Van Dijk-Model Critical Discourse Analysis of Harris vs. Trump Debate Media Coverage

Abstract

This research aims to address questions regarding the portrayal of the US Presidential debate between Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump in mass media. This research is qualitative research. This research employed media bias examination in the Huffpost, Reuters, and The Daily Wire articles reporting on the US Presidential debate posted on the same day. The data was collected through a combination of literature review, observation, and note-taking methods. The analysis was conducted using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Teun A. Van Dijk's model. Results showed that Huffpost reporting tends to portray Donald Trump with negative sentiment such as “misinformed” and “lies”. Similarly, Reuters reporting portrayed Donald Trump with negative sentiment while mentioning the voters’ uncertainty on Kamala Harris. On the other hand, The Daily Wire portrayed Kamala Harris with a negative sentiment by questioning Harris’ stance on abortion. The difference in reporting can be linked to the goals each news outlet has in publishing their articles.