News Discourse

C O N T I N U U M DISCOURSE
Series Editor: Professor Ken Hyland,University of Hong Kong

SERIES

Discourse is one of the most significant concepts of contemporary thinking in the humanities and social sciences as it concerns the ways language mediates and shapes our interactions with each other and with the social, political and cultural formations of our society. The Continuum Discourse Series aims to capture the fast-developing interest in discourse to provide students, new and experienced teachers and researchers in applied linguistics, ELT and English language with an essential bookshelf. Each book deals with a core topic in discourse studies to give an in-depth, structured and readable introduction to an aspect of the way language is used in real life. Other titles in the series: Academic Discourse Discourse, Analysis, Ken Hyland Brian Paltridge Caroline Tagg

The Discourse The Discourse The Discourse Metadiscourse, Professional

of Blogs and Wikis, Greg M y e r s of Text Messaging, of Twitter and Social Media, Michele Zappavigna Caroline Coffin Britt-Louise Gunnarsson Paul Baker Ken Hyland Frances Christie Almut Koester

Historical Discourse,

Discourse,

School Discourse,

Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis, Workplace Discourse,

CONTINUUM DISCOURSE

News Discourse
MONIKA BEDNAREK AND HELEN CAPLE

continuum

Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 11 York Road London SE1 7 N X www.continuumbooks.com Monika Bednarek and Helen Caple 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Monika Bednarek and Helen Caple have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-. H B : 978-1-4411-2090-8 PB: 978-1-4411-4799-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bednarek, Monika. N e w s discourse / Monika Bednarek and Helen Caple. p. c m . Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4411-2090-8 (alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4411-4799-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4411-3976-4 (ebook p d f : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4411-8420-7 (ebook epub : alk. paper) 1. Journalism. I. Caple, Helen. II. Title. PN4731.B333 2012 070.40V41-dc23 2011047843 80 Maiden Lane Suite 704 N e w York NY 10038

Typeset by N e w g e n Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India Printed and bound in India

This book is dedicated to newshounds the world over

CONTENTS

List of tables List of figures Preface xiii

viii xi

Acknowledgements

xiv

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Introduction

1 19

N e w s discourse i n context N e w s values 39 84

L a n g u a g e i n the news Images i n the n e w s

111 137 160 181

E v a l u a t i o n i n the news

B a l a n c i n g a c t : image c o m p o s i t i o n

T h e b i g p i c t u r e : a case study of stand-alones i n p r i n t n e w s K i l l i n g O s a m a : a case study o f o n l i n e news 197

Appendix Appendix

1 2

Tables

219 in the news - a model 229 student

Evaluation assignment

References Index 263

251

LIST OF TABLES

1.1 1.2

O n l i n e , p r i n t , r a d i o a n d T V news discourse A guide to theoretical approaches to the study of news discourse

12 22 24 25 Sun 27

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4

P r o d u c e r roles P r o d u c e r s of language a n d image, their roles a n d labels A u d i e n c e roles Sample advertisements i n the Ottawa a n d the Globe and Mail

2.5

A c o m p a r i s o n of d a i l y audience figures f o r p r i n t a n d o n l i n e news m e d i a 35 41 41 50

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4

Categorizing news'values' N e w s values s u m m a r y Associations w i t h Australia S u m m a r y of l i n g u i s t i c resources that c a n be used to construe news values

55 Times 64 66

3.5 3.6 3.7

' O ' D o n n e l l to address D . C . p a r l e y ' , Washington 'George M i c h a e l jailed f o r d r u g - d r i v i n g c r a s h ' , Guardian 'I w e n t to bed w i t h a m i g r a i n e a n d w o k e u p w i t h a F r e n c h accent', Daily Mail

75 86 92 93 99 102

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5

K e y n o u n s a n d adjectives i n U K news discourse Types o f reported speech R e p o r t i n g expressions Structure o f the 'fire story' f r o m the Boston Herald N e w s headlines f r o m a r o u n d the w o r l d

LIST OF T A B L E S

ix

4.6 4.7 4.8 5.1 5.2 5.3

V e r b s i n the headlines Radio and T V ' h e a d l i n e s ' D i f f e r e n t w a y s of s t r u c t u r i n g the news T i m e l i n e o f t e c h n o l o g i c a l advancements Categories f o r a n a l y s i n g intersemiotic relations E x a m p l e s o f o v e r l a p i n t e x t - i m a g e relations i n m o v i n g images

103 105 106 113 121

122

5.4

A n e x a m p l e of displacement i n t e x t - i m a g e relations i n m o v i n g images 123

5.5

A n e x a m p l e o f d i c h o t o m y i n t e x t - i m a g e relations i n m o v i n g images 123

5.6

A n e x a m p l e of a z o o m - i n shot sequence, f r o m O v e r v i e w to D e t a i l 124 128

5.7 5.8

E x a m p l e s o f o v e r l a p i n image/headline relations Image/body text relations i n ' C h i l d r e n O K , jake injured i n blaze', Boston Herald

130 131

5.9 5.10

A n e x a m p l e of o v e r l a p i n image/body text relations Inter- a n d i n t r a s e m i o t i c relations i n the o n l i n e news gallery

133 149 164 165 166 168 dividing compositional 169 serialising compositional 171

6.1 7.1 7.2

Bases of i n f o r m a t i o n K e y t e r m i n o l o g y f o r discussing c o m p o s i t i o n a n d the Balance Framework E x a m p l e s of t y p i c a l isolating compositional configurations and iterating

7.3 7.4 7.5

E x a m p l e s of the isolating t h a n t w o elements E x a m p l e s of the iterating, configurations

compositional configurations

Iterating images d e m o n s t r a t i n g t w o o r m o r e

7.6

E x a m p l e s o f the iterating, configurations

7.7

Iterating images d e m o n s t r a t i n g m o r e o r less v i s u a l s t i m u l a t i o n 172 174

7.8

U n b a l a n c e d images a n d r e b a l a n c i n g effects

LIST OF T A B L E S

8.1 8.2 8.3

G e n e r a l quantitative results o n the stand-alone c o r p u s Stories s o u r c e d f r o m agencies (63 p e r cent) Pointers to evaluations i n the c a p t i o n text i n stand-alones, Sydney Morning Herald

184 185

187

8.4

Pointers t o evaluations i n the headline text i n stand-alones, Sydney Morning Herald 188

8.5

T w o 'soft n e w s ' stand-alone stories a b o u t the Oktoberfest 190

8.6

T w o ' h a r d n e w s ' stand-alone stories a b o u t the environment 192 199 200 Seconds 201 World News 202

9.1 9.2 9.3

D a t a c o l l e c t i o n f r o m B B C / A B C f o r the case study Screenshots o f B B C One-minute a n d A B C News in 90 Seconds T r a n s c r i p t of the A B C ' s News in 90 video summary World News

9.4

T r a n s c r i p t o f the B B C ' s One-minute video summary

9.5

B a r a c k O b a m a ' s address w i t h its r e c o n t e x t u a l i z a t i o n i n the B B C a n d A B C bulletins 208

9.6

T h e structure o f the B B C a n d A B C segments (language only) 210

Al.l

P o t e n t i a l resources f o r c o n s t r u i n g news values t h r o u g h language a n d image 219 224 226 232 238

A1.2 A1.3 1 2

Parameters o f e v a l u a t i o n a n d examples N e w s m e d i a outlets Categories o f r e p o r t i n g expressions r e c o g n i z e d i n Bednarek (2010) Sources q u o t e d i n the Wall Street Journal news story

LIST OF FIGURES

1.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 3.1

T h e New York Times, W o r l d section T h e ' c o m m u n i c a t i v e c o n t e x t ' o f news P r o d u c e r roles as p a r t o f the news story cycle N e w s presenter Jessica Y e l l i n as a h o l o g r a m o n C N N T h e c o m p l e x i t y o f audience roles E m a i l alerts - one m e t h o d o f s h a r i n g news stories A screen shot o f a ' n e w s ' b u l l e t i n o n C h a n n e l Seven N e w s values, the c o m m u n i c a t i v e c o n t e x t a n d the c o n s t r u c t i o n o f text

15 20 22 23 26 32 34

45

3.2 i C o n c o r d a n c e lines d e m o n s t r a t i n g N o v e l t y i n a news story 3.3 3.4 F r o n t pages o n the k i l l i n g o f O s a m a b i n L a d e n A n image c o n s t r u i n g the news values o f Superlativeness, N e g a t i v i t y a n d P e r s o n a l i z a t i o n 3.5 3.6 3.7 ' B l o o d y e n d t o chase', Daily Telegraph ' A fiesta f o r history, the f u t u r e ' , Chicago (Australia) Tribune 60 62 65 47 48

'Berlusconi's pep t a l k to the g o l d diggers o f the w o r l d ' , Globe and Mail 67 69 70 72 73

3.8 3.9 3.10

O n l i n e news gallery image sequence ' D i s s i d e n t q u i z z e d over m u r d e r o f c r i m i n a l ' , Irish Independent 'Firefighters c o n t a i n i n d u s t r i a l b l a z e ' , New Zealand Herald

3.11

' W i l d ' , New York Post

xii

LIST OF FIGURES

3.12

' C a l e n d a r boys Businessmen bare a l l f o r c h a r i t y ' , Irish Independent 75

3.13

' M i n e r s vie to be last m a n o u t as rescue tests begin', Irish Independent 77 79

3.14 3.15

' T r a g i c case o f elder abuse', Ottawa Sun ' O h deer, it's t u r n e d o u t c o l d a g a i n ' , Daily Telegraph (UK)

81 97 104

4.1 4.2 5.1

T h e structure o f a ' t y p i c a l ' h a r d news story T h e Irish Times (online) Story p a c k a g i n g - the e v o l u t i o n o f news p r i n t f r o m t e x t - d o m i n a n c e to i m a g e - d o m i n a n c e

111 118 125 139

5.2 5.3 6.1 7.1

F r o n t pages o n the k i l l i n g of O s a m a b i n L a d e n ' C h i l d r e n O K , jake i n j u r e d i n blaze', Boston Parameters o f e v a l u a t i o n V i s u a l representations o f the G o l d e n R a t i o , Rule of T h i r d s a n d D y n a m i c A s y m m e t r y Herald

162 162 164 177

7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5

T h e h a n d creates a g o l d e n section i n r e l a t i o n to the a r m T h e Balance Framework

A w e l l - b a l a n c e d image t a k e n i n difficult circumstances A d r a m a t i c event that is also c o n s t r u e d as ' b e a u t i f u l ' t h r o u g h c o m p o s i t i o n a n d aesthetic a p p e a l

178 179 182 186

7.6 8.1 8.2

A n e x a m p l e stand-alone d o m i n a t e s the page ' D r y h a r d w i t h a vengeance': A n e x a m p l e stand-alone story C o m p o s i t i o n a l c o n f i g u r a t i o n s i n stand-alones f r o m the Sydney Morning Herald

T h i s b o o k emanates f r o m o u r desire to analyse news discourse f o r w h a t it is: sometimes t e x t - d o m i n a t e d , sometimes a c o m b i n a t i o n of b o t h w o r d s a n d images a n d , i n c r e a s i n g l y , sometimes i m a g e - d o m i n a t e d . It combines o u r expertise i n a n a l y s i n g language ( M o n i k a B e d n a r e k ) a n d images ( H e l e n C a p l e ) , a n d treats w o r d s a n d p i c t u r e s as t r a d i n g partners i n the r e p o r t i n g o f news events. B a s e d o n o u r o w n research i n t o news d i s c o u r s e , we offer readers specific f r a m e w o r k s to analyse different aspects of such d i s c o u r s e , r a n g i n g f r o m the e x p r e s s i o n o f o p i n i o n t h r o u g h language to the c o m p o s i t i o n o f press p h o t o g r a p h s to the w a y i n w h i c h news values are d i s c u r s i v e l y c o n s t r u e d t h r o u g h b o t h language a n d images. T h e d a t a that we analyse w i t h the help o f these a n d other f r a m e w o r k s i n this b o o k c o m e f r o m p r e v i o u s research c o n d u c t e d o n B r i t i s h a n d A u s t r a l i a n newspapers as w e l l as n e w d a t a c o l l e c t i o n s s p e c i f i c a l l y u n d e r t a k e n f o r this b o o k . T h i s includes a 5 - m o n t h c o l l e c t i o n (September 2 0 1 0 to J a n u a r y 2011) of 2 9 p r i n t newspapers across a range o f E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e newspapers i n the U n i t e d K i n g d o m , I r e l a n d , N o r t h A m e r i c a a n d A u s t r a l a s i a . W e also d r a w o n r a d i o broadcasts/podcasts c o l l e c t e d b e t w e e n D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0 a n d A p r i l 2 0 1 1 f r o m n a t i o n a l p u b l i c r a d i o broadcasters i n C a n a d a (CBS), I r e l a n d ( R T E ) , A u s t r a l i a ( A B C ) , N e w Z e a l a n d ( R a d i o N e w Z e a l a n d ) , the U n i t e d States ( N P R ) a n d the U n i t e d K i n g d o m ( B B C ) . S p e c i a l r e p o r t i n g of s i g n i f i c a n t n e w s events are also used as case studies o f online/televisual news d i s c o u r s e a n d w e d r a w o n a range o f other d a t a i n e x e m p l i f y i n g a n d i l l u s t r a t i n g specific aspects o f n e w s d i s c o u r s e . T h i s b o o k is a i m e d at a n y o n e w a n t i n g to get a f u l l e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of news d i s c o u r s e a n d the m a n y w a y s i n w h i c h it c a n be a n a l y s e d , w i t h a specific focus o n the discursive c o n s t r u c t i o n o f w h a t w e c a l l 'news'. W e hope that it s h o w s readers h o w to a p p r o a c h such a n analysis systematically, u s i n g specific f r a m e w o r k s , w h i l e also c o n s i d e r i n g the s o c i a l a n d h i s t o r i c a l c o n t e x t s o f news d i s c o u r s e a n d the general characteristics o f language a n d images i n the n e w s . T h i s offers f u l l e r insights i n t o h o w events are t u r n e d i n t o news a n d ' p r o c e s s e d , b u n d l e d a n d d e l i v e r e d ' (Brenton a n d H a r e 1 9 8 5 : 10) to a g l o b a l audience.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In c o m p i l i n g this b o o k we have received tremendous help a n d advice f r o m colleagues a n d friends, f i n a n c i a l support f r o m employers, as w e l l as c o p y r i g h t permissions f r o m publishers a n d news organizations a r o u n d the w o r l d a n d we w o u l d like to acknowledge these here. First, t h a n k s to K e n H y l a n d , series editor, G u r d e e p M a t t u , c o m m i s s i o n i n g editor, a n d C o l l e e n Coalter, e d i t o r i a l assistant, at C o n t i n u u m for s u p p o r t i n g the w r i t i n g a n d p u b l i c a t i o n of this b o o k . H e l e n C a p l e w o u l d like to t h a n k the U n i v e r s i t y of N e w S o u t h Wales ( U N S W ) for f i n a n c i a l support t h r o u g h the S c h o o l of E n g l i s h M e d i a a n d P e r f o r m i n g A r t s Research G r a n t Scheme. M o n i k a B e d n a r e k is l i k e w i s e grateful to the University of Sydney for f u n d i n g t h r o u g h the S c h o o l of Letters, A r t a n d M e d i a Research Support Scheme. W e t h a n k o u r colleagues - P h i l i p B e l l , K a t h e r i n e Brandon, W o l f r a m Bublitz, A n n e D u n n , Gerard Goggin, John K n o x , Brian Paltridge, R o b e r t a P i a z z a , L o u i s e R a v e l l i a n d M i c h e l e Z a p p a v i g n a - w h o read a n d commented o n earlier chapter drafts. W e w o u l d also like to t h a n k the students w h o u n d e r t o o k the f o l l o w i n g subjects i n Semester 1, i n 2 0 1 1 : Multiplatform Journalism at U N S W a n d Media Discourse at the U n i v e r s i t y of Sydney for their useful i n p u t o n earlier chapter drafts. F o r p e r m i s s i o n to r e p r i n t parts of ' E v a l u a t i o n i n the news', we w o u l d l i k e to t h a n k R o s l y n Petelin a n d the Australian Journal of Communication. W e are also very g r a t e f u l to the news o r g a n i z a t i o n s a r o u n d the w o r l d that lent s u p p o r t for this p u b l i c a t i o n by g i v i n g us p e r m i s s i o n to reproduce news stories a n d images i n this b o o k . W e are p a r t i c u l a r l y t h a n k f u l to the f o l l o w i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n s w h i c h w a i v e d c o p y r i g h t fees: the Daily Telegraph ( U K ) , the Irish Independent (Ireland) a n d the Boston Herald (US). C o p y r i g h t f o r a l l news stories remains w i t h the o r g a n i z a t i o n s . A l l sources are f u l l y a c k n o w l e d g e d t h r o u g h o u t the b o o k , a n d we have clearly i d e n t i f i e d where each e x a m p l e was first published/broadcast ( i n c l u d i n g outlet a n d date of p u b l i c a t i o n ) . W h i l e a l l attempts have been made to secure c o p y r i g h t p e r m i s s i o n s where relevant, the publishers a n d the authors w o u l d w e l c o m e approaches f r o m anyone w h o sees any s i g n i f i c a n t omissions a n d k n o w s where the c o p y r i g h t m i g h t lie f o r these so that we c a n p r o p e r l y a c k n o w l e d g e t h e m . F i n a l l y , w e w o u l d l i k e to give heartfelt t h a n k s to o u r friends a n d colleagues N a o m i K n i g h t a n d L o u i s e R o w a n , w h o t o o k us over that f i n a l h u r d l e to see the m a n u s c r i p t readied for s u b m i s s i o n . T h a n k y o u for c a s t i n g that final k e e n a n d c r i t i c a l eye over o u r w o r k . N e e d l e s s to say, a l l r e m a i n i n g mistakes a n d o m i s s i o n s are o u r s .

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

i What is this book about?

T h i s b o o k is a b o u t news d i s c o u r s e - the k i n d of d i s c o u r s e W e encounter w h e n w e t u r n o n the t e l e v i s i o n , w h e n w e o p e n the n e w s p a p e r , w h e n w e go o n l i n e o r w h e n w e s w i t c h o n the r a d i o to get o u r dose of d a i l y h a p p e n i n g s . T h e b o o k offers readers a n i n t r o d u c t i o n to some of the m a i n characteristics of news d i s c o u r s e but it also a i m s to i n t r o d u c e p a r t i c u l a r w a y s of a n a l y s i n g this d i s c o u r s e based o n o u r o w n research i n t o news d i s c o u r s e . It f u r t h e r a i m s to d e m o n s t r a t e the insights s u c h news analysis c a n offer researchers. M o r e precisely, this b o o k is w r i t t e n f o r anyone interested i n the m e a n i n g s m a d e t h r o u g h language a n d images i n the n e w s . A l t h o u g h it does assume some l i n g u i s t i c b a c k g r o u n d k n o w l e d g e o n the p a r t of readers, w e believe that researchers i n the area of M e d i a / J o u r n a l i s m a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Studies w i l l also find m a n y sections u s e f u l . W e start this b o o k by o u t l i n i n g a w o r k i n g d e f i n i t i o n of news discourse a n d discuss m o t i v a t i o n s f o r s t u d y i n g s u c h d i s c o u r s e . W e also s u m m a r i z e the m a i n approaches to the analysis of n e w s d i s c o u r s e , p o i n t i n g out h o w this b o o k fits w i t h i n s u c h a p p r o a c h e s . O u r objectives for this first chapter are to enable readers to u n d e r s t a n d : w h a t news d i s c o u r s e covers a n d w h y w e s h o u l d s t u d y it w h a t the m a i n approaches to news d i s c o u r s e are i n L i n g u i s t i c s w h a t some of the k e y theories of n e w s d i s c o u r s e are i n M e d i a / J o u r n a l i s m a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Studies w h a t this b o o k is a b o u t .

NEWS

DISCOURSE

2 What is news discourse?

Before p r o c e e d i n g a n y f u r t h e r , it m a y be u s e f u l to c l a r i f y w h a t w e m e a n by news discourse. T h e r e are t w o issues to c o n s i d e r : F i r s t , w h a t d o w e m e a n by news discourse}, a n d secondly, w h a t d o w e m e a n by news discoursed B o t h questions are i n fact t r i c k y to a n s w e r a n d w e w i l l n o t attempt to discuss t h e m e x h a u s t i v e l y here; rather, w e p r o v i d e a w o r k i n g d e f i n i t i o n that frames the concerns o f t h i s b o o k . D e f i n i t i o n s b o t h of discourse a n d of news are p l e n t i f u l a n d have been discussed i n different d i s c i p l i n e s (see, f o r e x a m p l e , B a k e r 2 0 0 6 : 3 - 5 o n d i s c o u r s e a n d L a m b l e 2 0 1 1 : 3 4 - 5 o n news). In this b o o k , w e consider discourse as m u l t i m o d a l , o r m u l t i s e m i o t i c , that is, n o t b e i n g restricted t o the s e m i o t i c system o f language alone b u t , c r u c i a l l y , also i n c o r p o r a t i n g the s e m i o t i c system o f i m a g e s . W e also l o o k at h o w such discourse (language a n d image) is a c t u a l l y p u t to use a n d h o w it contributes to the c o n s t r u c t i o n of n e w s . T h i s distinguishes us f r o m other researchers w h o o n l y i n c l u d e language i n the analysis o f news d i s c o u r s e , those w h o define d i s c o u r s e i n other ways o r those w h o see d i s c o u r s e as reflecting rather t h a n actively c o n s t r u c t i n g w h a t is n e w s . W e w i l l discuss some alternative approaches i n S e c t i o n 4 .
1 2

F u r t h e r , news d i s c o u r s e f o r us is defined ' e x t e r n a l l y ' at this stage, rather t h a n t h r o u g h c o m m o n d i s c o u r s e features. I n other w o r d s , s a y i n g that this b o o k is a b o u t news d i s c o u r s e means that it discusses the d i s c o u r s e that audiences encounter i n n e w s b u l l e t i n s , n e w s p r o g r a m m e s , o n n e w s websites, o r i n the n e w s p a p e r - d i s c o u r s e that reports o n n e w s w o r t h y events, h a p p e n i n g s a n d issues. T h e f o u r stories i n Table 1.1 o n p p . 3 - 5 are examples of w h a t w e c o n s i d e r news d i s c o u r s e i n this b o o k , s h o w i n g some of the r e p o r t i n g o n the 2 0 1 0 P i k e river c o a l m i n e accident i n N e w Z e a l a n d i n o n l i n e , p r i n t , r a d i o a n d T V n e w s . S t o r y extracts are i n the l e f t - h a n d c o l u m n , w i t h f u r t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n i n the r i g h t - h a n d c o l u m n . T a b l e 1.1 illustrates some of the k i n d s of n e w s d i s c o u r s e that w e w i l l discuss i n this b o o k . T h u s , i n e x p l o r i n g news d i s c o u r s e w e w i l l d r a w o n e x a m p l e s n o t o n l y f r o m news stories i n newspapers b u t also discuss o n l i n e news (e.g. o n l i n e v i d e o news s u m m a r i e s i n C h a p t e r 9), r a d i o news (e.g. podcasts i n C h a p t e r 6) a n d t e l e v i s u a l n e w s (e.g. t e x t - i m a g e relations i n C h a p t e r 5). T o s u m u p , this b o o k i n t r o d u c e s w a y s to research a n d analyse the use o f language a n d images that r e p o r t o n n e w s w o r t h y events, h a p p e n i n g s a n d issues across a range of news outlets. W e r e c o g n i z e o f course, that there is a l o t o f v a r i e t y w i t h i n these k i n d s o f n e w s d i s c o u r s e - f o r e x a m p l e , newspapers i n c l u d e different sections (national/international/business/sports news). O n t e l e v i s i o n a n d r a d i o w e encounter news d o c u m e n t a r i e s , news a n d c u r r e n t a f f a i r s p r o g r a m m e s (e.g. Today Tonight (Seven n e t w o r k , A u s t r a l i a ) a n d Panorama ( B B C , U K ) ) , n e w s i n t e r v i e w s , o r investigative j o u r n a l i s m p r o g r a m m e s (e.g. N P R ' s All Things Considered (US) a n d Dateline (SBS, A u s t r a l i a ) ) . O n l i n e w e c a n c o m e across

INTRODUCTION

Table 1.1 O n l i n e , print, radio a n d T V n e w s d i s c o u r s e

ONLINE NEWS DISCOURSE B e g i n n i n g of d e v e l o p i n g story in www.dailytelegraph.com.au (Australia) Pike River coal mine blast: the latest developments [31 i m a g e s (not d i s p l a y e d here), c a p t i o n e d NZ's Pike River blast: who are the trapped
ITS still not known precisely what happenea Inside trie Pike River mine, but the accounts o( two men who got out show It mat a violent event.

Headline

Picture gallery

miners?] Extract f r o m the d e v e l o p i n g online n e w s story Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au/

H-<WlilliHafrliM--~-"

<

< "

"i

rerun

news/world/daniel-rockhouseand-russell-smiith-tell-ofescape-from-pike-river-mine/ story-e6f r e v O O - 1 2 2 5 9 5 8 2 1 3 6 8 2 -

[continues]

a c c e s s e d 22 N o v e m b e r 2010, 4 . 5 0 p.m. Australian (EST) time

PRINT N E W S D I S C O U R S E

B e g i n n i n g of the front p a g e story in the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald

A g o n i s i n g w a i t as a small t o w n rides a roller-coaster of e m o t i o n s

Headline

A u t h o r by-line Large picture left of text s h o w s a woman weeping. S m a l l e r picture in the top righthand corner s h o w s o n e young w o m a n w i t h her arm around the s h o u l d e r s of another y o u n g (image c r o p p e d ) woman.

A G R O W I N G f e e l i n g of h e l p l e s s n e s s , e v e n h o p e l e s s n e s s , is c r e e p i n g a c r o s s G r e y m o u t h , N e w Z e a l a n d , as fears rise that t i m e is fast running out for the 2 9 m e n t r a p p e d in the Pike River coal m i n e . A s t e n s i o n s rise in the t o u g h , tight-knit, w e s t c o a s t c o m m u n i t y , police w a r n that w o r r i e s about toxic g a s e s , fires a n d further e x p l o s i o n s are preventing t h e m f r o m r e s c u i n g the m e n , including t w o A u s t r a l i a n s , w h o have b e e n m i s s i n g s i n c e Friday a f t e r n o o n .

E x t r a c t f r o m the print n e w s story

Source: ' A g o n i s i n g wait as a small t o w n rides a roller-coaster of e m o t i o n s ' , Sydney Morning Herald, 22 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 , p. 1

NEWS

DISCOURSE

RADIO NEWS DISCOURSE

our top s t o n e s [headline 1] [music] N e w Zealand r e s c u e r s c o n t i n u i n g their a t t e m p t s to reach 2 9 t r a p p e d m i n e r s . [= headline 2] [music] [headline 3] [music, w e a t h e r , music] [story 1] R e s c u e r s in N e w Z e a l a n d say they're m a k i n g p r o g r e s s drilling a hole d o w n a c o a l m i n e near G r e y m o u t h w h e r e 2 9 m i n e r s have b e e n t r a p p e d s i n c e Friday. T h e y h o p e to s e n d a c a m e r a d o w n o n c e the hole is f i n i s h e d to s e e if the m i n e r s are nearby. P o l i c e s u p e r i n t e n d e n t G a r y K n o w l e s s a y s the m i n e e n v i r o n m e n t is still not s a f e e n o u g h for a r e s c u e operation. H e s p o k e to the m e d i a this a f t e r n o o n a n d s a y s t h e y ' r e p r e p a r e d for o u t c o m e s including l o s s of life although they do remain o p t i m i s t i c . ' W e ' r e n o w going into w h a t w e c o n s i d e r a major s e a r c h r e s c u e planning p h a s e a n d w e ' r e looking at all options and p o s s i b i l i t i e s . W e still remain optimistic. W e ' r e still k e e p i n g an o p e n m i n d but w e are planning for all o u t c o m e s and this also . . . part of this p r o c e s s w e ' r e planning for the p o s s i b l e l o s s of life a s a result of w h a t ' s o c c u r r e d u n d e r g r o u n d . W e ' r e k e e p i n g an o p e n m i n d but w e are planning for that.'

Headline and beginning of story f r o m A B C NewsRadio (Australia)

N e w s r e a d e r o p e n s bulletin w i t h the h e a d l i n e s a n d the first story in the bulletin.

Extract f r o m the Pike River mining disaster story, w h i c h w a s the s e c o n d story in the bulletin.

Source: A B C NewsRadio, 2010 22 November

TELEVISUAL NEWS DISCOURSE

[music] Rescuers continue to

Story 'headline' from A B C News24 (Australia)

drill t o w a r d s 2 9 trapped m i n e r s

INTRODUCTION

in N e w Z e a l a n d . Authorities are hoping for the b e s t but preparing for the worst. w e are planning for the p o s s i b l e loss of life as a result of what's occurred underground' [music] Source: A B C News24, 2010 22 N o v e m b e r

n e w s blogs, T w i t t e r n e w s updates, G o o g l e n e w s , n e w s feeds, Y o u T u b e news v i d e o s , news v i a d i g g o r news websites. M o r e generally, there is b o t h m a i n s t r e a m news a n d alternative o r specialist n e w s , b o t h c o m m u n i t y / l o c a l , provincial/rural, regional, metropolitan, and national news, both paid n e w s (e.g. newspapers) a n d 'free' news (e.g. 'freesheets'). O u r m a i n focus i n this b o o k w i l l be o n the ' n e w s ' s e c t i o n of n a t i o n a l a n d m e t r o p o l i t a n p r i n t newspapers because this is w h e r e m o s t l i n g u i s t i c research to date has been d o n e . H o w e v e r , as m e n t i o n e d above, w e w i l l also discuss other news m e d i a f o r m s (e.g. o n l i n e , r a d i o ) . W h i l e w e w i l l n o t be able to e x p l o r e a l l different types of news d i s c o u r s e to the same extent, it is c l e a r l y i m p o r t a n t to r e c o g n i z e t h i s variety. A n o t h e r f o c u s of this b o o k is that w e l i m i t o u r d i s c u s s i o n to E n g l i s h s p e a k i n g news d i s c o u r s e of the ' W e s t e r n ' w o r l d ( U K , I r e l a n d , U S , C a n a d a , A u s t r a l i a , N Z ) , as there are t o o m a n y c r o s s - l i n g u i s t i c a n d c r o s s - c u l t u r a l differences to d o justice to news d i s c o u r s e i n other languages a n d cultures w i t h i n the scope of o u r d i s c u s s i o n . T h i s is also w h e r e o u r o w n research is situated. T h e r e is, h o w e v e r , a g r o w i n g n u m b e r of c r o s s - c u l t u r a l or c o m p a r a t i v e research projects, f o r i n s t a n c e c o m p a r i n g B r i t a i n , the U n i t e d States a n d G e r m a n y ( L a u e r b a c h 2 0 0 7 ) , B r i t a i n , the U n i t e d States a n d Italy ( H a a r m a n and L o m b a r d o 2009), Britain and Japan (Murata 2007), Britain a n d I t a l y (Semino 2 0 0 2 , P o u n d s 2010) to n a m e but a few. Research o n languages other t h a n E n g l i s h a n d o n E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e newspapers outside the above c o u n t r i e s also exists.

3 Why study news discourse?

N o w that w e have i n t r o d u c e d o u r w o r k i n g d e f i n i t i o n of news discourse a n d the focus of o u r b o o k , it is t i m e to t a l k a b o u t the m o t i v a t i o n s for s t u d y i n g

NEWS

DISCOURSE

news discourse. P u t s i m p l y , three reasons f o r such study are (1) there is a lot o f it; (2) it is easy to c o l l e c t e x a m p l e s of it; a n d (3) m o s t i m p o r t a n t l y , since we a l l spend a l o t of o u r t i m e c o n s u m i n g it, it has great p o t e n t i a l to exert considerable influence over us. I n the a c a d e m i c l i t e r a t u r e , it is w e l l d o c u m e n t e d that the p r o d u c t i o n a n d d i s t r i b u t i o n of n e w s discourse is i m m e n s e a n d that we spend a large p o r t i o n of o u r w a k i n g h o u r s a t t e n d i n g to the news m e d i a . Some w i l l even go as far as to suggest that n e w s is a n a d d i c t i o n (see L a m b l e 2 0 1 1 : 3). W e listen, w a t c h , r e a d a n d then share w i t h f a m i l y , friends a n d colleagues. S o m e t i m e s w e m a y m o d i f y o u r b e h a v i o u r , ideas a n d beliefs, based o n w h a t we have read o r h e a r d a n d i n this w a y we navigate o u r paths t h r o u g h o u r lives as members o f a p a r t i c u l a r s o c i a l g r o u p . T h i s also p o i n t s to the p o w e r of the m e d i a : the influence they exert b o t h o n o u r governments a n d m a j o r i n s t i t u t i o n s as w e l l as their a b i l i t y to shape o u r ideas a n d b e h a v i o u r s . In this b o o k w e s t u d y n e w s d i s c o u r s e f r o m a l i n g u i s t i c / s e m i o t i c perspective, a n d there are specific reasons b e h i n d this a p p r o a c h as w e l l . L i n g u i s t s a n d s o c i a l s e m i o t i c i a n s w o u l d argue that the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the p r o d u c e r s o f n e w s m e d i a , the i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d k e y figures that are s c r u t i n i z e d by t h e m a n d the audiences w h o c o n s u m e their end p r o d u c t s is a r e l a t i o n s h i p that is enacted p r i n c i p a l l y t h r o u g h s e m i o t i c resources - w o r d s , s o u n d s a n d images. T h e choices m a d e i n the use o f language a n d s o u n d s , i n the c a p t u r e a n d c o m p o s i t i o n of images a n d i n the layout a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n o f these o n the page o r the screen have m e a n i n g s , a n d these m e a n i n g s m a y have p o w e r f u l i m p a c t s . A l i n g u i s t i c / semiotic analysis o f these choices a n d the w a y s i n w h i c h they c o m b i n e c a n help us to discover the m e a n i n g p o t e n t i a l that lies b e h i n d the techniques used by news w o r k e r s i n t h e i r d a i l y c r a f t i n g of the n e w s d i s c o u r s e w e i m m e r s e ourselves i n . W e w i l l i n t r o d u c e o u r o w n research-based l i n g u i s t i c and s e m i o t i c f r a m e w o r k s i n C h a p t e r s 3, 6 a n d 7 i n this b o o k a n d h o p e to demonstrate h o w the a p p l i c a t i o n of s u c h f r a m e w o r k s c a n give us d e t a i l e d insights i n t o the w a y m e a n i n g s are d i s c u r s i v e l y c o n s t r u e d i n the n e w s . O t h e r chapters (e.g. C h a p t e r s 5, 8 a n d 9) also d e m o n s t r a t e h o w l o o k i n g at n e w s discourse t h r o u g h a l i n g u i s t i c a n d s e m i o t i c perspective t h r o w s l i g h t u p o n the c o n s t r u c t i o n of n e w s . A n o t h e r w a y i n w h i c h a linguistic/semiotic perspective m a y be u s e f u l is i n p r o v i d i n g detailed evidence f o r researchers i n other d i s c i p l i n e s , f o r e x a m p l e i n J o u r n a l i s m . A s p e c i a l issue o f Journalism Studies d e d i c a t e d to l a n g u a g e a n d j o u r n a l i s m ( R i c h a r d s o n 2 0 0 8 a ) explores this i n m o r e d e t a i l . I n d e e d , a systematic linguistic/semiotic analysis o f news discourse has the p o t e n t i a l to p r o v i d e u s e f u l u n d e r p i n n i n g s for research i n M e d i a / J o u r n a l i s m a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Studies - w h e t h e r that concerns the analysis of i d e o l o g i c a l p o s i t i o n i n g a n d p o w e r relations o r the analysis of news practice a n d n o r m s (cf. C h a p t e r 3 o n news values). T h e r e f o r e , c r o s s - d i s c i p l i n a r y research projects that include d e t a i l e d l i n g u i s t i c o r semiotic analyses c a n