LANGUAGE, STYLE, AND GENRE ISSUES IN CONTENT COVERING OFFENSES AND CRIME

Abstract

This study examines the linguistic, stylistic, and genre-specific characteristics of media content addressing juvenile delinquency and criminal offenses across print, television, and online digital platforms. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, and media linguistics frameworks (including Teun A. van Dijk and Norman Fairclough), the research explores how the thematic representation of delinquency has evolved from 19th-century institutional press coverage to contemporary multimedia newsrooms. Through comparative textual and discourse analysis – incorporating empirical case studies from the departmental newspaper Postda, investigative television broadcasts (Bir jinoyat izidan, O‘tkir tergov, Kids Behind Bars, Odin za vsekh), and online publications (e.g., Kun.uz)–the article identifies key lexical, morphological, syntactic, and structural mechanisms of legal reporting. The findings reveal a marked dichotomy across media formats: traditional print press prioritizes institutional legitimization, official-normative register, and denotative neutrality, whereas digital and broadcast media systematically employ individualization, dramatization, and emotionally charged connotative markers to maximize audience engagement and clickability. Furthermore, the article addresses ethical and legal constraints concerning minors’’ privacy and evaluates the transforming role of social networks and video platforms in shaping juvenile socialization.