Pragmatic Framing in Selected Online News Reports on Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential Elections

Abstract

This research analyses framing of news reports about Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections. With textual evidence, it examines the pragmatic implications of language selections by some Nigerian journalists in the context of national elections. It contributes to the understanding of linguistic techniques used by journalists in the global South as a resource guide for the use of English as a second language. The study employed Mey’s (2016) and Searle’s (1969) theories for analysis. The corpus of the study consists of excerpts from six online news publications. Textual analysis established characteristic use of language by the selected journalists, grounded on the premise that journalists are guided by principles such as truth, accuracy, and fairness in their practice. However, being embedded in the Nigerian society where ethnic and religious divisions are rife, these factors may influence their practice. As such, their reportage may be framed by preconceived notions of cultural, ethnic and religious loyalties. Specifically, texts were examined for unattributed point of views, opinions, and utterances outside the territory of information of the journalist. With salient language selections and choice of sources, the reporters frame news towards a particular stance on socio-political issues. Findings revealed journalistic use of language in the study to be reflective of pragmatic strategies such as formal terms of address signifying cultural deference, the use of honorifics such as traditional titles, reflects Nigerian traditional values, politeness, and courtesy, while metaphorical expressions represent elections as a competitive sport or warfare where victors emerge and losers are vanquished.

References

Adeoti, O. (2023). A pragmatic analysis of selected newspapers’ coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. International Journal of Language and Literary Studies, 5(1), 93–113. https://doi.org/10.36892/ijlls.v5i1.1206

Ajayi, T. M., & Ajayi, D. O. (2014). Language and politicking: A pragmatic analysis of political texts in political posters and jingles in Oyo State, Nigeria. Journal of Advances in Linguistics, 3(3).

Akindele, F., & Adegbite, W. (2005). The sociology and politics of English in Nigeria. Ife: O.A.U Press.

Al-Hindawi, F., & Al-Aadili, N. (2020). News pragmatics. Pragmatics, 8(2), 147-183.

Aremu, M. (2017). Pragmatic analysis of conceptual mappings in inaugural speeches of Nigerian presidents. Covenant Journal of Language Studies, 5(2), 32-47. https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:54753855

Ariel, M. (2010). Defining pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Arseneault, M. (2016). Metaphor: Philosophical theories.Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford: Clarendon.

Barber, E. (2014). Voice – beyond the passive. Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 1. https://doi.org/10.3765/bls.v1i0.2356

BBC. (2023, March 1). Bola Tinubu wins Nigeria's presidential election against Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. https://www.bbc.com

Bell, A. (1995). Language and the media. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 15(3), 23–41.

Blench, R. (2019). An atlas of Nigerian languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.

Chomsky, N. (1980). Rules and representations. New York: Columbia University Press.

CNN. (2023, March 1). Opposition vows challenge as Tinubu wins Nigerian presidency. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/28/africa/nigeria-presidential-election-result-intl-hnk/index.html

Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2017). The mediated construction of reality. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Daily Trust. (2023, March 1). INEC declares Tinubu president-elect. https://dailytrust.com/breaking-inec-declares-tinubu-president-elect/

Daily Trust. (n.d.). https://dailytrust.com/about-us/

De Vreese, C. H. (2005). News framing: Theory and typology. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Entman, R. M. (1989). Democracy without citizens: Media and the decay of American politics. Oxford University Press.

Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51–58.

European Union. (2023). Nigeria 2023 general elections report. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eom-nigeria-2023/european-union-election-observation-mission-nigeria-2023-final-report_en

Fairclough, N. (2016). Meta-pragmatics, hidden assumptions, and moral economy. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Falola, T. (1998). Violence in Nigeria: The crisis of religious politics and secular ideologies. University of Rochester.

Falola, T., & Heaton, M. M. (2008). A history of Nigeria. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. (n.d.). https://fmic.gov.ng/about-us/

Google Trends. (2021). Daily Trust among most searched newspapers on Google. https://dailytrust.com/daily-trust-among-most-searched-newspapers-on-google/

Grice, H. P. (1989). Studies in the way of words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Griffiths, P. (2006). An introduction to English semantics and pragmatics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd.

Guldemann, T., & Roncador, M. (Eds.). (2002). Reported discourse: A meeting ground for different linguistic domains. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Kayode, J. (2011). Journalism ethics in Nigeria. Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited.

Kovach, B., & Rosenstiel, T. (2014). The elements of journalism. New York: Crown Publishing.

Kovach, B., & Rosenstiel, T. (2021). The elements of journalism, revised and updated 4th edition: What news people should know and the public should expect. Crown.

Kurzon, D. (2016). Tongue-tied: Pragmemes and practices of silence in literary texts. In K. Allan, A. Capone, & I. Kecskes (Eds.), Pragmemes and theories of language use (pp.265-286). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43491-9_15

Lakoff, G. (2005). Don’t think of an elephant! Know your values and frame the debate. Chelsea Green Publishing.

Lakoff, G. (2014). Don’t think of an elephant: Know your values and frame the debate. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing.

Leadership. (2023, March 1). King at last!: Tinubu’s long journey to president. https://leadership.ng/king-at-last-tinubus-long-journey-to-president/

Leadership. (n.d.). About us. https://leadership.ng/?s=About+us

Mey, J. L. (2001). Pragmatics: An introduction (2nd rev. and enlarged edn.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Mey, J. L. (2007). Pragmatics: An introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing

Mey, J. L. (2011). Pragmatics and literature. In W. Bublitz & N. Norrick (Eds.), Foundations of pragmatics (pp. 511-536).Gottingen: De Gruyter Mouton.

Mey, J. L. (2016). Practs and facts. In K. Allan, A. Capone, & I. Kecskes (Eds.), Pragmemes and theories of language use (pp. 239-248). Cham: Springer.

Ojala, M. (2021). Is the age of impartial journalism over? The neutrality principle and audience (dis)trust in mainstream news. Journalism Studies, 22(15), 2042-2060.

Peirce, C. S. (1980). Writings of Charles S. Peirce. Vol. 1: 1857–1866. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Premium Times. (2023, March 1). INEC declares APC’s Bola Tinubu winner of Nigeria’s presidential election.https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/585443-breaking-inec-declares-apcs-bola-tinubu-winner-of-nigerias-presidential-election.html

Premium Times. (n.d.). About us. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/

Punch. (2023). INEC declares Tinubu winner of presidential election. https://punchng.com/inec-declares-tinubu-winner-of-presidential-election/

Punch. (n.d.). About us. https://punchng.com/about-us/

Reuters Institute. (2024). Digital news report 2024. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2024/dnr-executive-summary

Khalid, R., & Shahid, A. (2024). Exploring the Dynamics of Paid Academic Writings in Pakistani and Foreign Universities. Apex Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), 1-31.

Searle, J. (1969). Speech acts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Senft, G. (2014). Understanding pragmatics. New York: Routledge.

Shahid, A. (2024). Youth Political Engagement via Facebook: A Netnographic Exploration of Political Activism in Pakistan. United Frontiers Conference Proceedings (UFCP), 2(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.56868/ufcp.v2i1.33

The Guardian. (2023). Tinubu’s glorious return to Gateway State, the state of Emilokan, Olule. https://guardian.ng/politics/tinubus-glorious-return-to-gateway-state-the-state-of-emilokan-olule/

The Missouri Group. (2014). News reporting and writing. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

The World Bank Group. Population data - Nigeria. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=NG

Thogmartin, C. (1991). The pragmatics of French newspaper headlines: Levels of linguistic adaptation. Journal of Pragmatics, 249-266. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.6.2.16tho

We Are Social & Meltwater. (2024). Digital2024: Nigeria. Retrieved July 15, 2024, from https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-nigeria?rq=Nigeria%202023

Wodak, R., & Fairclough, N. (1997). Discourse as social interaction. London: Sage.

Wolf, J. T. (2018). Trending in the right direction: Using Google Trends data as a measure of public opinion during a presidential election (Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Tech).

World Atlas. (2023). What languages are spoken in Nigeria? https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-nigeria.html

World Bank. (2023). Nigeria: Population. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=NG

Yule, G. (2006). The study of language (3rd ed.).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.