Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Received 24 February 2003; received in revised form 6 June 2003; accepted 20 June 2003
Abstract
The Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) recently recommended that media organisations commit to balanced and accurate
reporting about the costs and benefits of needle and syringe programmes (NSPs), and recognise the harm of sensationalist reporting. This
paper is concerned with the newspaper reporting of syringes found in or near a Sydney primary school, which resulted in the closure of the
nearby NSP. Four news reports, one editorial and two letters to the editor in three regional papers dealt with this issue. We examined the
intertextual links between and within texts: which speaking subjects are included, whose messages are foregrounded or backgrounded, how
are these messages represented by the reporters, and how are alternative positions negotiated. Our analysis shows that in spite of an absence
of overt judgements and sensationalism by the reporters, representations are not value free. Choices made by the writers of news reports show
alignment with various convergent and divergent positions relating to NSPs in general and the closure of this needle exchange in particular.
© 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
0955-3959/$ – see front matter © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0955-3959(03)00089-6
H. Körner, C. Treloar / International Journal of Drug Policy 15 (2003) 46–55 47
To do this, we examined the intertextual links between claim that language forms are not arbitrary but determined
and within news reports to question: which speaking sub- by and reflective of social relations (Halliday, 1978).
jects are included in the news reports, whose messages are Central to this paper are Bakhtin’s (1986) notion of dial-
foregrounded and backgrounded, how are these messages ogism and Fairclough’s (1992b, 1995a) notion of intertextu-
represented and integrated into news reports, and how are ality. A dialogic view sees each utterance as part of a social
alternative positions negotiated? We argue that in spite of dialogue:
a lack of overt judgements and misrepresentation by re-
Any speaker is himself [sic] a respondent to a greater or
porters, representations in local news media are not value
lesser degree. He is not, after all, the first speaker, the
free. Rather, the choices made by the writers of the news re-
one who disturbs the eternal silence of the universe. And
ports show alignment with various convergent and divergent
he presupposes not only the existence of the language
positions.
system he is using, but also the existence of preceding
utterances—his own and others’—with which his given
utterance enters into one kind of relation or another (builds
Method
on them, polemicizes with them, or simply presumes that
they are already known to the listener). Any utterance
Data collection
is a link in a very complexly organized chain of other
utterances. (Bakhtin, 1986, p. 99)
The closure of an NSP in north-western Sydney in March
2002 following local media attention provided a case study In addition to utterances forming chains of texts, utter-
for investigation. The sample is a critical case sample, that ances resonate with those of others, their tones and shades
is, a case which is “particularly important in the scheme of of meaning:
things” (Patton, 1990, p. 174).
Our speech, that is, all our utterances (including creative
Two weekly newspapers service the local area—the
works), is filled with others’ words, varying degrees of
Northern District Times (NDT) and The Weekly Times
otherness or varying degrees of “our-own-ness”, vary-
(TWT). The February and March 2002 editions of these
ing degrees of awareness and detachment. These words
papers were searched manually for news reports, editori-
of others carry with them their own expression, their
als and letters to the editor about this specific incident or
own evaluative tone, which we assimilate, rework, and
about NSPs and injecting drug use generally. In addition,
re-accentuate. (Bakhtin, 1986, p. 89)
we searched the metropolitan broadsheet the Sydney Morn-
ing Herald (SMH) and the tabloid the Daily Telegraph for The principle of the dialogic nature of text has been de-
articles about this incident and related issues. veloped into the concept of intertextuality, to emphasise that
the meaning of a particular utterance arises from relations
Theoretical foundations between social viewpoints, not from the minds of individ-
uals. These social viewpoints can be integrated into a text,
The theoretical foundations for our analysis are Critical either marked by explicit boundary marks or absorbed to
Discourse Analysis (CDA; Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999; varying degrees (Fairclough, 1992b, 1995a).
Fairclough, 1989, 1992a, 1992b, 1995b; Gee, 1996; Lemke,
1995) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL; Halliday, Analysis
1978, 1994; Martin, 1992, 2000).
CDA brings together ideas from linguistics about dis- This paper is concerned with two kinds of meaning:
course as social interaction and understandings of discourse ideational and interpersonal. In any interaction, the interac-
as the social construction of reality. Its concern is the analy- tants construe experience, i.e. they make sense of the world
sis of texts in relation to sociocultural practice (Fairclough, around them in terms of ‘what’s going on’: the processes
1995a). Thus, text analysis is situated within the broader of doing, happening, thinking, feeling, saying and relat-
concerns of discourses as bodies of knowledge and the role ing, the participant roles, and the circumstances (‘when’,
of language in constructing social identities (Poynton, 2000; ‘where’, ‘how’, ‘by what means’, etc.) associated with these
Poynton & Lee, 2000). Following Gee (1996, p. 128), we processes (Halliday, 1994).
understand discourse as the social positions or perspectives At the same time as interactants construe experi-
from which people speak, listen, write, read, act, think, feel ence, they enact social roles and relationships (inter-
and value in certain ways. personal meaning). One linguistic resource to make in-
SFL is a social theory of language, where language is a terpersonal meaning is the system of appraisal. Within
resource to make meaning, not a ‘container’ for pre-existing appraisal, the subsystem of judgement is the resource
meanings and ideas (Kress & Hodge, 1993). It shares with for evaluating human behaviour ethically along five cat-
CDA an emphasis on language as a social rather than an in- egories: normality (‘outstanding’/‘abnormal’), capacity
dividual phenomenon, a dialectic relationship between lan- (‘competent’/‘incompetent’), tenacity (‘resolve’/‘apathetic’),
guage and context, a view of language as choice, and the veracity (‘honest’/‘deceitful’), propriety (‘right’/‘evil’)
48 H. Körner, C. Treloar / International Journal of Drug Policy 15 (2003) 46–55
(Iedema, Feez, & White, 1994; Martin, 2000). The closure of Ryde needle exchange” in response to the health
subsystem of affect construes emotions in terms of minister’s decision to close the needle exchange (TWT).
‘happiness/unhappiness’, ‘security/insecurity’, ‘satisfaction/ On the same day, NDT published another report titled “Sy-
dissatisfaction’ (Martin, 2000). ringe reaction needled” in response to and critical of parents’
Alternative positions are negotiated through the system protests against the health minister’s decision to close the
of engagement. It has been proposed as an alternative to the exchange (NDT 2). This decision, in turn, was in response to
common-sense dichotomy of ‘subjective’ versus ‘objective’, media reports. This edition of NDT also featured an edito-
and acknowledges that all utterances can enter into rela- rial “Children not reputation”, another response to parents’
tionships of tension with alternatives. The first distinction is criticism of the minister’s decision to close the exchange
whether a proposition indicates a speaker’s/writer’s willing- (NDT 3). About a month later, on 24 April, the metropoli-
ness to acknowledge an alternative: ‘The needles were new’ tan broadsheet SMH published a news report “Needle ex-
(monogloss: alternatives not acknowledged) versus ‘The change shut after radio blast”, which highlighted the role of
needles were probably new’ (heterogloss: alternatives ac- a local radio talkback host after the first news report. There
knowledged). Where an alternative is acknowledged, it can were also two letters to the editor in the NDT. One was in
be inscribed in a speaker’s/writer’s own voice (The needles response to the initial news report and its accusations of the
were probably new) or attributed to an external source (The school’s principal. The second was written by a student of
deputy principal said, “The needles were new.”). A further the primary school and dealt with a range of issues related
distinction is whether an utterance acknowledges and fa- to this specific issue and IDU-related issues generally. Be-
cilitates alternative positions (The needles were probably cause this study is concerned with the role of the local print
new) or whether an alternative position is acknowledged but media, analysis will focus on the four news reports and the
denied (The needles were not new) (White, 1998, 2000). editorial. The Daily Telegraph did not report this incident.
If an alternative position is attributed to an external source, The new reports are also highly intertextual, featuring
it can be inserted (quoted) or assimilated to varying degrees a total of 13 externally referenced sources in addition to
(Fuller, 2000; White, 1998), for example, the issue of the the reporter’s ‘voice’ (Iedema et al., 1994). The following
origin of needles could be represented variously as: section will describe the interpersonal and, where relevant,
the ideational meanings made by these external texts, the
The deputy principal said: “The needles were new.”
engagement values by which various alternative positions
are negotiated, and the social subject positions taken.
The deputy principal claimed that the needles were new.
cipal is represented only through the words of the mothers, fees for tests, in principle, and invited concerned parents
including judgements (negative capacity): to further discuss the issue with him. (NDT 2)
Ms Webber claims he said he “didn’t understand what the Where the principal’s text is either quoted or reported
big deal was about.” from the Department’s statement, there are positive judge-
ment values (propriety): “deep and sincere regret”, and
The principal’s words are further recontextualised from
“happy the parent’s concerns had been alleviated”. These
the mother’s speech and assimilated into the reporter’s text
respond to the mothers’ judgement (negative capacity) of
in the following example:
the principal’s insensitivity.
Despite no eduction programs about syringes, Mr Wil- The deputy principal’s main discursive work is to describe
son said to Ms Webber the children “should have known and clarify the exact nature of the syringes found. This is
better” than to pick up the syringes and that the parents achieved through relational clauses, describing the syringes,
whose children were involved had been contacted, Ms for example:
Webber claimed.
Ryde School Relieving Principal Steve Connelly said,
Also represented through the mothers’ speech, recontex- “The syringes the boys had found and shown the teaching
tualised and assimilated into the reporter’s text, are the staff staff were wrapped in plastic and were unused.” (TWT)
at the health centre:
Steve Connelly said three of the syringes found were still
According to Ms Webber, who spoke to staff from the
in their wrapping . . . the remaining two were not con-
health centre, the fence dividing the school from the nee-
tained in plastic but the plastic was nearby. (NDT 2)
dle exchange has needed repairing since 1996.
It is also achieved through logical relations of cause/effect,
The mothers’ speaking position can be described as a one
in conjunction with a relational clause:
of fear and blame: fear in their emotional response towards
the syringes and the possible danger they may pose; blame He said the needles could not have been used as the section
of the school principal for his shortcomings as an educator of the box used to hold discarded syringes was sealed.
by not protecting the pupils in his charge from potential (NDT 2)
harm and for his lack of sensitivity towards the mothers’
All the deputy principal’s contributions are clearly marked
emotional response. In this discourse, potential risk from
as external text, either quoted or reported.
needle stick injury is highly personalised and characterised
Between them, the principal and the deputy principal re-
by an absence of knowledge about the exact nature of risk
spond to the negative affect and judgement values of the two
and potential harm. It is precisely this lack of knowledge,
mothers in NDT 1. Affect values of insecurity are countered
it could be argued, which is the origin of the mothers’ fear
by the deputy’s factual description of the syringes, using
and insecurity.
language choices resonating with science reports (Wignell,
Martin, & Eggins, 1993). Foregrounded in his words are
The school ideational meanings of describing and classifying. The
principal’s statement foregrounds interpersonal meanings.
The school is represented in the media reports by the His judgement values of positive propriety (‘deep and sin-
principal and the deputy principal. In addition to indirect cere regret’, ‘paying the children’s medical fees’) respond
reporting through other speakers, as discussed above, both to the mothers’ judgement values of negative capacity. This
speak through a statement released by the Department of repositions the principal in convergence with his role as
Education. They feature in the three news reports of the two an educator responsible for the care of young children and
local papers (NDT 1, NDT 2, TWT). accountable to their parents.
In addition to the dialogue between the principal and the
mothers mentioned above, further intertextual links appear
The community
in the news reports: one between the Department of Educa-
tion and the principal, presumably after complaints by the
Under ‘community’, we have gathered those individuals
parents, and the principal’s apology to the parents. These
who represent various community organisations. The local
are not explicitly marked as other texts but highly recontex-
community is represented by a spokesperson for the school’s
tualised and assimilated into the reporter’s text:
fundraising committee and Ryde Citizen of the Year. The af-
After being contacted by the Education Department, Mr fected community (Hulse, 1997) is represented by a Family
Wilson stated that he “deeply and sincerely regretted” the Drug Support spokesman and drug educators, who usually
situation and had since apologized to the parents. (NDT 1) belong to community organisations. While they are repre-
sented as individuals, they speak from an institutional base.
Through an Education Department spokesman Mr Wilson They are represented in NDT 2, in the broadsheet (SMH),
said he was not opposed to paying the children’s medical and are given extensive coverage by the local TWT.
50 H. Körner, C. Treloar / International Journal of Drug Policy 15 (2003) 46–55
In NDT 1, community representatives are absent. Com- is not there to harm people.”). A monoglossic statement—no
munity representation becomes an issue for the local print alternatives are invited—completes this inserted text: “what
media only after the closure of the NSP, when community is needed is effective education in the community”.
organisations respond to this decision. Drug educators are The local community is represented by the Ryde Primary
the most marginally represented group in all three news pa- School Funding Raising Coordinator and Ryde Citizen of
pers. They are represented in one news report only (NDT 2). the Year. She features in TWT only, but there she features
Their contribution has been limited by the reporter to one quite extensively. Similar to the deputy principal, relational
clause, elaborating the health minister’s action: clauses are used to describe the needles (“they were all new
and unopened”), countering the threat posed by the needles
Mr Knowles’ “knee jerk” reaction has been criticised by
constructed in NDT 1.
drug eductors as they claim the needles, apparently not
Similar to the mothers discussed above, negative affect
used and still sealed, did not come from the centre.
values are attributed by the reporter to the fundraising coor-
Directly represented and inserted is only the educators’ dinator and inserted into the news report (“Parents are hor-
evaluation of the minister’s decision as “knee jerk” reac- rified that the centre has closed over one incident”). How-
tion (negative judgement). The remainder of this utterance is ever, the object of affective evaluation has shifted from the
highly recontextualised and heteroglossic. Alternative posi- mothers’ reaction to the needle find to a reaction to the clo-
tions to those of the educators are acknowledged and denied: sure of the needle exchange.
“apparently not used” and “did not come from the centre”. Negative judgement values (impropriety) expressed by
Furthermore, by choosing the word “claim” rather than the the local community representative are in convergence with
more neutral “say”, the reporter fuses negative judgement those of the educators and focus on the health minister’s ac-
with her reporting; she casts doubt on the veracity of the tion (“To jump up and down so quickly over one incident
educators’ statement. without investigating it further was not right”). There is also
A second representative of the affected community, the negative evaluation of the children’s behaviour (“The kids
spokesman and CEO of Family Drug Support, is represented who found the syringes were in an out-of-bounds area”).
in two news reports (NDT 2 and SMH). In NDT 2, he is given This is not mentioned by any of the other speaking subjects
four utterances, all clearly demarcated from the reporter’s and in any of the other reports. Positive evaluation values
text. Three are inserted, one is assimilated: focus on the actions of needle exchange (“the needle ex-
change service used to check the school grounds three days
[Family Drug Support spokesman Tony Trimingham] said
a week”). All utterances are direct representations, clearly
the needle exchange had operated for 10 years without in-
demarcated from and inserted into the reporter’s text.
cident and to close the exchange as a response to the me-
In the community, there is convergence in the evaluation
dia was unbelievable. “The needle exchange is not there
of the minister’s decision (negative propriety). There is also
to harm people,” Mr Trimingham said. “It would have
convergence with the deputy principal’s factual descriptive
been better if the Minister suspended the exchange or con-
discourse. Positive judgement values are made by the lo-
ducted an inquiry into the matter. I can understand the
cal community representative about the competence of the
concerns expressed but what is needed is effective educa-
exchange. Harm minimisation is mentioned by the affected
tion in the community.”
community, however, there is acknowledgement of a possi-
A similar dynamic between assimilating and inserting the ble alternative (harm).
spokesman’s utterances is found in the SMH: However, there is a clear differentiation in the repre-
sentation of community representatives by different media
Last night the founder and CEO of Family Drug Support,
outlets. Educators are the most marginally represented and
Tony Trimingham, said intravenous drug users between
most assimilated (NDT 2). The fundraising coordinator is
Hornsby and Parramatta were now without a primary nee-
the most represented and most inserted (TWT), the Family
dle exchange facility. “It is disappointing that a service
Drug Support spokesman is positioned somewhere in be-
that has been operating in this community in a very un-
tween: represented in two news reports by two papers, and
derstated way for over 10 years without incident becomes
his contribution is both inserted and assimilated.
a political football,” Mr Trimingham said.
In both news reports, positive judgement values (capac- The politicians
ity) relating to the functioning of the NSP are attributed
to the external text and inserted into the reporter’s (“with- These are represented in the news reports by the ministers
out incident”, “in a very understated way for over 10 years responsible for the two institutions involved: the Minis-
without incident”). Negative judgement values (propriety) ter for Education (and local Member of Parliament), the
relating to the handling of the matter are also attributed and Minister for Health, and their media spokespersons, either
inserted (“a political football”). In NDT 2, in addition, en- speaking directly or through press releases. They are the
gagement values denying alternatives to the function of the only external speaking subjects represented in all four news
NSP are explicit in the external text (“The needle exchange reports.
H. Körner, C. Treloar / International Journal of Drug Policy 15 (2003) 46–55 51
In both local papers, there is very close alignment between political level. This position, then, is a response to the po-
reporter ‘voice’ (Iedema et al., 1994) and external ‘voice’. sition of fear and blame rather than a message of public
For example, in NDT 1: health and harm reduction. (This will be discussed further
below.)
Education Minister and Member for Ryde John Watkins
said he had asked that the fence be fixed as a matter of The bureaucrats
urgency.
In this category, we have grouped speaking subjects from
“I have sought an urgent report from the Department of the state government department which is responsible for
Health and they have acted promptly in advising me that providing and administering health services in general, in-
a new fence will be constructed as a matter of urgency.” cluding NSPs: the Area Health Service and the District
Health Director. They are represented in all three papers
The same pattern is found in TWT:
(NDT 2, TWT, SMH).
The Minister’s media officer Ross Neilson denied the clo- Their utterances respond to the mothers’ negative judge-
sure was an over-reaction. ment values in NDT 1 about the state of disrepair of the
fence between needle exchange and school:
“It was not a knee jerk reaction,” he said.
A Northern Sydney Health spokeswomen said, in addition
There is alignment between judgement values (negative to finding a new location, the Health Department was also
propriety): “over-reaction” and “knee jerk reaction” as well in the process of replacing the broken fence that divided
as alignment between engagement values: Both reporter the school and the near health centre.
voice and external voice close off alternative positions
There is also resonance with the positive evaluation of
(“denied”, “it was not a knee jerk reaction”).
the needle exchange by representatives of local and affected
The words of the education minister resonate (Bakhtin,
communities. In addition, there are further alternative posi-
1986) with the principal’s words of reassurance and the
tions inscribed into the spokeswoman’s text:
mothers’ negative judgement values relating to the disre-
pair of the fence. They also resonate with the fundraising The spokeswoman defended the now closed needle ex-
coordinator’s positive evaluation (capacity) of the needle ex- change, saying the syringes found on Ryde Primary
change: School grounds were not property of the needle exchange.
“Equipment used by the community health centre is quite
Mr Neilson acknowledged that “the needle exchange had distinctive,” she said. “Equipment found on the site at
operated without incident for 10 years at 53 Blackland the school, as shown to community health workers by
Road, Top Ryde.” school staff, came from another source, possibly a local
However, this is balanced against and aligned with the chemist.” (NDT 2)
principal’s positive judgement values (propriety): This pattern is also found in TWT and SMH:
“However, the Minister wanted to reassure parents at the According to Northern Sydney Health Director Execu-
primary school.” tive Unit Lorna Dudley, “The Community Health work-
ers who had been advised of the incident and inspected
Further reference is made to other issues expressed by
the needles and the Fit Pack containing the needles had
the minister’s constituents, completely assimilated into
told the school that it did not come from their service. It
the minister’s words: “the wishes and concerns of the
was a type that could be bought at any local pharmacy.”
local community” and “complaints to Mr Watkins’ elec-
(TWT)
toral office” (SMH). There is no explicit or implicit refer-
ence to the actual content of “wishes and concerns” and
According to senior [department of health] sources there
“complaints”.
are doubts about the origin and the age of the syringe
Ideationally, both ministers prefer material processes, for
pack, which appeared to be an old container that was not
example, “fix”, “act”, “construct”, which foreground action.
from the Ryde facility but a local pharmacy. (SMH)
There are also circumstances of location (“this close to the
school”, “next door to a school”) in conjunction with nega- Similar to the health minister, ideational meanings fore-
tive judgement (“inappropriate”) and circumstances of man- grounded by the bureaucrats are circumstances of location
ner (“as a matter of urgency”), providing the reader with (“from another source”, “[from] a local chemist”, “from their
details about the proposed action. service”, “at any local pharmacy”, “from the Ryde facility”).
With its focus on action and location, the ministers’ There is convergence in the social positions of the bureau-
speaking position can be described as one of local plan- crats and the health minister. They speak from a position of
ning and facilities management. The needle exchange, health service management. The focus is on the origins of
the syringe find, and the closure are positioned as issues the needles from a different source. The needle exchange is
which can be controlled through processes at the local not involved.
52 H. Körner, C. Treloar / International Journal of Drug Policy 15 (2003) 46–55
The media aligns with the health minister’s discourse of local planning
(“The health minister acknowledges that such a unit should
In this category, we have grouped together the radio talk- not be near a school”), questions the deputy principal’s dis-
back host, the editor of NDT, and the authors of the news course of risk minimisation (“It is difficult to say where
reports. the syringes came from and whether or not they were used
The talkback host is represented only in the SMH news as we did not see them.”), and aligns with the mothers’
report, which appeared about a month after the incident. discourse of fear and blame (“parents who were naturally
Similar to the external sources discussed above, he is in- concerned”).
troduced into the reporter’s text as an externally referenced Conventions of news reporting require that reporters avoid
source, inserted into the news report. explicit expression of judgements and emotions. In keeping
Similar to the mothers’ text discussed above, the talk- with that requirement, the reporters of NDT and TWT re-
back host’s text makes reference to other texts which frain from explicit judgements, but align with the positions
are integrated into his own: the health minister and the taken by some of the externally referenced sources. In the
education minister. However, in his representation of case of NDT, there is alignment with the mothers of the
the ministers’ speech, there are interpersonal meanings boys who found the syringes, in the case of TWT, it is with
which are not present where the ministers are quoted representatives of affected and local communities. The ex-
or reported in the news reports: “the needle exchange ception is the writer of the broadsheet news report, who is
is to be moved immediately”; “the centre provides too also the state political editor for that newspaper.
much of a risk”; “John Watkins said he was shocked and NDT and TWT positions are indicated clearly in their re-
appalled”. spective headlines and lead sentences. NDT 1 (“NEEDLE
There are also alternative positions inscribed in the talk- ANGER. Parents fear for pupils in syringe find”) highlights
back host’s voice which are not evident in the news reports: fear and anger. Also highlighted are the negative judgement
“apparently there’s a hole in the fence, where presumably values evaluating the principal’s behaviour (“school author-
addicts had managed to somehow access the school to use ities tried to brush the matter under the carpet”). In NDT
drugs”; “we would never have known about it”. 2, the Family Drug Support spokesman’s contribution dis-
Judgement values (negative propriety) are inscribed in the cussed above is also reconstrued as “anger”.
talkback host’s speech and inserted into the reporter’s text: TWT’s headline and lead sentence runs “Parents protest
“What the hell are they on about? A needle exchange next closure of Ryde needle exchange. Parents of Ryde Public
to a primary school! They’re kidding.” Negative Judgement School have protested the closure of Top Ryde’s needle ex-
values are also deployed for IDUs as “addicts” and as tres- change by Health Minister Craig Knowles following an iso-
passers. lated complaint that a child had come home with a needle
While in news reports judgement values are attributed to found in school grounds.” This provides the focus for the
external texts and integrated into a reporter’s text, in edito- whole article and is elaborated through representations of
rials the writer can use explicit judgement values (Iedema local and affected communities.
et al., 1994; White, 1998). In NDT 3 (editorial), the ed- The SMH’s headline and lead sentence construe the health
itor makes extensive use of this. The objects of his/her minister in the participant role of actor and makes an explicit
evaluation (negative propriety) are the school’s parents as connection between his action and the talkback host’s speech
a group for their objection to the closure of the exchange (“Needle Exchange Shut After Radio Blast. The Minister for
and their defence of the school’s principal (“It seems that Health, Craig Knowles, has suddenly closed an 11-year-old
some parents of Ryde Public School are more concerned needle exchange and drug facility in the marginal ALP seat
about the reputation of their school than the safety of their of Ryde after the Government was attacked on the issue by
children.”) and positive propriety of the mothers and their radio talk-back host Alan Jones.”)
construal of emotion in NDT 1 (“The story was about In addition to the explicit intertextual links discussed
parents who were naturally concerned when their sons above, there are some highly assimilated references to ex-
came home with the syringes they say were in the school ternal texts in the SMH report, all heteroglossically denied:
yard”).
It was implemented without any formal paperwork or
Judgement values (negative capacity) evaluate parents’
investigation. There was no consultation with the chief
actual actions in relation to actions requested by the editor:
executive officer of the Northern Area Health Service,
Parents and school authorities should have been demand- Dr Stephen Christley, or other drug health specialists. No
ing the fence to be fixed. They should have been con- formal complaint about the facility was made in writing.
cerned about having a needle exchange on their boarder.
The SMH also aligns with the positive judgements (capac-
Any parent who thought we were criticising the school
ity) of the needle exchange. This is inscribed in the writer’s
missed the point of the story.
own text (“The needle exchange and drug counselling ser-
The editorial explicitly rejects the health services man- vice had operated discreetly for more than a decade without
agement discourse concerned with the origin of the needles, incident.”)
H. Körner, C. Treloar / International Journal of Drug Policy 15 (2003) 46–55 53
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