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 namely: ABS-CBN, CNN Philippines, GMA, Interaksyon, and Rappler. This study was seen through the standpoint of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) by Fairclough (1995). Results showed 10 discursive devices used in the headlines by media practitioners to attract attention from readers that may direct them to not just read the headline but read the entire article. These were evaluative language, vocabulary, intensification and quantification, immediacy, reference to emotion, reference to elite people, role labels, institutional agency, country, and events. It was also found that these devices brought out media practitioners’ ideologies. It was further found that writers or editors were objective or neutral, subjective or biased and misleading. They were shown through the use of direct and indirect quotation, numbers and figures, and choice of words in writing the headlines. The selection of the language used in headlines showed the political inclinations of the news writers or editors who intentionally choose only those news or speeches which may create sensational feelings among the readers. To put it simply, the writer or editor’s angle of judgment reflected how he or she wanted the readers to perceive the issue.
Philippine E-Journals
