Language and Power Relations in Television News Reportage in Nigeria
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Date
2015-11
Authors
Ugoala, B
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Abstract
This thesis, Language and Power Relations in Television News Reportage in Nigeria investigates the patterns of language use and visual signifying elements, through which television outfits project, enact and express power relations in television news reportage. Previous works in this area to a large extent have focused on the verbal elements of television news reports overlooking the critical role of visual elements. However, this present study has incorporated the visual aspects of the news reports examined in this study to demonstrate that more meaning lies in visual signifying elements other than the verbal elements.
The main thrust of this present study therefore, is the combination of the verbal and visual signifying elements deployed by television news anchors and news correspondents to enact and project power relations in selected public discourses in Nigeria. The data used in this study was collected over a period of six-months (January 2011-June 2011) from Nigerian Television Authority and Channels Television outfits. The study adopts Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Multimodality to explain the different forms of power relations that are enacted by television outfits through their news anchors and correspondents. The application of these theories therefore, has enabled the researcher to show that power relations are enacted not only through the linguistic elements of television news reports, but also in the visual aspect as well. They also helped to highlight how the nexus between verbal and visual signifying elements constitute discursive practices. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter presents the background to the study, statement of the research problem, aim and objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, scope and delimitation of the study and operational definition of terms. Chapter two reviews related literature by local and international scholars on related topics, and, also some scholarly and academic works that have direct relevance to this study. Chapter three presents the theoretical frameworks adopted for the study and details of the methodological procedure for the study. In chapter four, the thesis analyses and discusses the data. Here, news anchors and correspondents are shown to project and enact power relations at different levels. In chapter five, the work summarizes the important findings of the study and offers some suggestions for further study. The findings of this study have shown that verbal and visual elements are deployed by television news anchors and correspondents to enact and project power sometimes. It therefore suggests that this strategy has some ideological implications. The study shows how news anchors and correspondents show the power struggle between the Federal Government and Labour, between pro-NIB and anti-NIB and between the Nigeria Police and the Boko Haram sect. The study equally shows that news anchors and correspondents display their statuses as main sources of information to show their higher verbal and visual power statuses over interlocutors in a discourse. It is believed that this study has advanced knowledge in the field of news discourse by including visual aspects in the analysis of the news reports examined in this study. In conclusion, it is anticipated that this work will provoke further inquiry in the fields of discourse analysis, news reportage and semiotics.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Lagos
Keywords
Language , Power relations , Television News Reportage , Nigeria , Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Other social sciences::Media and communication studies
Citation
Ugoala, B (2015). Language and Power Relations in Television News Reportage in Nigeria. A Thesis Submitted to University of Lagos School of Postgraduate Studies Phd Thesis and Dissertation, 309p.