A Thematic Analysis of Dawn News Articles concerning Brown and Levinson’s Theory of Politeness

Abstract

Politeness methods in media discourse have been studied, but their significance in mediating security reporting, diplomatic background, and government policy critiques—especially in politically constrained environments—has not. Linguistic politeness studies rarely examine how journalists handle face-threatening acts (FTAs) while maintaining institutional legitimacy. This study compares Dawn newspaper's diplomatic, policy, and security coverage of Pakistan's security issues, diplomatic relations, and government policies to see how it uses civility to mitigate FTAs and save face. A qualitative thematic analysis of nine Dawn articles using Brown and Levinson's politeness theory to discover hedging, third-party attribution, and metaphorical abstraction. Dawn actively depersonalises state failure critiques with passive voice and systemic framing and promotes solidarity with inclusive language. Indirect criticism via metaphors and expert testimonials reduces direct FTAs. While maintaining institutional legitimacy, this method may dilute accountability. The findings imply media in limited democracies can balance critique and survival with politeness, providing a paradigm for responsible journalism under authoritarian constraints.
Politeness techniques, face-threatening acts (FTAs), face-saving, negative and positive politeness, bald-on-record and bald-off-record, media discourse, Pakistan, Dawn newspaper.