Critical Discourse Analysis on Ethiopian Media Coverage of Anti-ISIS Demonstration Held in Addis

176 Pages·2016·4.22 MB·English

Critical Discourse Analysis on Ethiopian Media Coverage of
Anti-ISIS Demonstration Held in Addis Ababa

Kosun Birhanu

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Journalism and Communication

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication

Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
June 2016
Addis Ababa University
School of Graduate Studies
This is to certify that the thesis prepared by Kosun Birhanu, entitled ―Critical
Discourse Analysis on Ethiopian Media‟s Coverage of Anti-ISIS Demonstration
Held in Addis Ababa” and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the Degree of Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication complies with the
regulations of the University and notes the accepted standards with respect to
originality, credibility and quality.
Signed by the Examining Committee:

Examiner_____________________________ Signature_____________Date__________

Examiner_____________________________ Signature_____________Date__________

Advisor______________________________ Signature____________Date___________

________________________________________________________________________

Chair of department or Graduate Coordinator

I
ABSTRACT

Critical Discourse Analysis on Ethiopian Media Coverage of Anti-ISIS Demonstration Held in
Addis Ababa
Kosun Birhanu
Addis Ababa University, 2016

News reports are considered as the reflection of truth and reality. People all over the globe watch
news reports to get information and to make valuable decisions that affect their lives. Language
as a communication tool in news reports are naturally thought to be neutral, fair and
independently textured. In line with this concept, in democracies, one cannot isolate the role and
responsibility of media to make the society aware and well informed for what affects their lives.
Media are expected to deliver this by upholding journalistic ethics of being unbiased, free,
independent and neutral. Considering this notion, this study is mainly conducted to examine how
the Ethiopian media covered the mass demonstration held against ISIS in Addis Ababa on the
22nd of April 2014. This is done by identifying the discourses of selected media organizations to
mark their ideological tendency and how social actors were discursively represented in the news
reports. The study is a qualitative research that mainly employed Fairclough‘s critical discourse
analysis/ tripartite model as both theory and method. And, in order to strengthen the analysis as
part of its theoretical frameworks, Halliday‘s Systemic Functional Grammar is also used as
analytic tool. To this end, the study reveals that, languages in the news reports are never
ideologically free. They are branded by the institutional values and their respective ideologies
explicitly and implicitly in protagonist-antagonist settings. It seems that the state owned media
do serve the state‘s ideological interest explicitly by being sided and articulating biased report of
the event as revealed in their media composition. Whereas, privately owned media are
attempting to insight their readers‘ the other side or two sides of the event which can be referred
as being against the news values of state owned media (in case of Addis Admass) and by being
critical (in case of Reporter) to the event that make the mass demonstration to be held in the first
place, as well as what was cited as the problem (illegal immigration) behind the event that
triggered the mass protest.
II
Acknowledgements

First and foremost, Glory to God!!

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my advisor, Dr. Agaredech Jemaneh, for her
unreserved guidance and comments that shaped this thesis. And, I would like to thank the whole
staff of Graduate School of Journalism and Communication for all their support and intellectual
protocol throughout the two years period.

Finally, yet importantly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my family: Berhanu (my
father), Mekdes (my mother), Soreti (my sister), Nemmuma (my brother) and Meron (my
beloved wife) for they are always there for me to come this far. I always owe them for all they
make me and believing in me.

III
Table of Contents

Chapter One ...............................................................................................................................1
1.Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background of the Study ...................................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ...............................................................................................3
1.3 Objectives of the Study .......................................................................................................4
1.4 Research Questions ...........................................................................................................5
1.5 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................5
1.6 Scope of the Study ..............................................................................................................6
1.7 Limitation of the Study .......................................................................................................6
1.9 Organization of the Study ...................................................................................................7
Chapter Two ...............................................................................................................................8
2. Literature Review .................................................................................................................8
2.1 Recent Research Findings ...............................................................................................8
2.2 Defining Discourse .......................................................................................................11
2.3 CDA, Media and Media Discourse ...............................................................................14
2.4 What is CDA? ..............................................................................................................17
2.4.1 Principles and Tenets of CDA ............................................................................22
2.4.2 Cornerstone of CDA ...........................................................................................27
2.4.2.1 Power ......................................................................................................28
2.4.2.2 Ideology ..................................................................................................30
2.4.2.3 History.....................................................................................................33
2.5 Ethiopian Media: Discursive Practices and News-Making ..........................................34
2.6 Theoretical Frameworks ...............................................................................................39
2.6.1 Fairclough‘s Three Dimensional Model ..............................................................39
IV
2.6.1.1 Discourse as Text .....................................................................................40
2.6.1.2 Discourse as Discursive Practices ............................................................42
2.6.1.3 Discourse as Social Practices ...................................................................43
2.7 Analytic Tools ...............................................................................................................46
2.7.1 Thematic Structure ...............................................................................................46
2.7.2 Lexical Classification...........................................................................................47
2.7.3 Quotation and Reporting Speeches ......................................................................48
Chapter Three .........................................................................................................................50
3. Methodology.......................................................................................................................50
3.1 Research Design............................................................................................................50
3.2 Data and Data Sources ..................................................................................................51
3.3 Sampling .......................................................................................................................52
3.4 Analytic Techniques .....................................................................................................55
Chapter Four ...........................................................................................................................59
4. Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................59
4.1 Description of News Reports .......................................................................................59
4.2 Analysis of Addis Admass Newspaper ........................................................................59
4.3 Analysis of Addis Zemen Newspaper ..........................................................................73
4.4 Analysis of Reporter Newspaper ..................................................................................99
4.5 Analysis of EBC‘s Newscast ......................................................................................115
4.6 Interpretation of News Reports ...................................................................................127
4.7 Explanation of News Reports .....................................................................................134
Chapter Five ...........................................................................................................................141
5. Summary ...........................................................................................................................141
5.1 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................142
V
References ................................................................................................................................146
Appendices ..............................................................................................................................153
Appendix A: Circulation of News papers and Magazines ....................................................153
Appendix B: Addis Admass Newspaper Saturday, 25 April, 2015 .......................................155
Appendix C: Addis Zemen Newspaper Thursday, 23, April, 2015 .......................................156
Appendix D: Addis Zemen Newspaper Sunday, 26, April, 2015 ..........................................159
Appendix E: Reporter Newspaper Sunday, 26, April, 2015 .................................................162
Appendix F: Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, Wednesday, 22, April, 2015 .................166

VI
List of Figures and Tables
Figure 1- Fairclough‘s three dimensional models .........................................................................40
Table 1-Distribution of news sources in selected sample media ................................................127

VII
List of Acronyms

AZ Addis Zemen
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
CDA Critical Discourse Analysis
CL Critical Linguistics
CNN Cable News Network
DA Discourse Analysis
EBA Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority
EBC Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation
ENA Ethiopian News Agency
EPRDF Ethiopian People‘s Revolutionary Democratic Front
ERTA Ethiopian Radio and Television Authority
IS Islamic State
ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
MDA Mediated Discourse Analysis
MR Members Resources‘
SFG Systemic Functional Grammar

VIII
Chapter One
1. Introduction
This chapter introduces the topic of the research, establishes the background of the study and
statement of the problem. And then, states research objectives, research questions, significance
and limitation of the study.
1.1 Background of the Study
Journalism is considered to be service to society. Journalism is the reflection of truth, and is
considered to the source of revelation of hidden secrets. As Danny (2000), it encompasses
different analytical and critical spectrums which are incorporated by the journalists in their
contributions. The purpose of the sole exercise is neither glamour nor popularity, but rather it is a
service which has the sole ambition of revealing truth to the viewers and readers. (As cited in
Temesgen, 2013) Also, practitioners should be independent in reporting whether state or private
media retain independence from those they cover, and attempts to see things from all possible
perspectives (Kovach & Rosenstein, 2003), (Ibid:11).
The well-known news values that embody the professional beliefs and attitudes of newsmakers
about the newsworthiness of events are practical. These news values are derived from the
complex interplay of the social representations already mentioned—culture, ethnic or gender
group, nationality, political ideology, dominant goals—together with the information that more
specifically defines the communication model—readers, deadlines, and actual goals. It follows
that the representation and reproduction of news events by journalists is not a direct or passive
operation but rather a socially and ideologically controlled set of constructive strategies (Van
Dijk, 1988).
1