Abstract

<p><em>The current research paper concentrates on the possibility of utilizing the four strategic functions of political discourse initiated by Chilton and Schaffner (1997) to analyze media discourse. More directly, the research is dealt with how Cable News Network (CNN) establishes the four strategic functions within its media discourse to convey its media message to its readers, reflecting its “Self” and “Other”. To go deep further, it focuses to know whether the four strategic functions of political discourse can be applied and utilized with media discourse or not. Hence, this research contributes to the realization of strategic functions notion in media discourse, in general, CNN news discourse, in particular. Thus, it seeks, mainly, to answer the following question: Can strategic functions be established and utilized within the media discourse to convey ideological media message to the recipients? The linguistic analysis of CNN’s news text that concerns with Arab spring events in Bahrain approves that the strategic functions concept can be detected within the analyzed data. Thus, this concept can be established and detected within the media news discourse, in general. As such, this study is designed to identify the prevailing strategic functions enacted through linguistic choices to reflect “Self” and “Other” ’s constructions in the CNN’s Arab spring news text by analyzing presupposition and the hidden ideologies behind. Fairclough’s 2-dimentional approach for CDA (1995) will be employed to organize the process of analysis. Wodak’s historical discourse approach for CDA (2009) will be integrated during the analysis to provide the readers with the background information necessary to understand the selected news texts. Square van Dijk’s theory of Ideological (1998) will be utilized to clarify CNN’s presentation of positive “Self” and negative “Other” (in and out groups). </em></p>

Highlights

  • The Arab spring can be defined as a wave of demonstrations and protests spread in Arab world at the end of 2010 and early start of 2011 and this is called as “the Arab spring” (Ashley, 2011) or known as “the Arab awakening” (Aljazeera, 2011a, 2011b)

  • News channels dealt with this wave trying to follow up and Cable News Network (CNN) is among

  • The researcher of the current study intends to focus on the ideological use of language to build “Self” and “Other” polarities in the CNN’s online news investigating Chilton and Schaffner’s notion of strategic functions which are manifested through linguistic choices in its media discourse about Arab spring

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Summary

Introduction

The Arab spring can be defined as a wave of demonstrations and protests spread in Arab world at the end of 2010 and early start of 2011 and this is called as “the Arab spring” (Ashley, 2011) or known as “the Arab awakening” (Aljazeera, 2011a, 2011b) It began, in Tunisia, with the event of selfimmolation of Mohammad Bouazizi on 18/Dec./2010 rejecting the powerful elite’s corruption and their ill -treatment of people and violation of human rights (Fahim, 2011). The researcher of the current study intends to focus on the ideological use of language to build “Self” and “Other” polarities in the CNN’s online news investigating Chilton and Schaffner’s notion of strategic functions which are manifested through linguistic choices in its media discourse about Arab spring. To help achieve this aim, the researcher will utilize a CDA framework concentrating on the CNN’s ideological representation of “Self” and “Other” towards Arab spring

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