But we need to take care of the metaphors we use to describe the pandemic
Posts published by “Ian Siebörger”
Ian Siebörger is a senior lecturer in Linguistics at Rhodes University, specializing in discourse analysis, particularly the analysis of media and political discourses. His PhD, completed in 2018, is on the positioning of political parties in the Daily Sun's reporting. In his research he focuses on how emotive and evaluative language is used in the media to associate different ideas with particular people and organisations, shaping the opinions and knowledge that everyday citizens have about what is happening in South Africa's political landscape.
By stopping the spread of fake news, ordinary citizens can help us reach herd immunity
Language reflects our preoccupations, and words such as “spike”, “contract”, “admission”, “prevention”, “grant”, “MAC” and “amid” now predominate in reporting on the virus
The framing of Jacob Zuma’s attempts to have Raymond Zondo recuse himself because of a tenuous family connection can distract us from the state capture commission’s main objective: uncovering the truth about corruption
The complexity of the situation, with its multiple cross-cutting cultural and social circumstances, begs that we hear both sides
When the words commonly associated in news stories with the term ‘Covid-19’ include ‘looting’, it’s time to shine a light on the problem
Reporting is blurry but, reading between the lines, it seems more people have died from the disease
Linking the word ‘Covid-19’ with ‘schools’, ‘impact’, ‘relief’ and ‘wards’ reflects the concerns about schools, the economy and medical treatment — stories that dominated in the media
What is it that has created divisions over when the Covid-19 restrictions should be eased?
News headlines point to the ‘facts’ that citizens feel in charge of the virus