A Critical Investigation on Karachi Street Crime News Coverage in the English Newspaper: Application of Van Dijk’s Model

Abstract

Newspapers play important part to provide information in modern age. The purpose of this article is to discover the hidden agenda of the editors and owners of the newspapers. Textual, cognitive and social elements manipulate, legitimate and reconstruct the text. Textual presentation cannot be separated from the interests of the society and owners of the newspapers. Reality is presented and represented strategically considering the interests of the elites. The purpose of the article is to discover the hidden agenda and ideology of the newspapers and explores it by using 3-dimensional model of CDA. For exploring the hidden agenda of the newspaper in presenting the Karachi street crimes, researcher used the 3 dimensional model of Van Dijk. Using 3 dimensional CDA model of Van Dijk, researcher explores the text on textual, cognitive and social basic. Textual analysis is based on the thematic, super-structural and micro analysis which is included semantic, syntax, stylistic and rhetoric. Presentation of the text is manipulated, legitimated and reconstructed on textual strategy. Besides textual analysis, cognitive presentation strategizes text reference to the ideology of the producer and the consumer of the text. Social context also plays a major role to legitimate the text in context to the social institutions of the society. Textual construction, cognitive structure and social context strategize the text of the newspapers. Presentation of the reality is not only important but its manipulation and legitimation in a social discourse is more important for a newspapers. Reality is constructed considering the social values, cultural norms, political interests, power struggle, legitimation and justifying power abuse in a social order. Through different strategies text is presented and represented through discourse to manipulate reality. In concluding remarks, researcher found in the news of Karachi street crimes that author of the news stories distorted the reality for the national and personal interest. Reality is distorted and manipulated through presenting textual, cognitive and social context of the text. Researcher explored the hidden agenda and ideology by providing the answer of the questions basis on textual, cognitive and social context.  Researcher chose only Karachi street crimes news stories published in the English Newspaper, the Nation during the month of June, 2021. Researcher only utilizes the 3 dimensional Van Dijk to explore the Karachi street crimes coverage. Van Dijk model of CDA is application to the text of the newspaper. Through this model of CDA, hidden agenda and ideology can be explored on basis of textual, cognitive and social analysis of the text in newspapers presenting the Karachi street crimes. The study of this research work would provide the knowledge to explore the structure of the newspaper for exploration. CDA of the newspapers fundamentality provides the structural construction of the newspapers to explore the intention of the producer and discursive practice of the readers.