Linguistic purification of violence in the press: a comparative critical discourse analysis of execution news

Abstract The aim of this study is to probe for the discursive construction shared beliefs about capital punishment. Drawing upon a specialized corpus execution news, explores representational practices, including social actor naming, action description, and incorporation voices, compares respective lexico-grammatical choices that are orchestrated reconstruct events executions in Thailand from 1997 2017. findings reveal these purify state killing hide violence killing. While representation become less overtly negative over time, underlying ideological position press has not changed. Throughout periods, represented as routine procedure by minimizing and/or concealing agency commensurate punishment executed individuals, while law enforcement justice systems place intertextually framed unproblematic effective deterring crime, based on perspectives few elite sources. By way demystifying subtle linguistic choices, makes transparent which endorses, normalizes, perpetuates favorable stances toward death penalty democratic society.