Critical Discourse Analysis of the Editorial Coverage of Osama Bin Laden Operation by the Pakistani Media

Abstract

Editorials have the potential to shape opinion, create reality and convey ideologies in the form of media discourse. Editorials also perform a very important role in Pakistan because their function is not only to report the events but also to interpret them in a coherent framework. The current paper is intended to compare and analyze the media discourse in the editorials of two daily English newspapers of Pakistan in the context of one of the most controversial anti-terrorist operation which is named as the Osama Bin Laden (OBL) operation. For this purpose editorials of two leading English newspapers of Pakistan i.e., Dawn and The News were selected from 3^rd May, 2011, to 26^th August, 2011. Moreover, the current study employed the method of critical discourse analysis and has also studied the theoretical notion of agenda setting and framing. The theoretical notion of agenda setting and framing further helped in interpreting the results in the context of language (vocabulary), conflict presentation, sources, and related issues. Results reveal that The News used very strong, rather harsh vocabulary during the editorial coverage of OBL operation. Whereas, Dawn adopted literary phrases and less harsh tone to cover OBL operation. Also, editorials of both the newspapers constructed similar frames such as “failure of military establishment” and “security lapse” throughout the coverage of OBL operation.