Comparative Pragmatic Study of Print Media Discourse in Baluchistan Newspapers Headlines

  In the last two decades the power of mass media has influenced the society and recently, the public interest for media activities has increased tremendously. Similarly, in this advanced technological age, many jobs are associated with media coverage, for example, military actions, affiliation of public with political and social activities, and intentions, actions and attitudes of community etc. For the transmission of these actions in news and newspapers headlines, powerful and influencing strategies are adopted in the use of language. Many characteristics of language are determined through its use and one of them is known as pragmatic approach. But, in Baluchistan context neither, an appropriate focus is provided to research study for pragmatic analysis nor is Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts studied in Baluchistan newspapers headlines. In this research, efforts have been made to fill up this gap in existing literature. The sample of study is selected from three Baluchistan newspapers i.e. Express (Quetta), Baluchistan Times and Tular (Noshkay) headlines. Forty news headlines are taken from selected three newspapers. Almost all the news statements are obtained from front pages and these headlines are analyzed in the light of Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts. The findings of study suggest that Searle’s taxonomy of speech act is applicable to selected Baluchistan newspapers headlines and statements are loaded with different intended meanings. The statistical analysis of the study reveals the effective employment of Representatives (assertives) speech acts in newspapers headlines. In conclusion it can be suggested that there might be specific intentions of the speakers in the news headlines.