An Exploration of Exclusion Discourse in Selected Nigerian Dailies: A Discourse Analytical Approach
Keywords:
Exclusion, inclusion, print media, discourseAbstract
The most communal agitations of the world are commonly and primarily hinged on the social phenomenon called ‘exclusion’. In this study, discourse of exclusion was explored in two popular Nigerian dailies: ‘The Nation’ and ‘The Punch’. A very crucial presupposition here is that discourse of exclusion does not arise independent of its background i.e. social exclusion. This paper critically examined the various ways and manners that news items (in the print media) presented the menace called ‘exclusion’. Since news reports constitute a type of text, discourse analytical approach, as a discursive model of interpretation, was employed in the analysis of the texts. By implication, the activities of journalists in news-making and news-gathering process, as well as the interpretations of readers (as expected by the writers), in the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country, Nigeria, were examined. More specifically, this study underscored the fact that the media, in general, and print media in particular, play a crucial role in the framing and ultimate presentation of exclusion in the most populous African nation. It was also found out that both the leader and the led, groups and individuals were presented as engaging in discourse of exclusion in various situations.
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