Image of Islam and Pakistan after 9/11: Critical Discourse Analysis of Pakistani Urdu and English Newspapers
The study examines the image of Islam and Pakistan post 9/11 scenario documented in Pakistani Urdu and English newspapers. Results are deduced by analyzing headlines while applying the CDA model projected by Fairclough (1989, 1995) with respect to vocabulary items, viewpoints, and newspapers' ideologies. The results from the study indicated that these two newspapers heavily rely on some selected lexical items to manipulate and control the belief system of the masses. It was shown from the data that Nawa-iWaqat, an Urdu newspaper, fervently utilized figurative language to influence the perception of its readers. It is seen from the analyzed data that the selection of words made by Urdu newspaper is mainly based on prejudice toward certain prominent social figures, politicians, and even toward world-renowned political figures and events. The collected data from the two newspapers and their critical discourse analysis indicated that daily 'Nawa-i-Waqt' gave abundant, sentimental coverage to the issues concerned. On the other hand, the daily 'Dawn' newspaper gave little but positive coverage to the issues of that time.