Abstract:
This thesis focused on critically examining the news stories published on BBC and Aljazeera news websites regarding the US-backed negotiation on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). It aimed to unearth possible biases and ideological discursive representations on the news media under investigation in this thesis.
To achieve this objective two news stores were selected from each media (BBC and Aljazeera). The samples were published by Aljazeera and BBC on their respective news websites between (16 January 2020-04 March 2020).The samples were selected for their rich representation of the social actors involved in the negotiation on the GERD. The thesis used CDA as a theoretical framework and research method, particularly Fairclough‘s three dimensional approach. Halliday‘s systemic functional linguistics was used as a tool of analysis.
The analysis revealed these findings. The two news media (BBC &Aljazeera) represented the dam as a source of tension and dispute with the implication that it should be feared. Both Aljazeera and BBC highlighted the GERD as a matter of sovereignty for Ethiopia and a matter of survival for Egypt. This representation has ideological implications, for it could sustain the status quo on the Nile (Egyptian monopoly) and undermines the right of Ethiopia and other upstream countries to use their natural resource, Nile.
Keywords: representation, ideology, domination, discourse