Dissecting Media Positivism through Interpretivism

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Dawn’s Framing of PPP and PML-N Governance during Pakistan’s 2013 Political Transition

Abstract

This study explores ideological bias in the editorial content of Pakistan's leading English-language newspaper—Dawn—by applying Van Dijk’s Ideological Square and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), three editorials published around the 2013 general elections were analysed to investigate how the governance of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML- N) was discursively framed. Findings reveal that editorials systematically valorise certain political actors through positive lexical choices and passive constructions that obscure accountability, while others are portrayed as destabilizing or self-serving. The analysis demonstrates how ownership structures, elite sourcing, and selective framing correspond to Chomsky’s five filters of Propaganda Model. This dual-framework approach highlights how editorial discourse in Dawn reproduces hegemonic ideologies and marginalizes dissent. Socially, the study uncovers mechanisms of media bias that shape public opinion and political legitimacy. Practically, it offers tools for journalists, educators, and media scholars to critically assess editorial discourse in transitional democracies. The study contributes to South Asian media scholarship by situating Pakistani editorial behaviour within broader global patterns of media control and ideological reproduction.