A corpus-assisted analysis of attitudinal appraisals in selected newspaper reports on domestic violence in Nigeria and Uganda

The rate of domestic violence globally has continued to rise, with its severe impacts in Africa due to persistent socioeconomic challenges. This study examines how domestic violence is discursively represented in Nigerian and Ugandan newspapers, with data drawn primarily from The Nation (Nigeria) and Daily Monitor (Uganda), covering publications between March and May 2020. Martin and White’s (2010) Appraisal Framework, which investigates the deployment of Attitude resources, was adopted as a framework. The findings reveal that Affect Attitude is mostly deployed in both corpora. While the Ugandan newspaper foregrounds negative Affect, the Nigerian newspaper prioritises positive Affect. Although both countries employ negative Propriety and Normality, positive Judgment is mainly realised in both contexts through Capacity. Meanwhile, Appreciation is the least utilised Attitude type. Ugandan newspaper deploys positive Appreciation through composition (balance) and valuation, with negative Appreciation centering on reaction (impact and quality). In contrast, Nigerian newspapers rely on valuation and reaction (impact) for both positive and negative Appreciation. The study concludes that media discourse in both contexts does more than just report domestic violence. It also constructs emotional meanings, assigns moral influence, and evaluates social responses to domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.