Polarized Discourse in the Egyptian News : Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective

The aim of this study is to investigate ideological structures of polarized discourse coded in the reports of two online news websites: egyptindependent and ikwanweb. The study focuses on online news reports relating to three interrelated events: the issuing of a constitutional declaration by Egyptian president, the aftermath clashes outside presidential palace and the issuing of the Egyptian draft constitution. The analysis of these reports is conducted within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis. The features of the ideologies of polarized discourse are traced through: Quotation patterns and Labeling. The study concludes with a discussion of how both websites establish a dichotomy of we versus them. In addition, the reports of each website marginalize the other through what is termed as ' Absent News'.


A. Introduction
Since 25 January 2011, Egyptian revolution has been in the limelight for its uniqueness and the dramatic changes it caused in the Middle East in general and in Egypt in particular.One of these dramatic changes is the media manipulation of events.To be precise there has been 'media war' among different opposing parties.Mass media played a noticeable role in deepening points of difference and polarization reaching a tug-of-war.
In this context, this research detects the different forms of polarized discourse represented by news reports in two news websites: Ikhwanweb and Egyptindepenedent.The rationale behind choosing those websites in particular is their representation of two different ideologies.Ikhwanweb is the official English mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood which is the ruling power now in Egypt.In contrast, Egyptindepenedent represents the liberal and opposing viewpoint to the ruling power.
Through complete investigation of news reports in both websites, this study probes for the answer of these questions: a-Do both sites use 'polarized discourse' in their presentation of news actors and events?b-If yes, do they establish the square of 'in' and 'out' groups?

B. Literature Review
Revising the recent annals of literature in terms of Critical Discourse Analysis, the media, rhetoric etc., a considerable amount of literature has been published in various discourse and genres (Martin, 2001;Richardson, 2004 Kazemian, 2015).Prior studies have tended to focus on some other genres and discourses; however, to date few studies have been found that surveyed the current topic of this study.This study is unique in the sense that it attempts to bridge the gap among previous studies by investigating ideological structures of polarized discourse coded in the reports of two online news websites: egyptindependent and ikwanweb.
According to Fowler (1991), Critical Linguistics "Simply means an enquiry into the relations between signs, meanings and the social and historical conditions which govern the semiotic structure of discourse, using a particular kind of linguistic analysis" Thus, CDA conveys the idea that society is not only shaped by discourse but it also shapes this discourse (Fairclough, 1989).In addition, the main function of a critical discourse analyst is to unpack the different ideologies (choices) that govern the relationship between discursive practices and the social practices.
In this context, a more explanation is needed to the word 'critical' which is a key concept in our theoretical framework i.e.CDA.The idea of criticality in CDA gives this analytic approach a very crucial function which is empowering social participants with tools to uncover 'opaque' ideologies found in the discursive practices of those in power (Fairclough, 1995b).
A unique facet of this research is its dependence on web-based data i.e. online news.It represents a contribution to what may be termed as Web-Based Critical Discourse Analysis (WBCDA).Mautner (2005) refers to the scarcity of CDA studies using online data: "Although the world wide web has become a popular object and tool for different kinds of semiotic and linguistic investigation, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) does not seem to share this enthusiasm in equal measure.
The contemporary relevance of the web as a key site for articulation of social issues should make it a prime target for critical discourse analyst with a political and emancipatory brief"(809 At this point, in particular, we should stress the fact that 'news' is one of the most outstanding embodiments of this opaque ideologies, especially those of unequal relations of power or domination.The idea of presenting unequal relations of power or degrading 'the other' is tackled by many studies like: Achugar (2004), Bekalu (2006), Cheng (2002), Flowerdew, Li, & Tran (2002), Juan (2009), Joye (2010), Jullian (2011), Kuo & Nakamura (2005), Khosravinik (2009), Rasti & Sahragard (2010), Teo (2000), & Thetela (2001).All the above mentioned studies share a common line of thought which is the description of how the 'other' is presented through discourse on two levels: the news actors and events.
In this context, the notion of 'ideological square' (Van Dijk, 1998) seems to be appealing.In 'ideological square', Dijk adopts the idea of presenting positive-self and negative other.In other words, he studies the strategies of foregrounding positive practices of one-self and deemphasizing any positive aspect of the other, "This strategy of polarization -positive in group description, and negative out group description -thus has the following abstract evaluative structure, which we may call the 'ideological square': 1. Emphasize our good properties / actions.This study argues that the strategy of polarization is clearly manifested in the polarized discourse adopted by both websites under investigation i.e.Ikhwanweb and Egyptindepenedent.In addition, this study considers this polarized discourse is embodied in two discursive practices: a-Quotation patterns.b-Labeling.

C. Research Methodology
The researcher has detected different types of news in both sites for a month: from 15/11/2012 to 15/12/2012, then he has classified events according to their interrelatedness.In other words, the chosen events are interrelated to each other either a result or a reason: Chronologically, the starting point of events was the announcement of president's constitutional declaration which gave President Morsy powers like appointing the public prosecutor and giving immunity to the constituent assembly from dissolving.In addition, all constitutional declarations issued by the president cannot be appealed or canceled by any political or governmental body.
In reaction to the constitutional declaration, the president's opponents held a sit-in around the presidential palace as an expression of rejection to both the constitutional declaration and the issuing of draft constitution.
The inclusion of the third event i.e. issuing of draft constitution is due to the nature of writing this constitution which caused a lot of controversy in this period.The controversy over this draft constitution is clearly manifested in the news reports in both websites.The data collected from both sites can be summarized in table 1 below:

Quotation Patterns
Quotation patterns play a pivotal role in forming news as they are the raw material out of which a reporter conveys a certain message to his readers.These quotations reflect ideologies of both reporters and their organizations.In other words, quotations cannot be regarded as mere citations of newsmakers quoting (Bell, 1991) terminology.Van Dijk (1991) stresses the same idea arguing that "source texts not only feature descriptions, interpretations or announcements of events and actions, but also evaluative statements, that is, opinions"(152) 1 A link to the full record of reports can be found in the appendix This study regards quotation patterns as strong ideological tools which can be used to direct readers' interpretation to a certain direction which, in turn, leads to the polarization of these readers into two groups i.e. 'in' and 'out' groups.The polarization of readers can be achieved, through the use of quotations, in three ways: a-The choice of quotation types.b-The choice of sources quoted.c-The choice of reporting verbs.
The first element that embodies ideology in quotation patterns is the type of quotation adopted by reporters.In this respect, Richardson (2007) classifies quotations into five types.The first type is 'direct quotation' which is mainly used to present news as facts.The second type is what is termed as 'strategic quotation' in which a reporter uses 'scare quotes' to indicate the contentious nature of the words quoted.The third type is 'indirect quotation' in which a reporter summarizes what was said or written by the original newsmaker.The fourth type is 'the transformed indirect quotation' in which the reporter drops reporting verbs like 'say' or 'tell'.The last type is the 'ostensible direct quotation' in which a reporter makes up the content of the quotation to convey a certain message.
Richardson further develops this classification by imagining "a progressive line of accuracy" with direct quotations at one end and ostensible quotations at the other end.The more we move away from direct quotations, the greater the possibility of distortion of the original talk.Quotations progressive line of accuracy Applying Richardson's classification of quotation to data under investigation, the researcher detects three main types: direct, indirect and strategic quotations.The result can be seen in table (2) below:  2) reveals a number of facts.Firstly, the Ikhwanweb reports used more 'direct' quotations than did the Egyptindepenedent.This is may be explained in the light of the idea of giving more facticity to the reports as "a quote is valued as a particularly incontrovertible fact" (Bell, 1991).Secondly, the Egyptindepenedent used 'indirect' quotations more than the Ikhwanweb.In this respect, Richardson (2007) line of accuracy may present an explanation.The reporters of Egyptindepenedent tend to use indirect quotations to give them more flexibility in the interpretations of newsmakers' words.Thus, they have more powers to direct their own readers according to their ideologies.
Thirdly, it is evident that the reporters of the Egyptindepenedent used 'strategic' quotations with a percentage that is three times more than that is used in Ikhwanweb.
Both websites used different types of quotations for ideological ends.Reporters of both sites used quotations as "a gate-keeping device that admits only those in positions of power" (Teo, 2000).This idea is evident in the content of quotations.If the voices quoted are divided into two camps: the Ikhwan and the Non-Ikhwan, we find a clear bias in who are to be highly quoted and who are to be silenced.The following examples give more illustrations: 2 With the well-known consultant Mamdouh Hamza talking openly of 'a possible major storming of the presidential palace' … Dr. Essam El-Erian described the battle, saying: "This is no political opposition, but the 2 The number before each example refers to the source report it was taken from.The source report can be traced through the headlines in the appendix.
last battle of the deep state … There is no dialogue under screaming bullets of hired thugs".2-(20)Dr.Beltagy denounced calls' of support for the public prosecutor, saying: "Some are crying for Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, Tahani Al-Gebali and Ahmed Al-Zind now.Did they want us to wait until the constitutional court restored the Military Council's supplementary constitutional declaration and brought back field -Marshal Tantawi and General Annan?Abdel Meguid Mahmoud is a former regime holdover; his dismissal is the real revolution".
The first example is a report on the clashes outside presidential palace.The consultant Mamdouh Hamzah, who is an outstanding figure in the Non-Ikhwan camp, is only directly quoted to be condemned by the reporter who fuses his judgment with Dr. Essam El-Erian's words.The words of Mamdouh Hamzah represents a frame for the following accusations of Essam El Erian to Mamdouh Hamzah as a representative of the deep state and the person who hires thugs to attack presidential palace.
In the second example, Essam El-Erian defends president Morsy's constitutional declaration.In addition, he attacks a number of figures of the Non-Ikhwan camp including: Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, the public prosecutor, Tahani Al-Gabali, the vice-president of constitutional court and two leaders of Military supreme council: Tantawi and Annan.As it is evident, the only voice here is the voice of the Ikhwan camp.The other camp is silenced as we don't find any quotation or voice of any figure of this camp.They are not quoted to convey the message that their voices are not important or not worth mentioning at all.They are only seen from the perspective of Ikhwan.Thus, it is clear that the Ikhwanweb creates the atmosphere of 'weness', the guardians of revolution and 'them', the anti-revolutionists.
Despite the fact that Egyptindepenedent followed the same technique of quoting the 'other; camp to be criticized, it was unique in its use of 'strategic' or 'scare' quotations.This idea can be exemplified as follows:

Egyptindepenedent:
3-(13)"Don't pay attention to 'those who want to waste Egyptians' time with controversy' " said president Morsy on Friday, indirectly alluding to the waves of protests against the new constitutional declaration that grants him unprecedented powers.4-(1)The Brotherhood alleged in a statement issued Thursday that Brotherhood members did not perpetrate violent acts in these events.The events represent "a continuation of the sacrifices offered by the Egyptian nation with the Brotherhood at its core, since 25 January" the statement said …… A number of presidential advisers have resigned in protest against the recent developments, which they hold the Morsy administration accountable for.5-(5)"It's a signal that if he wants to remain in power, he has to accept the will of the people" Dr. Mostafa Al Sayed said.On a bolder and more public scale, the judiciary has been openly defying Morsy after denouncing the constitutional declaration as a blatant infringement on judicial independence.6-(8)Hussein, prominent Muslim Brotherhood figure, lashed out at the constitution part founder Mohamed El-Baradei's depiction of Morsy as a new pharaoh, calling it "reckless and cruel".7-(17)Mory's move was deemed "a blow to the independence of the judiciary", and the judicial milieus are now studying the possibility of boycotting the planned referendum.
In example (3), president Morsy is quoted to be criticized through the use of scare quotes.The reporter does not agree with his view that protesters are wasting Egyptians' time.To the contrary, these protests are a kind of alarm against Morsy's 'unprecedented powers'.The same idea is exemplified, through the use of scare quotes, in example (6).The reporter uses scare quotes as a rejection of Hussein's description of El-Baradei's words as 'cruel and reckless'.In addition, by the use of these 'scare quotes' he supports El-Baradei's depiction of Morsy as a new pharaoh.
Again in example (4), the others' camp is quoted to be marginalized.The Brotherhood statement is quoted to be criticized.This criticism is reflected in two points.Firstly, the use of the verb 'allege' in describing the statement words.Secondly, in providing a proof of the invalidity of the Brotherhood claims.This proof is the resignation of presidential advisers in protest against recent developments.
Example ( 5) and ( 7) represent unique ways of using quotations.Example (5) represents a strategy to manipulate readers' interpretations.This strategy can be called 'Perspectivizing through Others'.In other words, it refers to the idea that the reporter provides a perspective of his own viewpoint through others' words.The same idea is discussed by Sinclair (1986) in which he distinguishes between the averral (writer) and attribution (source).In addition, it was adopted by Jullian (2011) who argued that "external voices are allowed to speak their minds much more loudly than journalists so away in which authors may convey their views is through the choice of informants".(676) In example (5), the reporter quotes the viewpoint of an expert that Morsy and his camp have to accept the others.Afterwards, the reporter expresses his view that Morsy's camp has been defeated by judges.In this example, it isn't clear who is speaking after the direct quotation.This blurring of views is deliberate.The reporter fuses his view with that in the quotation i.e. perspectivizing through others.
The main use of scare quotes in news is to show disapproval or refusal of the content (Bell, 1991;Juan, 2009).However, example (7) provides a new use of 'scar quotes'.In this example, the reporter uses scare quotes to show approval of what is written and not to distance himself / herself away of it.This is clear in his commentary that the judicial are studying boycotting the planned referendum.Thus, he supports this line of thinking.
Another perspective of polarization can be clearly seen through the choice of sources used in both websites.Table (3) below summarizes the types of sources in both websites.A close look at table (3) reveals a number of facts.Firstly, both sites are partisan in their choice of voices.'The other' is only quoted with the percentage of %20 and %26.74 in Ikhwanweb and Egyptindepenedent respectively.Fowler (1991) refers to this idea as "Imbalance of access" which "results in partiality, not only in what assertions and attitudes are reported -a matter of content -but also how they are reported" (22)(23) In writing news reporting, this partiality is done intentionally as it represents the author's ideology.Each website brings into text the sources that illustrate and support his ideas.The concept of polarization is clear in silencing 'the other' by marginalizing his voice.In other words, only 'our voices' should be quoted and should be of focal concern.
This polarization is further deepened by the way 'the other' voices are presented.In this respect, Juan (2009) discussed the idea of presenting the other through 'generic' or 'impersonal' nouns to dehumanize him/her.What may be termed as 'depersonalization of the other' is very clear in the terms used by Egyptindepenedent in referring to the Ikhwan voices -Egyptindepenedent used terms like: Brotherhood , Brotherhood members and the Brotherhood sources to refer to the Ikhwan voices.The depersonalization of the Ikhwan camp is to reflect it as an organization not individuals who may vary in their way of thinking.In contrast, the leaders of the National Salvation Front are presented as individuals and highly quoted.Personalization gives more newsworthiness to reports.Another facet of this polarization can be clearly seen in the Ikhwanweb site itself.It never quoted leaders of the National Salvation Front to down play their role.
A second fact which can be seen in table (3) is that both websites used elites as major sources.Bell (1991) explains this fact as he considers "the more elite the source, the more newsworthy the story" (192).The main difference between the two websites is that Ikhwanweb mainly depended on Ikhwan elites while Egyptindepenedent was more diverse in its elite sources and its sources in general.
In report (6) (3) , for example, Egyptindepenedent used sources of different backgrounds including: a first-time protester, a laboratory physician, another protester (Sherine Roshdy), Engineer Sherine Adel and the secretary general of Ghad Al-Thawra party.The use of this diversity of sources may be employed to depict the website as representing a common vision of Egyptian nation against the Ikhwan camp.
The third fact, seen in table (3), is the use of anonymous sources.Both websites used anonymous sources with the percentage of %12.5 and %10.46 of Ikhwanweb and Egyptindepenedent respectively.The anonymity criterion is used to deepen polarization in a unique way.Both websites use anonymous sources to vilify the other i.e. to complete Van Dijk (1998) ideological square.Authors of both sites used anonymous voices to pass their ideologies to readers.In other words, the websites ideologies are fused in the words of these anonymous voices.The following examples give more explanation of the anonymity criterion.

Ikhwanweb:
8-(3)The demonstrators also condemned businessmen and politicians who instigated the massacre and other brutal attacks through their appearances such as Mamdouh Hamza, Hamdeen Sabbahi, Mohamed El Baradei and Amr Moussa.9-(3)Observers of the political scene, say that just as the Brotherhood protected the legitimacy of the revolution in Tahrir Square, it continues to protect the legitimacy of elected state institutions in front of the presidential palace.

Egyptindepenedent:
10-(4)Several activists and politicians called on the regime to take responsibility for the violence outside the presidential palace, where clashes between supporters and opponents of president Mohamed Morsy have killed at least seven Egyptians.11-(18)Protesters said they would push for a "no" vote in a referendum which could happen as early as mid-December.
(3) See the appendix to find a link to this report.
In example (8), the author used the anonymous voice (demonstrators) to directly accuse leaders of the National Salvation Front that they are the direct reason for clashes outside presidential palace.Similarly, in example (9), the author presents the Brotherhood as the guardians of legitimacy of the revolution and the elected state.This is done through the words of 'the observers of the political scene' without clarifying who are those observers or what their identities are.
Egyptindepenedent followed the same strategy of anonymity.In example (10), through the use of anonymous sources, the website holds President Morsy as the only responsible for the violence resulted in killing seven Egyptians.Likely, in example ( 11), the author directs readers' thoughts to "a 'no' vote" in the coming referendum.Again, this is done through the anonymous voice of 'protesters'.
A final point to be noted here is the uniqueness of Egyptindepenedent in its use of sources through what may be termed as 'Appraising Through Others'.The website followed a new strategy of using sources through quoting other media represented by newspapers headlines.This strategy can be clearly seen in reports: 7 -12 -15 -30.The website conducted this strategy on two levels.Firstly, by quoting certain sources i.e. newspapers to reflect its ideology.Secondly, by quoting the Muslims Brotherhood's proper to be criticized.Example (12) below illustrates this strategy.
12-(7)The Brotherhood paper also mentions that the draft constitution "protects the rights of women with dependents" although it fails to mention that an article safeguarding women's rights was scrapped from the constitution altogether … The nominally independent yet anti-Brotherhood Al-Dostour runs a headline warning: "If this Brotherhood constitution passes in a referendum then everything is finished … Egypt will be turned into a new Afghan state within six months at the most".
In example (12), the author presented the Brotherhood paper as a source to be criticized.Firstly, the author criticized the paper overtly by refuting its claim about the article of women's rights.Secondly, he used an external voice i.e.Al-Dostour newspaper to form a kind of alignment against the claims of the Brotherhood's paper.It is noteworthy here that the author was skillful in his choice of the sources opposing the Brotherhood's paper.Four sources were chosen: Youm 7 (independent daily paper), Al-Shorouk (privately-owned paper), Al-Dostour (independent paper) and Al-Akbar (a state-owned paper).This diversity in choosing sources is intentional to reflect the idea that the Brotherhood is largely opposed by a wide sector of Egyptian people even the state sector represented by Al Akhbar newspaper.
The last dimension of polarization, through quotation patterns, can be seen in the use of reporting verbs.These reporting verbs are summarized in tables ( 4) and ( 5) below.As it is evident in tables ( 4) and ( 5), both websites used the reporting verb say with the highest percentage.This result is consistent with Bell (1991) who considers 'say' as "the most common speech verb in news reporting" (206).However, it is clear that Egyptindependent used more diverse verbs than did Ikhwanweb.Egyptindependent used 56 forms while Ikhwanweb used only 26.This diversity in forms reflects a diversity in the viewpoints expressed through these verbs.
Verbs in both tables can be classified into three groups.The first is 'neutral verbs' like: say -speak -tell -add -point -describe -report -mention -note -show -state.The second group is 'verbs of approval' like: praiseappeal -urge -confirm -stress -assure -congratulate -believe -thankcontend -maintain.The third group is 'verbs of disapproval' which includes: criticize -blame -reject -contradict -slam -decry -denounce -object todeny.The last two groups belong to Bell (1991) verbs known as 'news performatives' where there is a fusion of the word and the act (p.207).In both websites, the three groups of verbs are used to deepen polarization by foregrounding 'our' good deeds and downplaying 'their' good deeds.The following examples shed more lights on this idea.

Ikhwanweb:
(13)(3) The demonstrators also condemned businessmen and politicians who instigated the massacre and other brutal attacks through their TV appearance.(14)(17) Justice Walid Sharabi, spokesman for the 'coalition of Judges for Egypt' praised president Morsi's resolutions Thursday evening.

Egypt independent:
(15) (19) Prominent constitutional expert Ibrahim Darwish described the draft constitution completed by the constituent Assembly last Friday as inadequate for Egypt … Darwish decried what he called "the bad experience we are undergoing during the constitution -writing process".
In example (13), the reporter used the verb 'condemn' as a vehicle to accuse leaders of the National Salvation Front of being the direct reason for clashes outside presidential place i.e. to vilify them.Conversely, the reporter used the verb 'praise' in example (14) to foreground the Brotherhood's good deeds represented by President Morsy's resolutions.
In example (15), the reporter used two reporting verbs to downgrade others' deeds represented here in the act of writing draft constitution.Despite the neutrality of the verb 'describe', the author used the adjective 'inadequate' to foreground the imperfection of this constitution.In addition, this foregrounding is increased by the use of the verb 'decry' as an overt criticism to the process of constitution writing.
The researcher traced a strategy adopted by Egyptindependent, through the use of reporting verbs.This strategy may be termed as "Nullifying The Other".In this strategy, reporting verbs are used as an evaluative tool of the news source which can be presented as a valid source or only a claimant.Thetela (2001) discussed the same idea arguing that "speech verbs are particularly significant and can be used to indicate the journalist's purpose of bringing the newsmaker's voices into the news story" (363).It is argued that 'The Nullifying' strategy is carried out through the use of two verbs: 'claim' and 'allege'.

Egypt independent:
(16)(1) The statement claimed the five victims were Brotherhood members.(17)(3) Newly-appointed prosecutor General Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah also claimed Saturday that preliminary investigations had not yet uncovered what role, if any, the police played in the clashes.(18)(13) "I do not mean specific persons with 'enemies', but enemies could use some unaware domestic parties that have a narrow vision or are impatient" he (Morsy) claimed.
In examples ( 16), ( 17) and ( 18), all news sources are of 'the other' camp.The validity of their words is destroyed with the use of reporting verb 'claim'.Here, the report directs readers' interpretation of these sources' words to be treated only as 'claims'.Thus, the reporter invites his reader for new interpretations: the five victims are not all Brotherhood members, the police played a direct role in clashes, and President Morsy refers to specific people by the word 'enemies'.Studying the collocates of the verbs 'claim' and 'allege', the researcher found that they collocate only with 'the other' represented by the Brotherhood and its members.Thus, it is another evidence of the intentionality of the reporter to use these verbs with ideological implications.
After illustrating the role played by quotation patterns in the polarization created in news reports; a final point needs to be made.The researcher traced a strategy developed through the content of quotations and sources as well.
This strategy can be termed as "Absent News".This strategy contributes directly to the completion of Van Dijk (1991) ideological square.By 'absent news;' we mean the pieces of news that never appeared in the other's website for two reasons.Firstly, this news can reflect 'bad deeds' of 'oneself'.Secondly, this news can reflect 'good deeds' of the other.Example (19) presents a clear discrepancy between two versions of the same event i.e. the killing of the journalist Abu Deif in the presidential palace clashes.What is unique in the first version is that it never mentions any sources of Abu Deif's family or his colleagues in the same newspaper (Al Fajr).It only quotes the JFR as the only source of news.In contrast, the second version of Egyptindepenedent clarifies what is absent in the first version i.e. 'absent news'.Egyptindepenedent quotes Abu Deif's parents and siblings indirectly as they accused president Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood as the direct reason for Abu Deif's death.In addition, Abu Deif's brother is quoted directly to express his regret that he voted for President Morsy who is responsible for, from his viewpoint, his brother's death.Thus, the Ikhanweb never quotes these sources in order not to downgrade the Brotherhood's image.
Example (20) is a continuation of the same idea of 'absent news'.On presenting the news source, he was described as "the Coptic thinker who retired from political like".The Ikhwanweb never mentioned why such a thinker retired.In fact, he retired as a reaction of president Morsy's constitutional declaration as he refused all the powers given to president Morsy through this declaration.Thus, the website prefers to hide this piece of news as it helps to foreground the 'bad deeds' of President Morsy i.e. the representative of 'our camp.'.(6).Both websites present their new actors as 'the good' participants while 'the other' is completely undermined with the aim of depicting certain stereotypes.Firstly, the Ikhwanweb presents the members of its camp in a gradual description beginning by 'ordinary' citizen and ending by being 'martyrs'.The reports stressed the peaceful nature of the Brotherhood members as they are only 'unarmed', 'humble' and even the victims of the 'other'.In contrast, the 'other' is stereotyped as violent, deceitful and a hangover from the former regime.The other is depicted as a barbaric criminal, mercenary, treacherous and a supporter of the former regime.By the use of these epithets, the reporters tend to form a kind of coalition with readers against 'enemies of revolution' as the other is presented.The research detects a kind of 'escalation of polarization' in the labels given to the other.Labeling 'the other' begins as 'armed men' and ends as 'killer' and 'red handed'.Figure (2) below illustrates the idea.Secondly, the Egyptindepenedent followed the same strategy of stereotyping.It presented the non-Ikhwan as opponents of president Morsy and the Brotherhood and as liberal civil forces contrasted with Islamists.In their choice of 'our' labels, the reporters stressed the ordinariness of the non-Ikhwan camp.They are members of 'the middle class' and 'silent majority'.In other words, they represent most Egyptians and that's why their views should be followed.
In contrast, the 'other' is depicted as loyal and obedient to the Brotherhood, and a new dictatorial ruler.It should be noted here that most of the labels given to the other are 'generic' or 'general' like: members -peoplesupporters -demonstrators.Teo (2000) explains this idea under the term 'generalization' which "refers to the extension of the characteristics or activities of a specific or specifiable group of people to a much more general and openended set" (16).
Generalization is used to kill the uniqueness of the Brotherhood members as individuals.By labeling them as 'general', the reporters depicted the Brotherhood as a 'monolith' whose members cannot think creatively.The idea of generalization is adopted by Ikhwanweb, but with a different strategy.This is reflected in its labeling of its main opponents represented by the leaders of the National Salvation Front: Amr Moussa, Hamdeen Sabahi and Mohamed El Baradei.These leaders are never given titles or labels throughout the Ikhwanweb reports to present them as usual or ordinary people that don't worth any attention.In contrast, Egyptindepenedent presented these leaders as unique figures.This can be seen in the way each leader is labeled as below: On studying media, Fairclough (1995a) argues that we have to ask ourselves three questions of which the first is "How is the world (events, relationships, etc) represented" (5).Perhaps the importance of this question lies in its indication to the idea that our view of the world is only one of the possible representations.This idea can be easily seen in the descriptions of the same events provided by both websites under investigation i.e.Ikhwanweb and Egyptindepenedent.Each website has its own strategy of presenting the world to its readers tinted with its own ideology.The polarization gap is clear in the labeling of the first event i.e. presidential palace events.
According to Ikhwanweb, these events are only 'unfortunate' and when they are described as 'violent' they are never ascribed to the Brotherhood or the president.This is clear in describing the violence as 'Ithadia palace violence' not 'presidential' palace as it is described in the other side i.e.Egyptindepenedent.The partisan view is obvious in Egyptindependent as the same event is never seen as neutral.In contrast, the events labels fall into two categories: violence and the president's responsibility.President Morsy is depicted as the only and In example (21a), the reporter gives extensive details about the news actor i.e. the man who died in the clashes.Giving details like his age, being married and a father of 5 children is a strategy to make the reader sympathize with the Ikhwan camp.
In example (21b), the reporter provides the reader with irrelevant detail that this thinker is a 'Coptic' to convey the idea that the Ikhwan camp includes everyone even Coptics.Similarly, in example (21c), the reporter stressed the fact that the demonstrator is aged as she is 'Mama' or mother Salma to emphasize the idea that all ages share in the Ikhwan demonstration.Thus, throughout these examples 'overcompleteness' is used for positivizing oneself i.e. to present our positive image.
In example (22), both uses of overcompleteness are represented.In example (22a), overcompleteness is used to foreground the bad traits of the other.It is not sufficient to mention that a top aide of the president quit but the reason for his quitting is stressed i.e. expanding the presidential powers.In addition, his being Christian is accentuated to convey the idea that Morsy's administration is now completely dominated by Islamists.In example (22b), the excessive detailing of one of the demonstrators is done to convey the idea that all sectors of Egyptian people are in the Non-Ikhwan camp, even those described as 'the couch party'.

E. Conclusion
This research probes for the forms of polarization in news reports of two websites i.e.Ikhwanweb and Egyptindepenedent.The qualitative and quantitative investigation of data reveals the presence of polarization in presenting news to readers.This polarization led to the creation of 'in' and 'out' groups, using Van Dijk's (1991) terminology.Throughout these reports, polarized discourse is reflected in two main linguistic embodiments: Quotation patterns and labeling.Concerning quotation patterns, they reflect polarized discourse in three forms.
The first form is the choice of quotation types.Each camp highly quotes its supporters while 'the other' is silenced by being never quoted or only quoted to be criticized.In this respect, the Egyptindepenedent was unique in two points.The reporters provide their perspectives through quoting others in order not to violate the neutrality criterion.In addition, reporters used 'strategic quotation' to show their approval to what is quoted.
The second form of polarized discourse, through quotation patterns, is the choice of sources.Polarization is very clear in the way these sources are selected.Both websites depended on the eliteness of their sources.They used anonymous voices to express their ideologies.Egyptindepenedent was different from Ikhwanweb in two respects.The first is its 'dehumanization' of the Brotherhood sources to be marginalized.The second is its strategy termed as 'Appraising through Others' in which other media sources are used to convey certain messages.
The third form of polarization, represented in quotation patterns, is achieved through the use of reporting verbs.Both websites used three types of verbs: neutral, approval and disapproval.These verbs are used as an evaluative tool by which the reporter fuses his judgment with the sources quoted.All the above mentioned three forms (quotation types, sources, reporting verbs) contributed to the existence of what is termed as 'Absent News' which refers to the missing pieces of news in each camp.The absence of certain news is due to the fact that it foregrounds the good deeds of 'their' camp and the bad deeds of 'our' camp.
The second embodiment of polarization is labeling.Both websites tended to downgrade 'the other' camp by presenting it through 'derogatory categorization' quoting (Fowler, 1991) terminology.Through the labeling of news actors and events, both websites tended to depict the other camp and mould it in certain stereotypes.Ikhwanweb presented the other as violent, deceitful and hangover of the former regime.Similarly, Egyptindepenedent presented 'the other' as the obedient to the Brotherhood and the monolithic in his/her way of thinking.
Finally, it is hoped that this research fills a gap in the arena of CDA in general and in news researches in particular.Still, other steps are needed to develop this area of study by investigating the process of naturalizing underlying ideologies through different forms of media with the hope of equipping readers with different tools to be 'critical' rather than 'receptive'.

Figure ( 1
less interpretation) Less accuracy (More distortion and greater interpretation)

1 )
Egyptian 'journalist for Reform' (JFR) movement expressed deep grief and sorrow over the death of their colleague Al-Husseini Abu-Deif … the JFR held the National Salvation Front responsible for the political crisis in the Egyptian arena today especially the murder of unarmed citizens.b-Egyptindepenedent -(29) Abu Deif's parents and siblings said they hold Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood responsible for his death … "President Mohamed Morsy's decisions were the cause of the clashes between Egyptians … I voted for Morsy in the presidential election and I announce in front of everybody that I regret it" said Salem Abu Deif, Al Husseini's brother.
Dr. Rafiq Habib, the Coptic thinker who retired from political life a few days ago, said: "We are witnessing a new phenomenon of political violence".

Table 2 :
Frequency and Percentage of Quotation Types in Egyptindependent &

Table 3 :
The Frequency & Percentage of Sources Types

Table 4 :
The Frequency and Percentage of Reporting Verbs in Ikhwanweb

Table 5 :
Frequency and Percentage of Reporting Verbs in the Egyptindependent