The category of “evidentiality” as a means of transmitting fake information in the English-language media discourse

The study of the source of information as well as the nature of the information transmitted is currently in high demand in various fields of Humanities. This paper considers the category of “evidentiality” responsible for this. The aim is to describe the specifics of referring to evidentiality in the process of transmitting fake information in the space of mass media discourse. The material for the study included 1000 discursive contexts obtained by continuous sampling method from English-language online media (2023–2024). In addition, the study used definitions from Cambridge Dictionary and Collins Online Dictionary. The specificity of the transmission of evidential statements using operators containing assessment and interpretation of the transmitted information by the author / subject of communication, as well as the possibility of intentional / accidental distortion of the reported facts enabled identification of various types of evidentiality of fakes: categorical evidentiality (45.3%), non-categorical evidentiality (25%), neutral evidentiality (29.7%). These types of evidentiality are based on the features of the source and channel of information perception, the emotional state and the degree of awareness of the author / subject of communication about the content of the message and, as a result, their confidence in the reliability, significance, truth and relevance of the transmitted information. The study found that the author’s use of a particular type of evidentiality of fakes depends on his / her communicative tasks and determines the perception of information by the reader. Through the evidentiality of fakes, the author can inform / evoke the desired emotional reaction / convince the reader of rumors. The classification offered helps to differentiate unreliable information from relevant information represented by means of evidential semantics.