Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores generic properties of hard news reports and editorials and the nature of linguistic devices invoked by journalists to communicate issues of conflict in Uganda. It describes the textual architecture of a hard news report and an editorial unfolding in the Ugandan print media, and the features that define English-language and Runyankore-Rukiga hard news and editorials. The study further explicates the nature of overt and covert linguistic resources that news reporters and editorialists employ to communicate issues conflict in English and Runyankore- Rukiga across government and private newspapers. It also examines strategies that news reporters employ to establish their stance towards the news event being communicated and seeking to align or disalign with the issue in a manner that seeks to enlist the reader to do likewise. The study employs the multi-dimensional and multi-perspective approaches of discourse analysis to examine news stories and editorials that communicate issues of conflict. Using genre-theoretic and appraisal–theoretic principles, the study explores a diachronic corpus of 53 news reports and 27 editorials drawn from four selected newspapers, Daily Monitor, The New Vision, Entatsi and Orumuri. It therefore, involves a cross-linguistic comparison of English and Runyankore-Rukiga news texts across government and privately-owned newspapers. The investigation demonstrates that news reports in Runyankore-Rukiga and English in the Ugandan print media exemplify similar generic properties and textual organisation to the Englishlanguage hard news reports obtaining in the Anglo-American world. The editorial texts also largely exhibit rhetorical moves similar to the ones employed in the English-language editorials. Nonetheless, a chronological development of news segments occurs across a considerable number of hard news reports in English and Runyankore-Rukiga. This is evident in the use of markers of cohesion such as anaphoric references, time adjuncts, or a mere positioning of events of similar nature in adjacent segments, which leads to some of them hanging together. Consequently, this feature constrains reordering of segments without causing textual unintelligibility. In particular, the Runyankore-Rukiga news reports display a lengthy and value-laden opening whose elements are usually at variance with the body components or even the actual news event. The interpersonal meanings are actuated via metaphors, implicit judgement, non-core lexis, and occasional proverbs. While both government and private newspapers restrain from overt judgement of human conduct, news reporters from the private newspapers invoke implicit attitudes to assess the behaviour of news actors and occasionally highlight the negative actions, particularly of the police, army, or other government agents depicting their conduct as inappropriate. The government leaning newspapers often assess their conduct in positive terms or avoid mentioning events in which their conduct would have hitherto been construed as negative. The study also established that some of the news reports display affect values activated via the description of circumstances or negative actions of the agents on the affected. This description often involves expressions that trigger in the reader feelings of pity, empathy, or pain for the affected while at the same time evoking anger or disgust for the agent. The study demonstrates how news reporters invoke non-core lexical elements or proverbs to intensify the interpersonal value, thus endorsing the attitudinal value expressed by the locution(s). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie het generiese eienskappe van hardenuusberigte en hoofartikels en die aard van taalkundige middele waarop joernaliste hulle beroep om kwessies ten opsigte van konflik in Uganda te kommunikeer, verken. Dit beskryf die tekstuele argitektuur van ʼn hardenuusberig en ʼn hoofartikel wat in die Ugandese gedrukte media ontvou, en die kenmerke wat hardenuus- en hoofartikels in koerante in Engels en Runyankore-Rukiga definieer. Die studie het verder die aard van overte en koverte taalkundige hulpbronne wat verslaggewers en hoofartikelskrywers benut om kwessies ten opsigte van konflik in Engels en Runyankore-Rukiga oor regeringskoerante en private koerante heen te kommunikeer, ondersoek. Dit het ook strategieë ondersoek wat verslaggewers aanwend om hulle standpunt teenoor die nuusgebeurtenis wat gekommunikeer word, te vestig en wat daarna streef om hulle met die kwessie te vereenselwig of daarvan los te maak op ʼn manier wat daarop gemik is om die leser te betrek om dieselfde te doen. Die studie het van die multidimensionele en multiperspektiefbenaderings van diskoers-analise gebruik gemaak om nuusstories en hoofartikels wat kwessies van konflik kommunikeer te ondersoek. Met behulp van genre-teoretiese en waardebepaling-teoretiese beginsels het die studie ʼn diachroniese korpus van 53 nuusberigte en 27 hoofartikels uit vier geselekteerde koerante, Daily Monitor, The New Vision, Entatsi en Orumuri, verken. Dit het dus ʼn kruislinguistiese vergelyking van nuustekste in Engels en Runyankore-Rukiga in regeringskoerante en koerante in privaatbesit behels. Die ondersoek het aangetoon dat nuusberigte in Runyankore-Rukiga en Engels in die Ugandese gedrukte media soortgelyke generiese eienskappe en tekstuele organisasie as Engelstalige hardenuusberigte in die Anglo-Amerikaanse wêreld illustreer. Die hoofartikeltekste het ook meestal retoriese skuiwe soortgelyk aan dié wat in die Engelstalige hoofartikels gebruik word, aangetoon. Nogtans kom daar ʼn chronologiese ontwikkeling van nuussegmente in ʼn groot aantal hardenuusberigte in Engels en Runyankore-Rukiga voor. Dit is duidelik in die gebruik van kohesiemerkers soos anaforiese verwysings, tydsbepalings, of ʼn blote posisionering van gebeure van soortgelyke aard in omliggende segmente wat daartoe lei dat sommige van hulle samehang vertoon. Hierdie eienskap beperk dus herordening van segmente sonder om tekstuele onverstaanbaarheid te veroorsaak. Die nuusberigte in Runyankore-Rukiga, in die besonder, vertoon ʼn lang en waardegelaaide inleiding waarvan die elemente gewoonlik strydig is met komponente van die hoofgedeelte of selfs die ware nuusgebeurtenis. Die interpersoonlike betekenisse word via metafore, implisiete oordeel, niekern-leksis, en sporadiese spreekwoorde aangedryf. Terwyl beide regeringskoerante en private koerante hulle weerhou van overte oordeel oor menslike gedrag, beroep verslaggewers van die private koerante hulle op implisiete gesindhede om die optrede van nuusmakers te beoordeel en beklemtoon partymaal die negatiewe optrede, in die besonder dié van die polisie, weermag of ander regeringsagente, en beeld hulle gedrag as onvanpas uit. Die regeringgesinde koerante assesseer dikwels hulle optrede in positiewe terme of vermy dit om gebeure waarin hulle gedrag wat tot dusver as negatief geïnterpreteer sou word, te noem. Die studie het ook vasgestel dat sommige van die nuusberigte affekwaardes toon wat geaktiveer word via die beskrywing van omstandighede of negatiewe optrede van die agente teenoor die betrokkenes. Hierdie beskrywing behels dikwels uitdrukkings wat by die leser gevoelens van jammerte, empatie of pyn vir die betrokkenes opwek terwyl dit terselfdertyd woede of afkeur vir die agent ontketen. Die studie het aangetoon hoe verslaggewers hulle op niekern- leksikale elemente of spreekwoorde beroep om die interpersoonlike waarde te versterk, en so die houdingswaarde wat deur die segswyse(s) uitgedruk word, onderskryf. / African Doctoral Academy and the Graduate School in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Stellenbosch University for availing scholarship funds, Makerere University, the Directorate of Human Resources for the study leave and facilitating my travel to and from Stellenbosch; and the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training for the research funds