Abstract:
This study aimed to address the dearth of knowledge regarding
the portrayal of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenyan print media,
focusing specifically on newspaper headlines. Employing Van
Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Lakoff & Johnson’s
Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), the research examined 39
headlines from The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers,
applying inferential statistics via STATA version 15. Van Dijk’s
categorization of texts into micro and macro levels and Lakoff
and Johnson’s assertion that our ordinary conceptual system relies
heavily on metaphors underpin the methodology. The analysis
combined CDA with Pragglejazz Group’s Metaphor Identification
Procedure (MIP) to uncover that the majority of metaphors in
these headlines constructed COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya in a
grim light, associating it with war, death, and bondage. While these
metaphors serve as cautionary messages, they fall short in capturing
the proactive measures employed to combat the pandemic. This
study’s significance lies in its fusion of insights from CDA and
CMT, shedding light on how media language exposes cognition
and ideology while also revealing the media’s influence on public
perception of the pandemic.
