PORTRAYAL OF NARENDRA MODI IN NEWSPAPERS: A CASE STUDY OF DAWN (PAKISTAN)
Abstract
This research paper focusses to analyze the preferred status of Pakistani English-language newspapers reporting on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The study intends to accomplish three aims; analysis of the dominant representations of Modi in Dawn, identification of the discursive strategies of the portrayal of Modi and news coverage in Dawn, and evaluation of the effect of the selected strands of newspapers in the portrayal of Modi in Dawn. The study considers Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as both theoretical and analytical framework through which the language constructs meaning and ideological position within the media texts. Purposive sampling type is utilized to identify a sample of 10 news articles published in Dawn in April and May 2025 with the requirements that the chosen texts were contextually representative of the current geopolitical situation and valuable in that respect. The analysis has shown that the patterns of an adversarial framing, securitization of Modi policies, and the construction of a threatening other through lexical choices, metaphors, and intertextual references became recurrent. Most remarkably, Modi was often portrayed as assertive, intractable, and ideologically oriented, and the focus was made on the danger that his policies may pose to stability in the region. These findings indicate that the subject covered by Dawn is both suggestive of geopolitical confrontation between India and Pakistan and reproduces it, as well as national identity and ideological constructs of the Pakistani society. The research paper has demonstrated the ways in which media discourse reflects and constructs perceptions of politics and how the language used shapes and reshapes the perception of international actors by the people. In a gist, this research paper has emphasized on the importance of critical dissection of media texts for understanding of the interplay of language, politics, and ideology, providing insights into how media representations can influence political consciousness and inter-state perceptions.
Key terms: Narendra Modi, Media representation, Critical Discourse Analysis, Pakistani press, Framing, Political Discourse
