Discourse analysis of two online environmental communication campaigns

Abstract

Humanity's dependence on the environment as a source of raw materials for various aspects of survival has affected the planet (Omoshue and Ashadu, 2016). Reversing the direction and state of the environment requires the cooperation of all stakeholders most of whom can much easily be reached via media content. Environmental campaigns are one of the many tools used to reach audiences irrespective of location and distance. These campaigns are sometimes developed as a fit to their cultural contexts and at other times to reach a global audience. As such, this study guided by the framing theory analysed two campaigns - one Nigerian and the other with a global outlook, purposively selected to evaluate the discourse tools employed in designing the communication content. From the analysis, it was deduced that the two campaigns did employ tools of discourse – the rank scale act which focused on the functions that the sentences in the campaigns performed, cohesion and cohesive devices to ensure the messages made sense and to build a relationship amongst the concepts
discussed.