TAF PUBLISHING

This study aimed to determine the discursive devices used in the news headlines, unravel the ideologies of the media practitioners, and reveal the insights that can be generated from the findings. Thirty headlines were gathered from five major online news portals in the Philippines: ABS-CBN, CNN Philippines, GMA, Interaksyon, and Rappler. This is a qualitative study that is seen from Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in 1995. Results showed ten discursive devices used in the headlines by media practitioners to attract attention from readers that may direct them to read the headline and read the entire article. It was also found out that the devices brought out media practitioners’ ideologies. It was further found that writers or editors were objective or neutral, subjective or biased, and misleading. The selection of the words used in the headlines showed the political dispositions of the news practitioners who intentionally choose only those speeches or news that may create sensational feelings among the readers. The writer or editor’s judgment angle reflected how he or she wanted the readers to perceive the issue. Furthermore, the results of this study may provide ideas to news consumers to not just read the headlines but read the entire article so that they may know if the headline matches its content and that they may be able to identify if the issue is true or not if it is slanted or sensationalized.