Abstract
This work is devoted to the study of the evaluative potential of precedent phenomena in the journalistic discourse of modern mass media in the United States of America. The research was based on the texts of “The New York Times”, “USA Today” and “The Washington Post”, which analyzed precedent anthroponyms and aphoristic statements. As a result of the analysis, it was found that precedent phenomena perform not only a nominative, but also a pronounced evaluative function in the media text. It is revealed that precedent anthroponyms are used primarily to characterize political figures, typify social phenomena, and create stable associative models of perception. It is determined that aphoristic statements most often serve as a means of strengthening the author's position, interpreting facts and semantic accentuation of socially significant events. It is established that the evaluative semantics of these units is formed due to the context, cultural and historical associations and the pragmatic attitude of the author. It is also proved that the nature of the assessment depends on the genre of the publication, the communicative purpose of the material and the ideological orientation of a particular publication. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that precedent phenomena are an effective means of expressing the author's modality, enhancing the expressivity of the text and indirectly influencing the readership in modern American media discourse. It is clarified that in journalistic materials the assessment can be both positive and negative, but the most productive is the critical interpretation. It is shown that the inclusion of precedent units allows a journalist to compactly convey complex meanings, activate the addressee's background knowledge and direct the perception of information in the direction set by the author in the context of the high dynamics of the modern media space in the United States today