Incitement in Selected News Reports: A Discourse Study

Abstract

Incitement has become a prominent discursive phenomenon in contemporary media discourse, particularly within political and conflict-related news reporting. News texts often employ linguistic strategies that implicitly or explicitly encourage hostility, violence, or unlawful actions against individuals or groups. This study investigates incitement as a discourse phenomenon through the analysis of selected English news reports, focusing specifically on the cohesive mechanisms that contribute to the construction and circulation of inciting meanings. Adopting Halliday and Hasan’s (1976, 1985) model of cohesion, the study examines both grammatical cohesion (reference, substitution, ellipsis, and conjunction) and lexical cohesion (repetition and collocation). Three news reports containing instances of incitement were purposively selected based on explicit thematic relevance. The qualitative discourse analysis identifies how cohesive ties function to connect propositions, reinforce ideological stances, and guide reader interpretation toward particular evaluative positions. The findings reveal that conjunctions and references are the most frequently used grammatical cohesive devices, serving to logically sequence arguments and maintain textual continuity. Lexical cohesion, especially repetition and politically loaded collocations, plays a crucial role in intensifying inciting messages. Although ellipsis and substitution occur less frequently, they still contribute to textual economy and coherence. Overall, the selected reports demonstrate a high level of cohesion and coherence, enabling incitement to be communicated effectively and persuasively. The study contributes to discourse analysis and media studies by highlighting the linguistic mechanisms through which incitement is embedded in news discourse. It is hoped that the findings will be beneficial for postgraduate students and researchers interested in critical discourse analysis, media linguistics, and the study of ideological language use.