A Critical Discourse Analysis of British Newspaper Representation of Greta Thunberg from September to October 2019

Abstract

The purpose and aim of this study were to understand the way in which British tabloid newspapers represented Greta Thunberg during a specific time in 2019 using critical discourse analysis. The study aims to analyse how do British newspapers present Greta Thunberg? Do the discursive positions of the articles change from September to November?, Which authors use discursive strategies in news articles about Greta Thunberg? And are the British news framing Greta Thunberg as credible? This study uses qualitative research methodology by adopting critical discourse analysis as the primary research method. Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework of critical discourse analysis to understand and study the aims of the research. A sample of eight newspaper articles were selected through randomised sampling from the famous British tabloids the Sun, The Guardian, The Independent and the Daily Mail. This analysis method generated useful results and findings which showed the discursive strategies, as well as the social context behind the article sample chosen which allowed for the research aims to be understood and a relevant conclusion to be drawn.