| News reports are presented as the unbiased recording of world reality. Language in news reports is claimed to be neutral and value-free. However, a thoroughly critical analysis of the political news reports of the American media on Iraq war in the present study challenges this point of view. Following Fairclough's three dimensional framework and Halliday's functional grammar, the analysis of political news reports are conducted at three stages: description, interpretation and explanation. Not only the linguistic features, but the process of news production and the institutional and social contexts are expounded. Thus, news discourse is explored as a social practice, not merely as the words on page. The case study of the political news reports on Iraq war demonstrates that language use in news discourse is never unbiased. Language is constructed by the social values and norms and is value-laden. Language and ideology are in a dialectical relationship. Hence, it is of great significance to increase the intercultural sensitivity of news readers and the cultivation of critical awareness is undoubtedly of necessity for English language learners.
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