Ideological Discourse Analysis of the Functions of Feedback Comments on Online Reports of Socio-political Crises in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines discursive strategies in online news feedback platforms and their possible impact on readers‟ opinions and ideological perspectives. It argues that discourse forms and patterns in these platforms tend to reveal subjective value judgments, and these have the potential of moulding public opinions and social attitudes. Data comprises 201 reader comments collected from online news media reports on two socio-political crises in Nigeria. Findings reveal that news readers, as social actors use discourse to shape the attitudes and value judgments of other readers. This is achieved through the use of ideological strategies such as polarisation, generalisation and hyperbole among others. This study further establishes that interactions on news feedback forums are largely based on shared knowledge of the social context, and that socio-political crises give rise to lexical choices and discourse patterns that are controlled by already acquired ideological judgments of language users. Key Words: ideology, discourse, feedback comments, social crises, Nigeria

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