I am a lecturer in mass communication. With research interest in critical discourse analysis and qualitative research. I am ready to improve on my stock of knowledge.
We, in this paper, interpreted postmodernism articulations which hold as ingenious, unconventiona... more We, in this paper, interpreted postmodernism articulations which hold as ingenious, unconventional discourses of leaders, politicians, researchers and other social agents. With a convenient sample of five Trumpov's utterances out of so many utterances that his critics consider uncouth, we conducted a critical discourse analysis. Our analysis succeeded in demonstrating how accusations of fake news arise when remarks meant to be fictional, metaphorical, literal or non-serious are reported as serious literal remarks. We also discussed the analytic resources which analysts need in their analysis if they are to avoid the mistake of misreading the unusual discursive practices that come from agents like President Donald Trumpov. In the light of a raft of postmodernism articulations that promote the extraordinary as ultimately desirable in the contemporary world, we assess the uncommon discourses and discursive practices of President Trumpov as deserving empathetic consideration instead of uninformed condemnation.
Investigated are the research trends in mass communication programs in Nigerian universities. The... more Investigated are the research trends in mass communication programs in Nigerian universities. The focus is on the methodological orientation of the lecturers who teach mass communication research method courses. Course outlines were sourced from five typical but purposively selected universities where mass communication is taught. The contents of the course outlines and the comments made by the lecturers who designed them were subjected to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The result shows that the methodological orientation of lecturers who teach research method courses in mass communication programs gravitate almost exclusively towards the quantitative research method. Conclusion is that either bad faith or ignorance or a combination of the two is responsible for preventing Nigerian universities from joining the community of global universities where methodological pluralism in social research has been the norm.
Given the rising wave of violentacts across the world, this paper is designed to investigate the ... more Given the rising wave of violentacts across the world, this paper is designed to investigate the improbable but emerging trend which seems to suggest that violent behavior now appears to be an incentive when dating and even marriage decisions are made. The investigation is carried out with a pool of data made up of multiple variants. After displaying the data in a textbox, subjective valuing was usedto attribute certain phenomena to segments of the data. After affirming that females consider violent traits in males as incentives in their male-partner preferences, data representation failed to establish a decisive link between fierce delinquent acts and sexual frustration.
Given the rising wave of violentacts across the world, this paper is designed to investigate the ... more Given the rising wave of violentacts across the world, this paper is designed to investigate the improbable but emerging trend which seems to suggest that violent behavior now appears to be an incentive when dating and even marriage decisions are made. The investigation is carried out with a pool of data made up of multiple variants. After displaying the data in a textbox, subjective valuing was usedto attribute certain phenomena to segments of the data. After affirming that females consider violent traits in males as incentives in their male-partner preferences, data representation failed to establish a decisive link between fierce delinquent acts and sexual frustration.
Given the possibility that nominalized sentences could divert attention from issues that deserve ... more Given the possibility that nominalized sentences could divert attention from issues that deserve serious social scrutiny, this paper was designed to investigate the role nominalization played when Nigerian newspapers covered the 2005 National Political Reform Conference in Nigeria. Eighteen nominalized textual exemplars from three major national newspapers were purposively selected. Using critical discourse analysis as analytical tool, journalists who constructed the selected nominalized texts were asked to explain why they peppered their text with such nominalizations. Analysis and discussion show that the journalists did so because they took for granted their audience’s ability to supply omitted subjects in nominalized constructions.
Investigated are the research trends in mass communication programs in Nigerian universities. The... more Investigated are the research trends in mass communication programs in Nigerian universities. The focus was on the methodological orientation of the lecturers who teach mass communication research method courses. Course outlines were sourced from five typical but purposively selected universities where mass communication is taught. The contents of the course outlines and the comments made by the lecturers who designed them were subjected to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The result showed that the methodological orientation of lecturers who teach research method courses in mass communication programs gravitate almost exclusively towards the quantitative research method. Conclusion was that either bad faith or ignorance or a combination of the two is responsible for preventing Nigerian universities from joining the community of global universities where methodological pluralism in social research has been the norm.
This paper investigated an advertisement. The objective was to ascertain whether the creators of ... more This paper investigated an advertisement. The objective was to ascertain whether the creators of the advertisement, at the time they created the advertisement, consciously guarded against other meanings than the one they had intended for the advertisement. The procedure used was to show the advertisement to a focus group whose members are skilled in Critical Discourse Analysis. The creators of the advertisement said that the meaning found in the advertisement by the focus group was contrary to the meaning the creators had intended for the advertisement. In this light, it was recommended that continuous analysis of texts be encouraged in order to identify potential unintended distortive discursive practices that lurk in texts.
Against the backdrop of the tension between rational and rhetorical discourse, this paper was des... more Against the backdrop of the tension between rational and rhetorical discourse, this paper was designed to ascertain which side of the tension social discourse in Nigeria could be located. To accomplish this goal, exemplars of Nigerian discourse were purposively selected and presented on two titled tables. Using such interpretive categories as ideological discourse, re-contextualization and modal claim to truth and knowledge, it was found that public discourse in Nigeria gravitates towards a discourse pathology known as rhetoric of presentation. In realization that other studies might still turn up more findings on Nigerian discourses when other categories are deployed for analysis, the paper encourages all stake holders to gear effort towards redressing the danger which rhetoric poses to rationality in Nigeria.
Globalization or discourses about it enjoy universal spread. This global visibility persists desp... more Globalization or discourses about it enjoy universal spread. This global visibility persists despite the belief that there are features of globalization that is destructive of social equilibrium. This seeming contradictory nature is explored with Nigeria as a setting. Nine typical textual exemplars were theoretically sampled from leading Nigerian media and displayed as data. Analytical facilities found in Semiotics and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) were drawn on in the analysis of the sampled textual exemplars. Analysis found that instead of focusing on the woeful economic consequences which should portray globalization in a bad light, the media report globalization in styles that hide globalization's dire economic consequences. It is recommended that the mass media should embrace the emerging media technologies because such technologies could help the media mobilize ordinary people to recognize and resist the harmful attributes of globalization.
Three objectives were set including the exploration of how reporters handled counter framing cues... more Three objectives were set including the exploration of how reporters handled counter framing cues in the studied newspaper texts. Eleven texts were sampled, categorized and analyzed under three exemplars, namely: Structural Amnesia, Connivance by the International Community and Imposition of Assumptions. Unstructured chance interviews were conducted with the reporters who wrote the texts that were analyzed. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used as a tool of analysis. Among other findings was that by being too alert to the tacit codes that govern journalism practice, reporters unwittingly help the powerful to avoid getting roughened up with aggressive reporting.
In parts of Central and Southern Nigeria, there are Pentecostal Churches everywhere. Many of the ... more In parts of Central and Southern Nigeria, there are Pentecostal Churches everywhere. Many of the pastors in charge of the churches are often implicated in different acts of wrongdoing. Despite this, the churches are often packed with worshippers. Ordinarily, pastors’ wrongdoing ought to minimize the devotion adherents bestow on their pastors. But in the Nigerian context, the involvement of pastors in wrongdoing tends to draw more adherents. This is a puzzle that this paper examined. Three objectives, including the examination of what draws Nigerians to Pentecostal Christianity, were examined. Documents from diverse sources were accessed as data. The documents were displayed in textboxes and interpreted. To avoid high-inference interpretation, comments were elicited from research participants. Key themes of Nigerian Pentecostal Christianity’s message are found to focus on prosperity, miraculous healing, and neutralization of witchcraft. These themes resonate with indigenous religious...
This article sought to understand whether the acceptance of a political appointment by media work... more This article sought to understand whether the acceptance of a political appointment by media workers either amplifies or stifles their critical voice. In this paper, a distinguished media intellectual in Nigeria is studied as a critical case. Thirteen textual exemplars were theoretically sampled from three leading national newspapers in Nigeria. The textual exemplars were selected from editions published between 2008 and 2012. The textual exemplars were categorized and presented in three titled tables. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used to interpret the sampled texts. Insight was also received from comments elicited from journalism union officials in Nigeria. Result shows that giving a political appointment to Nigerian media intellectuals smothers their critical voice. It is also found that contradictory views were adjudged brilliant professional conduct if they help media intellectuals in a government appointment to polish the image of their pay masters. The article ended b...
Discussed are challenges that impact social research practices in Nigerian universities – more so... more Discussed are challenges that impact social research practices in Nigerian universities – more so, the research trends in (mass) communication departments. Focalized is the monomaniac bias towards the quantitative research method. The myopia that feeds the pathology is identified. The chief component of the myopia was discussed as the politicization and commercialization of research outcomes in the United States at the time the pioneers of communication research in Nigeria were being mentored there. Misconception of the concept of science by many Nigerian communication researchers was also discussed as a challenge. After reviewing how the essence of communication lies in meaning-construction as opposed to meaning-transmission, and after demonstrating how the mono-centric embrace of the quantitative research method retards communication/social research skills in Nigerian, conclusion urged Nigerian universities to recognize the qualitative research paradigm as a paradigm where co-crea...
The crisis in Nigeria’s Niger Delta rages on. This is despite the fact that different dialogue ev... more The crisis in Nigeria’s Niger Delta rages on. This is despite the fact that different dialogue events have, over the years, been staged to resolve the crisis. The resilience of the crisis and the apparent failure, so far, to solve the crisis by means of dialogue necessitates the need to, as in this paper, examine why dialogue has remained ineffective in the effort to resolve the crisis. The examination is conducted qualitatively. Samples of discourse about the Niger Delta crisis were subjected to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Analysis found that the social mentality in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is contaminated with narcissism to a degree where interest-bartering stifles the potentials of dialogue to resolve crisis. Conclusion recommended that if the elites of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria are sincere about using dialogue to resolve the crisis, they must free dialogues about the crisis from ideological manipulation.
This study explores how Nigerians used social media platforms to mourn and memorialize protesters... more This study explores how Nigerians used social media platforms to mourn and memorialize protesters who were killed during the 2020 EndSARS protests in Nigeria. Data for this study are from tweets (N = 67,678) that were scraped from the hashtags, “#EndSARSMemorial2” and “LekkiMassacre” and online semi-structured interviews (N = 30) with digital activists in Nigeria. Results show that the most frequently tweeted words were “rest in peace,” “heroes,” “who gave the order,” and “#EndSARSMemorial2.” Five themes emerged from the interview data, and they include anger and sympathy, mourning and remembering, connecting in the shared humanity of the deceased, and pledges to be better humans and citizens. The paper shows that high centrality, high density of reciprocity, and low modularity illustrate online mourners’ ability to stimulate commonality through decentralized and loose networks that allow for solidarity building during mourning and the personalization of mourning. Evoking some aspec...
We, in this paper, interpreted postmodernism articulations which hold as ingenious, unconventiona... more We, in this paper, interpreted postmodernism articulations which hold as ingenious, unconventional discourses of leaders, politicians, researchers and other social agents. With a convenient sample of five Trumpov's utterances out of so many utterances that his critics consider uncouth, we conducted a critical discourse analysis. Our analysis succeeded in demonstrating how accusations of fake news arise when remarks meant to be fictional, metaphorical, literal or non-serious are reported as serious literal remarks. We also discussed the analytic resources which analysts need in their analysis if they are to avoid the mistake of misreading the unusual discursive practices that come from agents like President Donald Trumpov. In the light of a raft of postmodernism articulations that promote the extraordinary as ultimately desirable in the contemporary world, we assess the uncommon discourses and discursive practices of President Trumpov as deserving empathetic consideration instead of uninformed condemnation.
Investigated are the research trends in mass communication programs in Nigerian universities. The... more Investigated are the research trends in mass communication programs in Nigerian universities. The focus is on the methodological orientation of the lecturers who teach mass communication research method courses. Course outlines were sourced from five typical but purposively selected universities where mass communication is taught. The contents of the course outlines and the comments made by the lecturers who designed them were subjected to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The result shows that the methodological orientation of lecturers who teach research method courses in mass communication programs gravitate almost exclusively towards the quantitative research method. Conclusion is that either bad faith or ignorance or a combination of the two is responsible for preventing Nigerian universities from joining the community of global universities where methodological pluralism in social research has been the norm.
Given the rising wave of violentacts across the world, this paper is designed to investigate the ... more Given the rising wave of violentacts across the world, this paper is designed to investigate the improbable but emerging trend which seems to suggest that violent behavior now appears to be an incentive when dating and even marriage decisions are made. The investigation is carried out with a pool of data made up of multiple variants. After displaying the data in a textbox, subjective valuing was usedto attribute certain phenomena to segments of the data. After affirming that females consider violent traits in males as incentives in their male-partner preferences, data representation failed to establish a decisive link between fierce delinquent acts and sexual frustration.
Given the rising wave of violentacts across the world, this paper is designed to investigate the ... more Given the rising wave of violentacts across the world, this paper is designed to investigate the improbable but emerging trend which seems to suggest that violent behavior now appears to be an incentive when dating and even marriage decisions are made. The investigation is carried out with a pool of data made up of multiple variants. After displaying the data in a textbox, subjective valuing was usedto attribute certain phenomena to segments of the data. After affirming that females consider violent traits in males as incentives in their male-partner preferences, data representation failed to establish a decisive link between fierce delinquent acts and sexual frustration.
Given the possibility that nominalized sentences could divert attention from issues that deserve ... more Given the possibility that nominalized sentences could divert attention from issues that deserve serious social scrutiny, this paper was designed to investigate the role nominalization played when Nigerian newspapers covered the 2005 National Political Reform Conference in Nigeria. Eighteen nominalized textual exemplars from three major national newspapers were purposively selected. Using critical discourse analysis as analytical tool, journalists who constructed the selected nominalized texts were asked to explain why they peppered their text with such nominalizations. Analysis and discussion show that the journalists did so because they took for granted their audience’s ability to supply omitted subjects in nominalized constructions.
Investigated are the research trends in mass communication programs in Nigerian universities. The... more Investigated are the research trends in mass communication programs in Nigerian universities. The focus was on the methodological orientation of the lecturers who teach mass communication research method courses. Course outlines were sourced from five typical but purposively selected universities where mass communication is taught. The contents of the course outlines and the comments made by the lecturers who designed them were subjected to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The result showed that the methodological orientation of lecturers who teach research method courses in mass communication programs gravitate almost exclusively towards the quantitative research method. Conclusion was that either bad faith or ignorance or a combination of the two is responsible for preventing Nigerian universities from joining the community of global universities where methodological pluralism in social research has been the norm.
This paper investigated an advertisement. The objective was to ascertain whether the creators of ... more This paper investigated an advertisement. The objective was to ascertain whether the creators of the advertisement, at the time they created the advertisement, consciously guarded against other meanings than the one they had intended for the advertisement. The procedure used was to show the advertisement to a focus group whose members are skilled in Critical Discourse Analysis. The creators of the advertisement said that the meaning found in the advertisement by the focus group was contrary to the meaning the creators had intended for the advertisement. In this light, it was recommended that continuous analysis of texts be encouraged in order to identify potential unintended distortive discursive practices that lurk in texts.
Against the backdrop of the tension between rational and rhetorical discourse, this paper was des... more Against the backdrop of the tension between rational and rhetorical discourse, this paper was designed to ascertain which side of the tension social discourse in Nigeria could be located. To accomplish this goal, exemplars of Nigerian discourse were purposively selected and presented on two titled tables. Using such interpretive categories as ideological discourse, re-contextualization and modal claim to truth and knowledge, it was found that public discourse in Nigeria gravitates towards a discourse pathology known as rhetoric of presentation. In realization that other studies might still turn up more findings on Nigerian discourses when other categories are deployed for analysis, the paper encourages all stake holders to gear effort towards redressing the danger which rhetoric poses to rationality in Nigeria.
Globalization or discourses about it enjoy universal spread. This global visibility persists desp... more Globalization or discourses about it enjoy universal spread. This global visibility persists despite the belief that there are features of globalization that is destructive of social equilibrium. This seeming contradictory nature is explored with Nigeria as a setting. Nine typical textual exemplars were theoretically sampled from leading Nigerian media and displayed as data. Analytical facilities found in Semiotics and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) were drawn on in the analysis of the sampled textual exemplars. Analysis found that instead of focusing on the woeful economic consequences which should portray globalization in a bad light, the media report globalization in styles that hide globalization's dire economic consequences. It is recommended that the mass media should embrace the emerging media technologies because such technologies could help the media mobilize ordinary people to recognize and resist the harmful attributes of globalization.
Three objectives were set including the exploration of how reporters handled counter framing cues... more Three objectives were set including the exploration of how reporters handled counter framing cues in the studied newspaper texts. Eleven texts were sampled, categorized and analyzed under three exemplars, namely: Structural Amnesia, Connivance by the International Community and Imposition of Assumptions. Unstructured chance interviews were conducted with the reporters who wrote the texts that were analyzed. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used as a tool of analysis. Among other findings was that by being too alert to the tacit codes that govern journalism practice, reporters unwittingly help the powerful to avoid getting roughened up with aggressive reporting.
In parts of Central and Southern Nigeria, there are Pentecostal Churches everywhere. Many of the ... more In parts of Central and Southern Nigeria, there are Pentecostal Churches everywhere. Many of the pastors in charge of the churches are often implicated in different acts of wrongdoing. Despite this, the churches are often packed with worshippers. Ordinarily, pastors’ wrongdoing ought to minimize the devotion adherents bestow on their pastors. But in the Nigerian context, the involvement of pastors in wrongdoing tends to draw more adherents. This is a puzzle that this paper examined. Three objectives, including the examination of what draws Nigerians to Pentecostal Christianity, were examined. Documents from diverse sources were accessed as data. The documents were displayed in textboxes and interpreted. To avoid high-inference interpretation, comments were elicited from research participants. Key themes of Nigerian Pentecostal Christianity’s message are found to focus on prosperity, miraculous healing, and neutralization of witchcraft. These themes resonate with indigenous religious...
This article sought to understand whether the acceptance of a political appointment by media work... more This article sought to understand whether the acceptance of a political appointment by media workers either amplifies or stifles their critical voice. In this paper, a distinguished media intellectual in Nigeria is studied as a critical case. Thirteen textual exemplars were theoretically sampled from three leading national newspapers in Nigeria. The textual exemplars were selected from editions published between 2008 and 2012. The textual exemplars were categorized and presented in three titled tables. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used to interpret the sampled texts. Insight was also received from comments elicited from journalism union officials in Nigeria. Result shows that giving a political appointment to Nigerian media intellectuals smothers their critical voice. It is also found that contradictory views were adjudged brilliant professional conduct if they help media intellectuals in a government appointment to polish the image of their pay masters. The article ended b...
Discussed are challenges that impact social research practices in Nigerian universities – more so... more Discussed are challenges that impact social research practices in Nigerian universities – more so, the research trends in (mass) communication departments. Focalized is the monomaniac bias towards the quantitative research method. The myopia that feeds the pathology is identified. The chief component of the myopia was discussed as the politicization and commercialization of research outcomes in the United States at the time the pioneers of communication research in Nigeria were being mentored there. Misconception of the concept of science by many Nigerian communication researchers was also discussed as a challenge. After reviewing how the essence of communication lies in meaning-construction as opposed to meaning-transmission, and after demonstrating how the mono-centric embrace of the quantitative research method retards communication/social research skills in Nigerian, conclusion urged Nigerian universities to recognize the qualitative research paradigm as a paradigm where co-crea...
The crisis in Nigeria’s Niger Delta rages on. This is despite the fact that different dialogue ev... more The crisis in Nigeria’s Niger Delta rages on. This is despite the fact that different dialogue events have, over the years, been staged to resolve the crisis. The resilience of the crisis and the apparent failure, so far, to solve the crisis by means of dialogue necessitates the need to, as in this paper, examine why dialogue has remained ineffective in the effort to resolve the crisis. The examination is conducted qualitatively. Samples of discourse about the Niger Delta crisis were subjected to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Analysis found that the social mentality in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is contaminated with narcissism to a degree where interest-bartering stifles the potentials of dialogue to resolve crisis. Conclusion recommended that if the elites of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria are sincere about using dialogue to resolve the crisis, they must free dialogues about the crisis from ideological manipulation.
This study explores how Nigerians used social media platforms to mourn and memorialize protesters... more This study explores how Nigerians used social media platforms to mourn and memorialize protesters who were killed during the 2020 EndSARS protests in Nigeria. Data for this study are from tweets (N = 67,678) that were scraped from the hashtags, “#EndSARSMemorial2” and “LekkiMassacre” and online semi-structured interviews (N = 30) with digital activists in Nigeria. Results show that the most frequently tweeted words were “rest in peace,” “heroes,” “who gave the order,” and “#EndSARSMemorial2.” Five themes emerged from the interview data, and they include anger and sympathy, mourning and remembering, connecting in the shared humanity of the deceased, and pledges to be better humans and citizens. The paper shows that high centrality, high density of reciprocity, and low modularity illustrate online mourners’ ability to stimulate commonality through decentralized and loose networks that allow for solidarity building during mourning and the personalization of mourning. Evoking some aspec...
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Papers by Fred Amadi