Societal Norms and Media Discourse: A Linguistics comparison of Pakistani and International print Media reporting on Noor Mukadam Case

Abstract

This research critically examines how Pakistani and international English-language news reports construct media discourse on Noor Mukadam case between July 2021 and July 2022. Using Carvalho’s Critical Discourse Analysis framework and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the study compares the headlines and news reports from four Pakistani and four international outlets. Transitivity choices were analyzed in the headlines using the ideational metafunction of SFL, while eight news reports were investigated through textual analysis based on Carvalho’s framework, focusing on nominalizations, representation of social actors, and language choices, alongside contextual analysis using a comparative synchronic approach. The findings indicate that the Pakistani print media used detached and emotionally impersonal language in reporting this case by avoiding repeated mention of the victim's names due to cultural values of considering women’s reputation and family honor sacred. In contrast, international media reported the case using explicit language and mentioning all the actors involved in this case, considering this case a symbol of gender-based violence and a broader societal failure in Pakistan. Based on the findings of this study, future research may examine how international media portrays cases of gender-based violence in other countries, whether such emotionally powerful and popular coverage is common in other countries as well, and whether Pakistan is portrayed differently in international media.

Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Comparative Media, Media Framing, Transitivity, Nominalization, Social Actors, Noor Mukadam Case.