Discourse analysis and media texts: a critical reading of analytical tools

Abstract

Under the label of discourse theory and analysis we can find a vast number of standpoints and research programmes. The aims, assumptions and conceptual tools of different works vary widely, with important consequences for the outcomes of research. The main aim of the paper is to discuss and critically assess various strands of discourse analysis and their applicability to media discourse, as well as to present some results of a study of the British press representation of climate change. I will draw on a range of authors such as van Dijk, Fairclough and Gamson, who have promoted discourse analyses of the media, and Hajer and Liftin, who have used discursive approaches to investigate policy-making on environmental issues. A multifaceted analysis of news texts will be conducted. The combination of a theoretical critique with empirical work will lead to proposing a re-assessment and revision of various models. The empirical basis of the paper is a corpus of over 2 000 articles published in the Guardian, Times and Independent between the mid-eighties and 1997.