Critical Discourse Analysis of Manila Bulletin Coverage and Jeepney Drivers' Perspectives

Abstract

This study examines how the Manila Bulletin frames the Jeepney Modernization Program and how jeepney drivers interpret the policy. Using Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Huckin's discourse tools, the study analyzes selected news articles, opinion pieces, and interview transcripts to identify linguistic and discursive strategies such as modality, connotation, topicalization, framing, agency, foregrounding, backgrounding, presupposition, and omission. The results indicate that the newspaper tends to position modernization as necessary, progressive, and already underway, while the concerns of jeepney drivers and transport groups are often backgrounded. In contrast, the interviews reveal resistance, uncertainty, and a sense of financial and cultural loss among the community directly affected by the program. The research underscores how media discourse can shape public perception of policy issues by normalizing one perspective and marginalizing another. This paper makes the case for more balanced and inclusive reporting of transport reform and the social realities experienced by affected stakeholders.