Critical Discourse Analysis of News Articles Reporting Saudi Crown Prince’ Visit to Pakistan: A Comparative Study of “Dawn” and “The New York Times”

Abstract

This paper attempts to present a qualitative analysis of two newspaper reports, from Dawn and The New York Times, in connection with Saudi crown prince’s visit to Pakistan. Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis, also called socio-cultural approach, was employed to study the lexical choices and linguistics structure of the two news articles. Purpose of this study was to critically analyze the portrayal of socio-political situation of Pakistan and Pak-Saudi relation in the two newspapers’ reports. Results reveal that Pakistan is presented as politically and economically progressing country in both the newspapers’ reports. On the other hand, Dawn has presented a more positive image of the Pakistan and Saudi relations, showing strong ties between the two nations, than The New York Times, which presents strain in these relations. Dawn views these relations as multifaceted, including social, religious, cultural, economic and political factors, while The New York Times gives more focus on strategic and political relations between the two countries.