1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Journal of Argumentation in Context
  4. Volume 5, Issue 1
  5. Article
Argumentation in Journalism
  • ISSN 2211-4742
  • E-ISSN: 2211-4750
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Compared to other domains of media discourse, economic-financial news contain a considerable amount of speech acts regarding future events, in particular predictions. This can be explained by their specific institutional context, financial markets, where investors constantly seek to single out gain opportunities and to correctly assess their risk. One of the crucial factors making economic-financial predictions worthy of being considered in investment decisions is argumentation, in particular the extent to which the predicted proposition follows from a plausible and acceptable reasoning. Starting from a corpus of 50 articles of the Italian economic-financial press, we consider the inferential dimension of prediction-oriented arguments, focusing on the , i.e. the ontological relation on which the connection between the argument(s) and the predictive conclusion rests. All predictions found in the corpus were manually annotated with the software . For each of them we identified the source, which could be either the journalist him/herself or a third party, typically financial analysts or corporate actors. We distinguished mere predictive opinions from predictive standpoints, i.e. predictions for which the journalist advances one or more supportive arguments (either confirmatory of refutatory). For the latter category, we identified the locus referring to an adaptation of the taxonomy outlined by Rigotti (2009). The findings highlight in particular the following three interesting aspects: (1) in predictions, journalists reinforce their stance by plausible justifications, but weaken it at the same time by marking it as uncertain and/or by using reported speech or evidential means to reduce their responsibility for the predictive speech act; (2) the justification of a predictive standpoint, by the journalist or by third parties, is mostly based on loci of causality, in particular on the , the and complex forms of causality where the involvement of rational agents is implied but defocused; (3) moreover, journalists refer to the predictive opinions of experts or corporate insiders to activate the either by explicit argumentation or implicitly, by reporting speech from reliable sources. Our study suggests that the role of predictions in financial news is not so much that of giving any straightforward advice to investors, but rather that of providing chunks of sound argumentative reasoning, including both supportive evidence and rebuttals or refutatory moves, that the investor-reader might apply and combine in the highly uncertain context of financial markets. Overall, our findings shed light on how financial journalists fulfil the function of information intermediaries in finance.

© 2016 John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jaic.5.1.03pal
2016-04-01
2023-03-30

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/jaic.5.1.03pal
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aakhus, M
    2003 “Neither naïve nor Critical Reconstruction: Dispute Mediators, Impasse, and the Design of Argumentation”. Argumentation17 (3): 265–290. doi: 10.1023/A:1025112227381
     https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025112227381 [Google Scholar]
  2. Aikhenvald, A
    2004 Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bybee, J. , R. Perkins , and W. Pagliuca
    1994 The Evolution of Grammar. Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bloor, T. , and M. Pindi
    1990 “Schematic Structures in Economic Forecasts”. InThe Language of Economics: The Analysis of Economics Discourse, ed. by T. Dudley-Evans and W. Henderson , 55–66. London: Modern English Publications in association with the British Council.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Caffi, C
    2007 Mitigation. Amsterdam/London: Elsevier.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Calaresu, E
    2004 Testuali parole. La dimensione pragmatica e testuale del discorso riportato. Milano: Franco Angeli.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Chafe, W. , and J. Nichols
    1986 Evidentiality: The Linguistic Coding of Epistemology. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Coyle, D
    2001 “Making Sense of Published Economic Forecasts”. InUnderstanding Economic Forecasts, ed. by D.F. Hendry and N.R. Ericsson , 54–67. Cambridge (Mass.): The MIT Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. De Haan, F
    1999 “Evidentiality and Epistemic Modality: Setting Boundaries”. Southwest Journal of Linguistics18 (1): 83–101.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Del Lungo Camiciotti, G
    1998 “Financial News Articles and Financial Information Letters: A Comparison”. InForms of Argumentative Discourse. Per un’analisi linguistica dell’argomentare, ed. by M. Bondi , 195–205. Bologna: CLUEB.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Du Bois, J.W
    2007 “The Stance Triangle”. InStancetaking in Discourse: Subjectivity, Evaluation, Interaction, ed. by R. Englebretson , 139–182. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/pbns.164.07du
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.164.07du [Google Scholar]
  12. Dyck, A. , and L. Zingales
    2003 The Media and Asset Prices. Working Paper, Harvard Business School.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Eemeren, F.H. van , and R. Grootendorst
    1992 Argumentation, Communication and Fallacies. Hillsdale, NJ, England: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
     [Google Scholar]
  14. 2004 A Systematic Theory of Argumentation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Eemeren, F.H. van
    2010 Strategic Maneuvering in Argumentative Discourse. Extending the Pragma-dialectical Theory of Argumentation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/aic.2
     https://doi.org/10.1075/aic.2 [Google Scholar]
  16. Fama, E
    1970 “Efficient Capital Markets. A Review of Theory and Empirical Work”. The Journal of Finance25 (2): 383–417. doi: 10.2307/2325486
     https://doi.org/10.2307/2325486 [Google Scholar]
  17. Ferretti, R. , and F. Pattarin
    2008 “Is Public Information Really Public? The Role of Newspapers”. Working Paper 08013. CEFIN – Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza. Modena: Universitá di Modena e Reggio Emilia.
  18. Garssen, B
    2001  Argument Schemes . InCrucial Concepts in Argumentation Theory, ed. by F.H. van Eemeren , 81–99. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Gilboa, E
    2005 “Media-broker Diplomacy: When Journalists become Mediators”. Critical Studies in Media Communication22 (2): 99–120. doi: 10.1080/07393180500071998
     https://doi.org/10.1080/07393180500071998 [Google Scholar]
  20. Gili Fivela, B. , and C. Bazzanella
    (eds.) 2009 Fenomeni di intensità nell’italiano parlato. Firenze: Franco Cesati.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Goffman, E
    1981 Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Greco Morasso, S
    2011 Argumentation in Dispute Mediation: A Reasonable Way to Handle Conflict. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/aic.3
     https://doi.org/10.1075/aic.3 [Google Scholar]
  23. Greco, S. , R. Palmieri , and E. Rigotti
    . Under review. “Institutional Argumentation and Conflict Prevention: The Case of the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner”. Journal of Pragmatics.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Grice, H.P
    1975 “Logic and Conversation”. InSyntax and Semantics, Vol. 3, Speech Acts, ed. by P. Cole and J.L. Morgan , 41–58. New York: Academic Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Healy, P.M. , and K.G. Palepu
    2001 “Information Asymmetry, Corporate Disclosure, and the Capital Markets: A Review of the Empirical Disclosure Literature”. Journal of Accounting and Economics31: 405–440. doi: 10.1016/S0165‑4101(01)00018‑0
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-4101(01)00018-0 [Google Scholar]
  26. Huberman, G. , and T. Regev
    2001 “Contagious Speculation and a Cure for Cancer: A Nonevent that made Stock Prices Soar”. The Journal of Finance56 (1): 387–396. doi: 10.1111/0022‑1082.00330
     https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-1082.00330 [Google Scholar]
  27. Hursti, K
    2011 “Management Earnings Forecasts. Could an Investor Reliably Detect an Unduly Positive Bias on the Basis of the Strength of the Argumentation?” Journal of Business Communication48 (4): 393–408. doi: 10.1177/0021943611414538
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943611414538 [Google Scholar]
  28. Mazzali-Lurati, S. , and R. Palmieri
    . Under review. “Reconstructing Multiple Audience. The Text Stakeholders Model”. Argumentation.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. McCombs, M.E. , and D.L. Shaw
    1972 “The Agenda-setting Function of Mass Media”. Public Ppinion Quarterly36 (2): 176–187. doi: 10.1086/267990
     https://doi.org/10.1086/267990 [Google Scholar]
  30. Merlini, L
    1983 Gli atti del discorso economico: la previsione. Status illocutorio e modelli linguistici nel testo inglese. Parma: Edizioni Zara.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Miecznikowski, J
    . In press. « Marquage grammatical, lexical et textuel de la futurité dans la presse économique italienne ». InLe futur dans les langues romanes ed. by Laura Baranzini , Juan Sánchez Méndez e Louis de Saussure . Peter Lang.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. 2011 “Construction Types and Argumentative Functions of Possibility Modals: Evidence from Italian”. InProceedings of the 7th Conference of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation, ed. by Frans van Eemeren , Bart Garssen , David Godden , and Gordon Mitchell , 1284–1297. Amsterdam: Rozenberg/SicSat.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Miecznikowski, J. , A. Rocci , and G. Zlatkova
    2012 L’argumentation dans la presse économique et financière italienne. InLes discours de la bourse et de la finance. Forum für Fachsprachen-Forschung, ed. by L. Gautier , 65–83. Berlin: Frank und Timme.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Moeschler, J
    2011 „Causalité, chaînes causales et argumentation ». InDu système linguistique aux actions langagières. Mélanges en l’honneur d’Alain Berrendonner, ed. by G. Corminboeuf et M.-J. Béguelin , 339–355. Paris-Bruxelles: DeBoeck-Duculot.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Palmieri, R
    2014 Corporate Argumentation in Takeover Bids. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/aic.8
     https://doi.org/10.1075/aic.8 [Google Scholar]
  36. Palmieri, R. , and C. Palmieri
    2012 “Text Types, Activity Types and the Genre System of Financial Communication”. InLes discours de la bourse et de la finance. Forum für Fachsprachen-Forschung, ed. by L. Gautier , 85–105. Berlin: Frank und Timme
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Palmieri, R. , and E. Rigotti
    2010 „Analyzing and Evaluating Complex Argumentation in an Economic-financial Context”. InDialectics, Dialogue and Argumentation. An Examination of Douglas Walton’s Theories of Reasoning and Argument, ed. by C. Reed and C. Tindale , 85–99. London: College Publications.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Pauli, C
    2007 “News Media as Mediators”. Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution8 (2): 717–734.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Pinto, R.C
    2001 Argument, Inference and Dialectic: Collected Papers on Informal Logic. Dordrecht: Kluwer. doi: 10.1007/978‑94‑017‑0783‑1
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0783-1 [Google Scholar]
  40. O’Donnell, M
    2008 “Demonstration of the UAM CorpusTool for Text and Image Annotation”. Proceedings of the ACL-08:HLT Demo Session (Companion Volume), Columbus, Ohio, June 2008, 3–16. Association for Computational Linguistics.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Rees, A.M. van and E. Rigotti
    2011 “The Analysis of the Strategic Function of Presentational Techniques”. InKeeping in touch with Pragma-Dialectics, ed. by E. Feteris , B Garssen , and F. Snoeck Henkemans , 207–220. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/z.163.14ree
     https://doi.org/10.1075/z.163.14ree [Google Scholar]
  42. Rigotti, E
    2006 “Relevance of Context-bound loci to Topical Potential in the Argumentation Stage”. Argumentation20 (4): 519–540. doi: 10.1007/s10503‑007‑9034‑2
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s10503-007-9034-2 [Google Scholar]
  43. 2008 “Locus a Causa Finali”. InWord Meaning in Argumentative Dialogue, ed. by G. Gobber , S. Cantarini , S. Cigada , M.C. Gatti & S. Gilardoni , Special Issue of L’analisi linguistica e letteraria XVI , 2008/2: 559–576.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. 2009 “Whether and how Classical Topics can be Revived in the Contemporary Theory of Argumentation”. InPondering on Problems of Argumentation, ed. by F.H. van Eemeren & B.J. Garssen , 157–178. New York: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978‑1‑4020‑9165‑0_12
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9165-0_12 [Google Scholar]
  45. 2013 “The Nature and Functions of Loci in Agricola’s De Inuentione Dialectica ”. Argumentation27 (3): 19–37.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Rigotti, E. , and S. Greco Morasso
    2009 “Argumentation as an Object of Interest and as a Social and Cultural Resource”. InArgumentation and Education, ed. by N. Muller-Mirza and A.N. Perret-Clermont , 9–66. New York: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978‑0‑387‑98125‑3_2
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-98125-3_2 [Google Scholar]
  47. 2010 “Comparing the Argumentum Model of Topics to Other Contemporary Approaches to Argument Schemes: The Procedural and Material Components”. Argumentation24 (4): 489–512. doi: 10.1007/s10503‑010‑9190‑7
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s10503-010-9190-7 [Google Scholar]
  48. Rocci, A
    2005 La modalità epistemica tra semantica e argomentazione. Milano: ISU.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. 2006 “Pragmatic Inference and Argumentation in Intercultural Communication”. Intercultural Pragmatics3 (4): 409–442. doi: 10.1515/IP.2006.026
     https://doi.org/10.1515/IP.2006.026 [Google Scholar]
  50. Rocci, A. , and R. Palmieri
    2007 “Economic-financial News Stories between Narrative and Forecast”. Paper presented atthe 10th International Pragmatics Conference , Göteborg, July 2007.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Sbisà, M
    1989 Linguaggio, ragione, interazione. Per una teoria pragmatica degli atti linguistici. Bologna: Il Mulino.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Searle, J.R
    2005 “What is an Institution?” Journal of Institutional Economics1 (1): 1–22. doi: 10.1017/S1744137405000020
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137405000020 [Google Scholar]
  53. Searle, J. , and D. Vanderveken
    1985 Foundations of Illocutionary Logic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Sharpe, W.F. , G.J. Alexander , and J.V. Bailey
    1999 Investments, Vol. 6. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Shoemaker, P.J. , and T. Vos
    2009 Gatekeeping Theory. New York: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Walsh, P
    2001 “Prediction and Conviction: Modality in Articles from The Economist”. InModality in Specialized Texts, ed. by M. Gotti and Marina Dossena , 361–378. Bern: Peter Lang.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Walton, D
    2010 Appeal to Expert Opinion: Arguments from Authority. University Park, PA: Penn State Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Walton, D.N , C. Reed , and F. Macagno
    2008 Argumentation Schemes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511802034
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511802034 [Google Scholar]
  59. Willett, T
    1988 “A Cross-Linguistic Survey of the Grammaticization of Evidentiality”. Studies in Language: International Journal Sponsored by the Foundation ‘Foundations of Language’12 (1): 51–97.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Zlatkova, G
    2012 “Reported Argumentation in Economic-financial News”. InExploring Argumentative Contexts, ed. by F.H. van Eemeren and B. Garssen , 377–391. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/aic.4.21zla
     https://doi.org/10.1075/aic.4.21zla [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1075/jaic.5.1.03pal
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Argument from authority; argumentum model of topics; causal reasoning; financial communication; financial news; journalism; locus; media discourse; prediction; speech acts; stance.

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error