­нью кри­ти­ки со сто­ро­ны афри­кан­ских лиде­ров, ищу­щих сла­вы и авто­ри­те­та на меж­ду­на­род­ной арене. Как буд­то они наде­ют­ся осу­ще­ствить «док­три­ну Жданова», по кото­рой Россия долж­на стать осво­бо­ди­те­лем тре­тье­го мира. На самом же деле эко­но­ми­че­ские про­бле­мы афри­кан­цев про­сто экс­плу­а­ти­ру­ют­ся и Россией, и Китаем¹⁵ (France, being a country with a nuclear weapon and a former empire with overseas territories, come under attack from African leaders seeking international recognition. They behave as if they were trying to implement ‘the Zhdanov doctrine’ according to which Russia should become the savior of the third world’).

The purpose of this addition is to introduce the notion of the so-called Zhdanov doctrine, which was not mentioned in the ST, but which the editors find instrumental to promote their agenda. The final element of the TT is the editorial commentary entitled. Примечание насчет ‘док­три­ны Жданова’¹⁶ (Our commentary on ‘the Zhdanov doctrine’) where the editors provide some critical analysis of information published previously in the French magazine Causeur.

Adding new elements to the original interview, the editors omit some questions and answers, finding them irrelevant. It is accompanied by restructuration that allows for elucidating some ideologically meaningful information. In the course of transediting both the contents and the structure are manipulated for the purposes of functional pragmatics.

To summarize, the findings reveal that the transformations of stance in transeditting are either marked or unmarked (Fig. 3). The marked transformations are caused by the employment of addition which takes the form of either translator notes or editorial commentaries.

When stance transformations are unmarked, the recipients get no graphical or verbal clues about the alterations of the structure and meaning of the ST entailing the change of positioning. One of such unmarked modifications is associated with the substitution of the pictorial element of the ST for a new one that transmits the message informed by the positioning of the editors.

Omission of some components of the ST and restructuring the original by meshing or rearranging some paragraphs serve as techniques leading to unmarked stance alterations. One more type is additions that are incorporated in the text without signaling the recipients about the distortion of the message ST was designed to transmit.

If additions are introduced covertly without linguistic or/and paralinguistic markers, they may mislead the readers providing intentional misrepresentations of the original media text. However, from the point of view of pragmatics, such manipulations help to meet the translation super objective being in compliance with the news agency’s ideological stance.

Conclusion

The findings show that media texts covering international news undergo some changes in the course of translation. The original texts are reframed, so transediting (translation + editing) seems to be an appropriate term to describe this process. The transedited articles share the features of two main functional types of media texts: 1) news and 2) comment and analysis.

Moreover, in transediting the source text is rearranged structurally as some parts are cut out, some are combined and some new fragments are added to it. According to Jakobson’s triadic division of translation [Jakobson 1959], it is possible to consider this process as the combination of interlingual and intralingual translation, the latter type involving the substitution of verbal signs by other signs of the same language.

The modifications in transediting aim at affecting the perspective from which the recipients are expected to perceive the media content. The positioning of the original article, especially its ideological stance, tends to be altered to fit the policies of the news organization and to meet the expectations of the readers. Thus, stance transformations are pragmatically informed.

The case study of ИноСМИ practices reveals that the stance of the source text is changed either overtly or covertly. The overt, or in other terms, marked stance modifications take the form of additions that can be either evaluative in-text translator notes or editorial commentaries. Importantly, in ИноСМИ media texts commentaries occupy strong positions: they are placed at the beginning of the article and are marked graphically, moreover, they are found at the end of the text building a sort of a frame. Editorial commentaries tend to disprove the facts expressed in the ST or compromise the positioning of the foreign journalists.

The ideological stance of an article can be altered in a covet way without any signals for the readers to understand that the ST has been manipulated. Such transformations of stance encompass the linguistic mode and include omission, restructuring and addition. They also affect the pictorial mode when the original iconic signs are substituted for the ones fitting the ideological standing of the ИноСМИ.

Manipulation of stance is found in the headlines that contain clickbait. To attribute some sensational quality to the clickbait, translators make it evaluative and lurid. At the same time the sample ИноСМИ articles have a second headline which is a literal translation, its original stance being unchanged.

It is possible to conclude that stance modifications affect all elements of media texts: their headlines, lead and body. In the light of functional pragmatics such translation and editing choices are informed by the necessity to adapt the media texts to a new sociocultural environment, to make them attractive and impactful.

The results of our research of ИноСМИ practices can have implications for media linguistics and translation studies as they reveal the techniques to alter the perspective from which the readers can view the international news. Our research paves the way for further investigations of stance in media texts, specifically, it could be of interest to analyze it in the light of reception, or use a corpus of media texts of the second order, such as blogs.