Covid-19 and Media Representation: A Multimodal Study of Positive Discourse in Pakistani Television Commercials

Abstract

The present study seeks to highlight the role of mainstream media in the dissemination of positive discourse, creating awareness among the masses with regard to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Pakistan. Media discourse plays a significant role in promoting ideology at a larger scale due to its vast viewership across the country. These ideological narratives are implicitly employed by the advertisers through several multiple resource systems. Electronic media has the power to (re)frame the ideology of a larger audience via significant visual/linguistic content and paves the way for social change through viable social institutions. The study follows the theoretical stance of Multimodal Text Analysis propounded by Kress and Leeuwan (2006). The data is comprised of some popular television commercials which are broadcast on the most viewed channels during the peak time viewership in the Pakistani context. The purposive sampling technique has been employed for the data collection process, including only those commercials that largely reflect COVID-19 patterns. The study finds that the commercials present layers of meanings via several orders of signification where the representation has been aimed at creating awareness to a greater extent among the general public so that they can take essential precautions and help to fight against the pandemic.