NEWS MEDIA DISCOURSE OF IMRAN KHAN’S ARREST IN MAY 2023: DISCOURSE HISTORICAL APPROACH

Abstract

This research paper studies the news media discourse surrounding Imran Khan’s arrest, a prominent Pakistani politician, in May 2023. The study employs the Discourse Historical Analysis (DHA) theoretical framework by Wodak (2015) to analyze the discursive strategies used in four selected editorials published in English newspapers from Pakistan and India from May 9th to 12th, 2023. The DHA attempts to understand the complexities of socio-political and historical contexts in shaping discourses and their potential for social change and identity politics. The research focuses on identifying the discursive strategies applied in the editorials and examining the similarities and differences in their representations of Imran Khan's arrest in the news editorials. The text uses referential strategies like direct references, metonymy, synecdoche, and membership categorization. Predication strategies are used with stereotypical and evaluative attributions, and implicit and explicit predicates. Deixis is employed in both argumentation and perspectivization. Also, topoi are applied in the argumentation strategies. In Indian editorials, perspectivation strategies show detachment of the writers, while in Pakistani editorials, low involvement of the writers is observed. Hyperbole is used for intensification to highlight the seriousness of the situation. Verbs like modals, WH-questions, and action verbs also emphasize the text's viewpoint. Euphemistic expressions are used as a mitigation strategy. In conclusion, the Pakistani editorials emphasize internal political situations in Pakistan, and the Indian editorials focus on the role of the Pakistani military and its impact on India. Future research can further explore the diversity of news media discourse and its impact on Pakistan's public opinion and political discourse.