Coronavirus Rhetoric in Pakistani Media: A ‘Solution Aversion’ Pandemic Situation

Authors

  • Humaira Riaz
  • Tariq Khan
  • Ihsan Ullah

Keywords:

 Aversion  Awareness  Coronavirus  Pakistan  Poverty  Religion  Rhetoric

Abstract

Pandemics are natural threats. Coronavirus not only
threatened human lives around the globe in the 21st century
but also exposed human preparedness and behaviour against
natural calamities. The present study attempts to highlight
reinforcement strategies of Pakistani news channels during
Coronavirus pandemic persuading the public to adopt
preventative measures. Unfortunately, population of a third
world country such as Pakistan reflected a degenerated moral
response to pandemic compared to West and America. ‘Stay
home stay safe’ being the sole solution and prevention against
Coronavirus could not mould Pakistani citizens at large
during the lockdown. ‘Solution-aversion’ attitude of Pakistani
citizens completely refused social distancing due to illiteracy,
poverty, religious extremism, ignorance and most of all
population. Pakistani media adopted various persuasive
strategies to convince people for social distancing during the
pandemic. This paper examines headlines from three popular
Pakistani news channels ARY, GEO and Samaa TV from
March 7 to April 30, 2020, broadcast at 9. p.m, prime time for
television viewers in Pakistan. The main interest is the
insightful assessment of media rhetoric in the backdrop of the
pandemic. The study is non-linear i.e. it does not follow a
fixed sequence of headlines rather it discusses appeals as an
emphatic media strategy for persuasion. It encounters the
traditional rhetoric appeals, bathos, ethos, logos and to a
limited extent kairos as a descriptive model of media picture
in the news headlines invoking listeners’ emotions for a
purpose in the context of the Coronavirus outbreak. As Media
rhetoric in Pakistan (March 7-April 30 2020) unfolds, the
headlines are contextualized, culminating in an extensive
analysis of the sum of their parts by way of conclusion.
However, worth anticipating argument is the power of
the persuasive language used strategically to develop
consciousness and awareness in a situation where the public
show aversion to the solution consequently causing threat to
the lives around.

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Citation of the paper

Riaz, H., Khan, T., & Ullah, I. (2021). Coronavirus rhetoric in Pakistani media: A ‘solution aversion’ pandemic situation. Erevna: Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 5(2), 1-11.

Published

2022-03-22

How to Cite

Humaira Riaz, Tariq Khan, & Ihsan Ullah. (2022). Coronavirus Rhetoric in Pakistani Media: A ‘Solution Aversion’ Pandemic Situation. Erevna: Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 5(2), 1-11. Retrieved from https://journals.au.edu.pk/ojserevna/index.php/erevna/article/view/223