Guard Research Articles

Public discourse narratives: from 'Secret Aid Worker' discontent to shifting power in humanitarian systems.

Public discourse is rich in meaning, reflecting consensus, dissent, and change. Yet, very little public discourse on the humanitarian sector has been authored by aid workers themselves. We conducted a thematic analysis of the 'Secret Aid Worker' (SAW) series, published in The Guardian newspaper between 2015 and 2018, the only corpus of data on humanitarian life experiences publicly accessible through mainstream media. Our research questions were twofold: how did authors frame their work and appraise humanitarian structures?; and how did they reflect and amplify humanitarian issues of the time? The main themes included: personal challenges of humanitarian life; characterisation of stakeholders; and systemic issues within the humanitarian sector. The SAW narratives reveal a powerful discourse of discontent. They planted seeds of change regarding shifting power, coloniality and racism, sexual abuse, and duty of care. We argue that such public discourse has symbolic power, calling for greater accountability, equity, and justice in remaking the future of the humanitarian sector.

Framing Environmental Issues of Bangladesh in International Media: A Topic Modelling Analysis on the Guardian Newspaper

Journalism has emerged as a crucial avenue for creating awareness of the increasing importance of addressing environmental risks that transcend national boundaries. This study examines the Guardian newspaper’s coverage of environmental issues in Bangladesh, a country profoundly affected by climate change and natural disasters. Through analysing 345 news articles from 2011 to 2021, this research employs topic modelling to explore the international framing of climate concerns. The findings reveal thematic framing across various topics, including occupational environment, health and safety in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry, flooding along transboundary rivers, and Bangladesh’s stance on the Paris Agreement and its approach to climate change. The Guardian emphasises ethical and sustainable practices in the fashion industry. It sheds light on the impact of flooding on vulnerable communities and discusses Bangladesh’s energy policies in the context of global climate goals. Nevertheless, the study also highlights some limitations, such as the absence of comprehensive coverage of Bangladesh’s diplomatic efforts at global climate forums and a lack of emphasis on developed nations’ responsibility.

Do Social Interaction Mechanisms Affect University Reputation? Evidence from the UK Higher Education Sector

We investigate the influence of skilful utilization of social interaction dynamics on creating reputations for UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) during public funding cuts and scrutiny. The paper employs a content analysis method and follows an empirical design with a unique sample of 148 UK HEIs. To gauge reputation, we rely on participatory data from the Guardian newspaper's 2014–15 environmental and ethical performance ratings for the People & Planet University League. Multiple regression analysis is applied to address the research hypotheses. The results indicate that open, accountable, and transparent sensemaking in sustainable development (SD) practices over the years is the predominant dynamic for enhancing HEIs’ reputation. This paper underscores the need to consider the institutional logics perspective as a theoretical foundation for a comprehensive understanding of the link between sustainability disclosure and an institution's reputation, image, and public goodwill within the higher education (HE) context. HEIs’ leadership should invest in SD and its associated disclosure practices. Policy‐makers and accounting regulators should establish consistent and comparable reporting requirements for sustainable performance within the HE sector. This paper is the first to empirically examine the direct impacts of HEIs’ compliance with sustainability duties on organizational performance.

A Comparative Multimodal Stylistics Analysis of Selected Newspapers Cartoons

This study focuses on the comparative multimodal stylistic analysis of selected newspapers cartoons. A comparative study of newspapers cartoon juxtaposes two or more newspaper cartoon brands. Multimodality entails the mode(s) employed in a cartoon to portray meaning. The data for the study comprises ten cartoons selected through the purposive random sampling technique between 2020 and 2021 from The Punch, The Nation and The Guardian newspapers respectively. Data were analysed using Halliday’s meta-function of language in his Systemic Functional Grammar. It was discovered that framing, salience and linking layout are handy analytical tools in carrying out a multimodal analysis; each brand communicates its thoughts in a unique way with salient similarities and it was discovered that newspaper cartoons also lament the current tragic occurrence in society. This study concludes that visual mode is the lifeblood of a newspaper cartoon while the verbal mode only complements cartoon but cannot stand alone as a newspaper cartoon.

Grammatical Cohesion in Online Minute-By-Minute Football Commentary

Linguistic inquiry into football commentary has become prevalent in recent times. Despite the plethora of studies on football commentary, the cohesive elements within it remain unexplored. The present study, therefore, investigated the grammatical cohesive devices in Online Minute-By-Minute Football Commentary (OMBMFC). Three OMBMFCs from The Guardian news were collected, processed, and analysed. Drawing on Halliday and Hasan’s Cohesion Theory, the study found that all four types of grammatical cohesive devices (reference, substitution, ellipsis, and conjunctions) were employed in the OMBMFC. The most dominant grammatical cohesive devices were references followed by conjunctive devices and the least used were ellipsis and substitution. The study also found that these devices were employed to avoid repetition and to link sentences. It was recommended that an investigation of both grammatical and lexical cohesive devices in OMBMFCs be carried out to ascertain a holistic view of the role cohesion devices play in these commentaries. The study extends research in cohesion studies, particularly in football commentary. Keywords: Sports Commentary, Cohesion, Cohesive Devices, Online Minute-By-Minute Football Commentary

Crime Reporting Patterns and Frequencies in Print Media in Post-COVID Nigeria: A Security Approach

This study systematically delves into the intricacies of crime reporting by mass media in post-COVID Nigeria, shedding light on its profound impact and intensity. Through meticulous archival methods, historical editions of The Guardian and Punch newspapers were analyzed over three years. The findings highlight a notable emphasis on crimes against individuals, such as murder and assault, compared to other categories like financial and drug-related crimes. Over 4,093 crime incidents were reported, with crimes against persons dominating in 2021 and 2022. The study underscores the need for nuanced crime reporting and advocates for substantive engagement through editorials and analyses. By fostering awareness and discourse, print media can play a pivotal role in shaping public understanding of crime dynamics and promoting societal well-being.

Grammatical Cohesion in English and Arabic Business Texts: A Contrastive Discoursal Analysis

The current study centres around uncovering the functions and types of grammatical cohesion in structuring business texts in English and Arabic newspapers. Unequivocally, it aims to unravel the possible similarities and differences in the English and Arab journalistic registers in terms of grammatical cohesion. Moreover, the study is built on two hypotheses. First, there are differences in the frequencies of grammatical cohesive tools manipulated by English and Arabic writers. Unlike their Arabic counterparts, the English articles tend to involve more realizations of grammatical cohesive patterns. Second, both English and Arabic journalists exhibit a general tendency to take advantage of the same types of grammatical cohesion in their business articles. Ten articles have been selected from The Guardian and Ashareq Al-Awsat newspaper websites as data for analysis. Five articles have been picked from each newspaper. Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) model of grammatical cohesion has been applied to the selected articles in both languages. The results show that reference and conjunction exist profoundly in the two newspapers. On the contrary, substitution and ellipsis have almost disappeared in both corpora.

Lexical cohesion analysis on articles of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Arabic and English online newspapers

Discourse studies on the Russia-Ukraine conflict have been conducted in the past few years, especially in newspapers. Comparative studies on the media in several countries have been widely carried out; however, none so far focused on comparing Arabic and English newspapers. Thus, this article aimed to examine the lexical cohesion of Arabic and English newspapers to identify each newspaper’s tendency to represent the conflict. Aljazeera and The Guardian newspaper were designated as subjects of the study, in which five opinions published in March 2022 by each newspaper were purposively selected as data sources. Data was collected through internet archival documentation techniques and analysed by referring to the lexical cohesion theory framework proposed by Halliday and Matthiessen (2013). The results showed that repetition was the dominant cohesive device used in Aljazeera, whereas repetition and collocation were the most used lexical cohesion devices in The Guardian. The use of these lexical cohesion devices showed that Aljazeera took a neutral position in representing conflicts and actors. On the other hand, The Guardian tended to side with Ukraine while framing Russia and Putin negatively. Differences in these tendencies were due to the differences in interests. Aljazeera could stay impartial because Qatar had no political interests in the conflict. By contrast, The Guardian was positioning itself against Russia and Putin because Britain had economic and geopolitical interests in the conflict.

Comparative Study of Hate Speech in the 2015 and 2019 General Elections in Three Selected Newspapers in Nigeria

The recent trend in journalism malpractice in the country is the dissemination of hate speech and vulgar language. Within this context, the paper analyzed the manifestation of hate speech in the 2015 and 2019 general elections in the Daily Trust, The Nation, and The Guardian newspapers. The variables of frequency, location, direction, as well as a journalistic genre were used to examine the manifestation of hate speech in the 2015 and 2019 general elections by the selected newspapers. Stratified random sampling by days of the week was used to select the editions in the newspapers. The Functional Theory of Campaign Discourse and Critical Race Theory was used as the theoretical framework. Based on the findings, to table the manifestation of hate speech was more frequent in 2015 than in the 2019 general elections by the selected newspapers. The findings reveal that the manifestation of hate speech by the selected newspapers in the 2015 and 2019 general elections was significantly high in the inside pages than in the front and back pages. The study found that the manifestation of hate speech by the selected newspapers was in a negative direction in 2015, and in a neutral direction in 2019. The study discovered that the manifestation of hate speech was on political news by the selected newspapers in the 2015 and 2019 general elections in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the manifestation of hate speech in the 2015 and 2019 general elections in Nigeria was significantly high, and this constituted a major problem in the 2015 and 2019 general elections.

Elusive mother country: The literature of the Indian-Caribbean Windrush

The recent commemorations in 2018 and 2023, of the 70th and 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks, have prompted a deeper engagement with the history of post-war migration from the Caribbean to the ‘motherland’. As public awareness of the economic contribution the Windrush Generation (1948–1971) made to Britain grows, there is also an increasing curiosity in the artistic output of this community and their descendants. However, when museums and cultural institutions choose to engage with the history of the Windrush Generation and its influence, such representations focus on Black Britain and a celebration of the African-Caribbean presence; little or no acknowledgment is given to the community of Indian-Caribbean heritage, who also formed part of the Windrush Generation. Frequently for example, art exhibitions, book lists and musical celebrations ignore the Indian-Caribbean presence with the UK’s Guardian newspaper recently publishing an article entitled ‘Windrush at 75: books that shaped the black British experience’ (author’s italics).In this article I seek to analyze the literary contribution made by writers of Indian-Caribbean heritage, who were part of the Windrush Generation. From Sam Selvon, the author of the classic Windrush novel The Lonely Londoners to lesser-known writers such as Lakshmi Persaud and Elly Niland, I argue that Indian-Caribbean writers have complicated the binaries of the current Windrush narrative and have perhaps been afforded less consideration as a result. My aim in this article is to offer a preliminary analysis of the literary odyssey of Indian-Caribbean writers during this period

ПОСТУЛАТЫ ШКОЛЫ КРИТИЧЕСКИХ ПРАВОВЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ СОЦИАЛЬНО-ПРАВОВОЙ ТЕОРИИ Р.М. УНГЕРА)

The purpose of the work was to identify and formulate the main provisions, the initial views of supporters of the School of Critical Legal Studies, which have developed in the United States since the 1970s of the twentieth century, through an analysis of the views of one of the activists of the movement of critical legal studies, the Brazilian statesman and jurist Roberto Mangabeira Unger. The objectives of the work include studying the conditions for the emergence and origins of critical legal research, analyzing the methodological basis, studying the works and statements of R. Unger, formulating the postulates of the school of critical legal research and the foundations of R. Unger’s political and legal theory. To achieve the set goal and solve problems, the author uses such general scientific and specific scientific methods as analysis, synthesis, historical, system-structural, comparative methods. In addition, the author's interpretation of R. Unger's views is presented based on the translation of his Englishlanguage works.Results: objective and subjective factors in the formation of the School of Critical Legal Studies have been identified, the connection between the ideas of the school’s supporters and the moderate direction of American sociological jurisprudence and the realistic school of law has been identified, the main postulates of the supporters of critical legal studies have been formulated based on the provisions of the political and legal views of R. Unger. Conclusions: The school of critical legal studies arose on the basis of an understanding of law primarily as a social institution designed to ensure a balance of individual, social and state interests. Like legal realists, representatives of the school tried to demythologize legal phenomena by analyzing the legal life of society. In addition, Unger, appealing to O. Holmes’s views on law as a product of experience, saw the further development of human society through the introduction of new technologies and experiments based on social solidarity and cooperation, when the state and law act as guardians of society and do not limit it progressive development.

The Use of Compound Words in the Guardian News Website

This study aims to find out the types of compound words and formation of compound words found in the Guardian News Websites. The data were classified and analyzed by applying the theory from Delahunty & Garvey (2010) and supported by the theory from McCarthy (2002), about the types and the formation of compound words. This study applied descriptive qualitative research and the data were collected using observation and documentation technique. The results of this study found that there were 164 compound words in fourteen selected news articles on the Guardian News Website. The first result showed that there are four types of compound words found in this study: 101 (62%) compound nouns, 33 (20%) compound verbs, 25 (15%) compound adjectives, and 5 (3%) prepositions compound. The second result showed that there are four types of compound word formation: 103 (63%) closed compound, 29 (18%) open compound, 22 (13%) hyphenated compound, and 10 (6%) mixed compound.

The Dynamics of ‘The British Identity’ as a Concept in Contemporary British Mass Media: A Discursive Analysis

This article explores the multifaceted nature of “The British Identity” within the context of political discourse, focusing on its representation in The Guardian newspaper. The aim of this study is to investigate the content specificity of the concept and its transformation under the influence of socio-cultural and extralinguistic factors. Through a qualitative analysis of selected articles from The Guardian, the paper examines the linguistic units used to represent the British identity and the evaluative nature of their expression. The study adopts a conceptual framework that considers the British identity as a political and cultural concept, susceptible to diverse interpretations and judgments within the ideological context. By employing a content analysis approach, the research reveals the tensions arising from the attempt to cater to both conservative and progressive factions of the UK society. The findings indicate that the representation of the British identity in The Guardian is influenced by socio-cultural factors, reflecting the evolving dynamics of British society. The analysis highlights the presence of evaluative expressions, reflecting the conceptual domain’s evaluative nature and its connection to political and cultural debates, particularly those concerning multiculturalism. While the study predominantly relies on articles from The Guardian, it acknowledges the need for broader source diversity to capture a more comprehensive understanding of the British identity. Moreover, the paper suggests that further research in this field holds promise for exploring the evolution and adaptation of conceptual domains in an ever-changing world. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by shedding light on the complex and evolving nature of the British identity within political discourse. The research serves as a foundation for future investigations into the concept of identity and its representation in professional media outlets, and its implications for social cohesion in diverse societies.

LEXICAL FEATURES OF THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWS MEDIA DISCOURSE IN THE CORONAVIRUS ERA

Background. The article is devoted to the semantic and discursive analysis of lexical units of English-language news articles aimed at highlighting the coronavirus issue in the period of 2020-2022.
 Purpose. The paper presents the results of the analysis of The Guardian news articles devoted to Covid-19 pandemic in the period of 2020-2022.
 Materials and methods. The news articles of The Guardian newspaper devoted to coronavirus issues were selected as the research materials. The methods of semantic and discourse analysis, partial sampling, as well as descriptive method were used in the study.
 Results. The article provides a detailed semantic and discursive analysis of the lexical means used in the texts. The analysis results reveal the most typical lexical means, providing such features as informativeness and expressiveness. The article provides a detailed description of functioning of expressive means in the total number of 2658 units.
 Practical implications. The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that the results obtained can be used in practical classes in the disciplines “Practical course of the English language”, “Foreign (English) language”, “Lexical aspects of translation”, as well as when writing term papers and final qualifying papers.

Framing Deforestation Discourse in Tanzanian Media: An Analysis of Framing Strategies in Daily News and the Guardian Newspapers

This research delves into the framing of deforestation issues within Tanzania's Daily News and The Guardian newspapers, focusing on political framing, responsibility, environment, and human impact framing. The study centred on a content analysis of deforestation-related articles in these national newspapers, treating the Daily News and The Guardian in Tanzania as a case study. Findings reveal an average coverage of 1.7 deforestation stories per day across both newspapers. Notably, the articles exhibited a predominant political framing, constituting 57% of the content. Despite this emphasis on political perspectives, the study underscores the significance of framing deforestation issues within Tanzanian newspapers and suggests that future research should explore additional newspapers to enrich our understanding of this critical subject.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Turkish Coup Attempt News in The Guardian Newspaper

The current study addresses how Turkish coup attempt (July 2016) news is manifested in newspaper context. Considering that Türkiye has Islamist government, the researcher has chosen this coup to find out how do the non-Muslim English newspapers view towards an Islamic government? So, a number of lines, that contain vocabularies and structures that refer to ideologies or powers, have been selected to be analyzed. These lines are taken from the important English newspaper which is The Guardian. The methodology used in this study is Fairclough’s three dimensional approach (2001). It consists of three dimensions which are: textual analysis, discursive practice, and social practice. This study aims at identifying types of textual, discursive and social strategies employed in the selected newspaper's articles and showing The Guardian newspaper's attitude towards Turkish government. In order to achieve the aims of the study, the researcher proposes some hypotheses which are 1) Grammar is the most commonly strategy of textual analysis used in The Guardian newspaper's article under study. 2) intertextuality discursive strategy is more commonly strategy of analysis used than Presupposition. 3) Concerning social practice, ideology is the most frequently strategy used than power by The Guardian. 4) There are negative ideologies written toward Turkish government and Islam. The study comes out with the following conclusions: The Guardian newspaper has used more grammar, intertextuality and ideology strategies from textual, discursive and social analysis respectively than other devices within the context of it. The Guardian has negative ideologies. It, in every occasion, tries to offend the Islam and Turkish government.

Realization of cognitive models of situations through phraseological units in English-language articles on culture

Currently, in the media discourse, the authors of articles actively realize their pragmatic intentions through the pragmatic potential of phraseological units. The relevance of the study can be proved due to the fact that at the moment there is no information about the components of cognitive models of situations which can be most effectively used by the authors of articles to realize their pragmatic intentions through the pragmatic potential of phraseological units in articles of certain thematic groups. The purpose of the article is to determine the components of cognitive models of situations that are actualized and brought to the fore through the pragmatics of phraseological units in the texts of the English-language media discourse on the topic «culture», the reasons for the actualization of these components of cognitive models of situations by phraseological units, as well as to establish what pragmatic goals of the authors this is due. The study was conducted on the material of media texts – the texts of articles posted on the website of The Guardian newspaper. The research used methods of discourse analysis, semiotic analysis, observation and description techniques. As a result of the analysis of the articles on the topic «culture», it was identified that in the most of the examples the components «situation» and «circumstances» of cognitive models were brought to the fore through the pragmatics of phraseological units, also there was determined the cause of this phenomenon.

Exploring the Functional and Semantic Fields of ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’ Conceptual Metaphors in Media News Headlines

The research aims to conduct a functional analysis of the opposing conceptual metaphors ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ within English headlines from BBC and The Guardian news between 1999 and 2023. The relevance of this study lies in the need to explore the lexical meaning of fundamental theological terms based on the unreal cognitive constructs in the context of evolving social paradigms. Various research methods were employed, including continuous sampling, classification, thematic analysis, definition analysis, and semantic analysis.The findings indicate that the conceptual metaphor ‘hell’ possesses a broader semantic field compared to ‘heaven,’ both in terms of definition and function. Metaphorical usage is prevalent, but headlines also feature ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ within idiomatic, emphatic, allusive, direct, zeugmatic phrases, and contaminations. These metaphors encompass thematic areas with polar connotational meanings:Hell: Politics (political instability, struggle, political figure replacement, anti-crisis measures), Social life (reforms, discrimination, limitations, mandatory expenses), Crimes (abuses, threats, harassment, assaults, victims), Nature (natural disasters, difficult conditions, environmental catastrophes), Sport (injuries, competition, psychological attacks, overcoming), Entertainment (poor quality service, bad habits, imbalance, disruptions), Travel (unforeseen circumstances, transport collapses), Culture (culture shock).Heaven: Politics (political decisions, electoral victories), Social life (festivals, feasts, family relations, relationships between generations), Crimes (controversy resolution, search for solutions), Nature (biodiversity, renewal of nature), Sport (victories, lucrative contracts, goal achievement), Entertainment (parties, bright performances, romanticism), Travel (pleasure, rest, nature), Culture (acquaintance with outstanding cultural objects, visiting cultural events).This research demonstrates that the dichotomous representation of the conceptual metaphors ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ is marked by polyfunctionality, driven by the universal evaluative component inherent in their meaning, rooted in the implied polarization of the concepts ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ The emotional and moral dimensions contribute to heightened news perception and effective communication within media discourse.

News Coverage of Covid-19 and Swine Flu: A Corpus-Assisted Study

The progression rate of Covid-19 and Swine Flu to the advanced pandemic level intensified the risk and damage to human fatalities. Since their outbreak, media outlets spared no effort in reporting news and updates about the two diseases. This study investigates the representations of Covid-19 and Swine Flu pandemics in The New York Times and The Guardian newspapers by utilizing a corpus linguistic quantitative approach. The most monthly read article was collected over one year since the two diseases were declared pandemics by the World Health Organization. The data were compiled in a corpus and analysed using Wordsmith software based on the concordances and the frequency list of the top 15 frequent words in each pandemic. The frequency lists generated 9 themes including: reporting verbs, titles, places, quantity expressions, people, disease name, prevention and control, impact and modal verbs. The study found that news tended to spread fear among people and highlight the governments' roles during Covid-19 pandemic more than Swine Flu.

Exceptional and banal constructions of British muslims in Grenfell: Social boundaries, twitter, superdiversity and online vernacular memory

AbstractThe Grenfell fire catapulted North Kensington into the spotlight, an area both synonymous with immigration and social policy innovation for over a century. However, it remains under examined how this extraordinary event re‐defined the discursive landscape around British Muslims and how they have been situated in the national landscape. To do this it analyses the twitter activity in the 96 hours after the fire and also the victim profiles published in the Guardian Newspaper. It finds that the narratives that emerge blur British Muslim social boundaries through narratives both around the exceptional and banal narratives which emerged during and after the fire. This constructs British Muslims as both saviours during Grenfell, and also as a super‐diverse population that resists topologizing as pre‐dominantly South Asain. This article also raises broader questions about the not only the role that social media has in the creation of vernacular memory, and also that in this case twitter was importantly not a conduit for the fake news and hate speech created against British Muslims during Grenfell.