Abstract:

The purpose of the current study is to analyze the metaphors used in CNN headlines while reporting the situations of crises and political unrest in Pakistan during 2010 and 2011. As CNN is a popular news channel available not only through electronic media but also through social media and internet, the news stories reach millions of audiences every day. Metaphors are commonly used devices in the headlines. Metaphors express something as something else. The study uses Lakoff and Johnson (1980) theory of conceptual metaphors and classifies the metaphors into structural, orientational and ontological metaphors. The study finds that all these categories of metaphors are present in CNN headlines where they function to draw attention towards a news story, exaggerate an event or present an event or a person as something else in order to make the headline attractive enough. The study also finds that the news stories related with Pakistan use metaphors full of loaded and negative words whereas the news stories related with United Stated use the metaphors to highlight positive attributes.

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