Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Associate Professor of Linguistics, Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Boroujerd, Iran
2 Associate Professor pf Performing Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
This study examines how news headlines about the October 7, 2023 Gaza crisis employ linguistic structures to convey framing and reinforce power dynamics. Drawing on information structure theory and the analytical framework of information packing theory, a corpus of 50 headlines from major international outlets published between October 2023 and July 2025 was analyzed using qualitative discourse analysis. This theory examines how speakers and writers organize and highlight pieces of information in sentences to guide the listener’s or reader’s attention and interpretation. The study investigates how syntactic and grammatical choices frame events, highlight causes, assign or obscure responsibility, and shape readers’ interpretations and thematic focus. Findings reveal that headlines systematically manipulate information structures to achieve pragmatic effects. Here, foregrounding (preposing) emphasizes key actors or consequences; postposing constructions activate presuppositions and dramatize urgency; passive voice, inversion, and interrogatives obscure responsibility and subtly assign or obscure blame; and expansion constructions (relative clauses, appositives, parentheticals) enrich context and amplify humanitarian or emotional dimensions. The study shows that linguistic choices function as pragmatic tools for managing discourse, framing narratives, and influencing perceptions of accountability. These results underscore the ideological and power dynamics embedded in news production and highlight the importance of analyzing information structures.
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