Building Theory From Media Ideology: Coding for Power in Journalistic Discourse

Abstract

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is an increasingly important approach for critical-qualitative communication scholarship. This essay has three purposes: (1) to explain the history and applications of CDA, (2) to provide an empirical snapshot of how CDA has been used in journalism studies research, and (3) to provide a methodological intervention for improving CDA research in our field. An exploratory analysis of 17 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication journal articles reveals that CDA research on journalism topics has focused on race and ethnicity, analyzed mainstream print news outlets, and applied CDA as a method in its own right. Authors have neither adequately defined discourse for readers nor have they sufficiently explained their coding procedures. Journalism scholars must improve the transparency of our coding methods, and we must examine ideological formations beyond dominant-hegemonic discourses. By analyzing mainstream journalism, alternative media, and online media side-by-side, CDA researchers can build stronger theory about ideology’s role in journalistic contexts.