A Proposed Holistic Approach to the Critical Analysis of Online News Reports

Abstract

This study proposes a new holistic approach that accounts for the multi-layered structure of online news reports. The approach consists of two phases of analysis. The journalistic phase examines the headline, semiotics, and text of the report while the societal reception phase examines the comments that readers make as a response to the news report. Consequently, unlike previous frameworks of CDA, this approach finds a balance between the analysis of discourse production and discourse reception. To demonstrate the approach, we analysed an online news report from CNN about the Saudi ban on women to drive. The analysis shows that although the journalistic phase focuses on the courageous acts of Saudi women who are defying the ban to achieve equality in Saudi Arabia, the societal reception phase results are characterised by racist discourse against Islam and Muslims in general.