Newspaper headlines on HIV/AIDS in selected Nigerian dailies: A critical discourse analysis

Abstract

HIV/AIDS is a health problem that is considered

seriously because of the difficulty it has posed over the

years in defying a cure solution. Owing to this,

management of the problem is highly required especially

with the fact that many of the people living with it living

below the poverty line and could hardly afford the

medication deployed to its management. Besides, the

management does not require the applicable medication

only. There are responses that are require from those

are not living with it to support those living with it. The

nature of its management demands sensitization and

creation of awareness. This creates a tripartite relation

involving the media, agencies vested with the

responsibility of managing the scourge and the public in

which those living with the disease exist. A power play

relation is evident. Hence, this study takes up newspaper

headlines, representing the media, in examining this

relation applying the basic tenets of CDA. The headlines

are randomly selected from five selected newspapers:

The Sun, Vanguard, This Day, Guardian and Punch. The

major finding is that the headlines express

condemnation, warning, recommendation, advice, and

intervention. These have come in forms driven by lexical

and grammatical choices, discursive and social practices

that are prevalent in the society.