Language, Media, and Ideology: Critical Discourse Analysis of Pakistani News Bulletin Headlines and Its Impact on Viewers

Television is a penetrating medium, capable of creating false consciousness among the viewers. The present study examines the ideological constructions in Pakistani news bulletin headlines and their impact on the viewers. This research has explicated the ideological constructions through Fairclough’s framework for critical discourse analysis (CDA) by applying it to the electronic media news headlines and comparing three different Pakistani news channels. Extensive text as well as selective intertextual and sociocultural analyses have been carried out along with the assessment of the impact of news headlines on viewers through a questionnaire. The analysis of the news headlines reveal that Pakistani news headlines are infused with varying ideologies and power relations, while the responses of the viewers reveal their dislike for entertainment-oriented, exaggerated, unfair, and moderately informative headlines of news channels. It is hoped that current study would help in the promotion of media literacy among viewers and media authorities in Pakistan.