The visual component of online media texts as a basis for the formation of a region’s media image

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the visual structure of the media image of an industrial region in regional online media based on a denotative analysis of visual content. The empirical base of the study consisted of 1,363 visual materials accompanying the publications of the KP-Chelyabinsk online publication from January 2025 to February 2026. Denotative analysis revealed the main components of the visual representation of the region: man and his social role, architecture and urban environment, technology and objects, nature and environment, graphic images. It is established that the visual structure of the media image has a pronounced anthropocentric character: the central human subject is represented in 67.7% of the materials, and the presence of people in the frame is recorded in 73.1% of the studied array. Technical and infrastructural elements, urban spaces, buildings and structures also play an important role in visual representation. At the same time, the dynamic type of reality reflection prevails over the static one and accounts for 62.3% of the materials. The results of the study show that the industrial specifics of the region are visualized not only through industrial facilities and production activities, but also through a broader range of social, technical, transport and urban images. The visual media image of the region is formed mainly as an image of a socially saturated, active and dynamically functioning urban space.