Discourse- analytical Approach to newspaper headline

Newspapers are a source of power imposition in a society. Editors of newspapers work with the purpose of forming ideologies in audience. Ideology has an important role in the construction of newspaper headlines. Working within the discipline of critical discourse Analysis, the present paper focuses on the rich and complex interrelationships of language and media power. It specifically presents a discourse-analytical approach to the characteristics and linguistic devices used in the media headlines. The findings show that the content and form of a headline in the press influence the interpretation and the persuasive effects of news reports among the readers. Newspaper headlines have general rhetorical features. Ideologies of the editors are hidden behind the apparently simple statements. Headlines draw part of their power and meaning from the pool of shared cultural, political and general knowledge on which they draw. Not only can they awaken interest in readers, but also can ‘reward’ those who satisfactorily decode them. They also give the readers the sense of belonging to a community, both through the references to one s own society and nation, and through stereotypical representations of other nations and peoples. In order to understand the role of the news media and their messages, the current paper paid detailed attention to the structures and strategies of such discourses and to the ways these relate to institutional arrangements, on the one hand, and to the audience, on the other hand

کلیدواژه ها:

Discourse analysis ، power ، ideology ، media headlines