(De)Legitimating support: British newspapers’ legitimation strategies during the Battle of Bakhmut

Abstract

This study investigates the discursive legitimation strategies employed by British newspapers during the Battle of Bakhmut in the Russo–Ukrainian War. Drawing data from four prominent tabloid(ized) newspapers – The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and The Evening Standard – the authors employed Van Leeuwen’s framework (see ‘Discourse and practice: New tools for Critical Discourse Analysis, 2008) to explore how these outlets constructed (de)legitimations of actions in their reports of the battle. Their analysis revealed a predominance of (de)legitimation strategies of moralization, authorization and rationalization. Ukrainian actions were mainly legitimized through authoritative quotes from officials, the construction of a moral high ground and rational appeals to Western value systems that were likely to resonate with newspaper audiences. Conversely, Russian actions were chiefly delegitimized through negative moral evaluations and expert authoritative commentary. Their findings contribute empirically and theoretically by highlighting the influential role of British newspapers in legitimating preferred interpretations of international conflicts in which the UK is not an active combatant and in conditioning public support for Ukraine and its international allies.