An Analysis of Language Use in the Tanzania ' s 2010 Pre-election Newspaper Headlines in the Swahili Press

Abstract

The current paper undertakes a discourse analysis of the front page newspaper headlines of two Tanzanian Swahili weekly newspapers, Mzalendo (Patriot) and Mwanahalisi (Unfeigned child) during the 2010 preelection period with a view to showing how the press headline discourse in different ways constructs social identities and how these in turn act to influence readers ' voting decisions. The data used comes from ten issues of the two newspapers. The analysis is informed by the Faircloughian threedimensional framework incorporating: text, discursive practice, and social practice. The main finding is that the writers of both newspaper headlines used alike discursive methods such as selection of particular lexical items and syntactic manipulation with the intent of simultaneously vilifying the contestant viewed by the newspaper as the opponent while at the same time endorsing the one it was supporting.  It is recommended that the public understands the strategies for them to make informed decisions.