1887
Volume 16, Issue 1
  • ISSN 1569-2159
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9862
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

The design of questions in news interviews and news conferences has proven to be an illuminating window into the tenor of press-state relations. Quantitative studies have charted aggregate variations in adversarial questioning, but less is known about variations in the intensity of adversarialness within any particular question. Such variation is captured by the vernacular distinction between “hardball” versus “softball” questions. Hardballs advance an oppositional viewpoint vigorously, while softballs do so at most mildly. In this paper we investigate recurrent language practices through which journalists modulate the oppositionality of a question, thereby either hindering or facilitating response. The objective is to better understand how adversarialness is enacted in direct encounters between politicians and journalists.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.16.1.02cla
2017-04-25
2024-12-04
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Bolden, Galina , Jenny Mandelbaum , and Sue Wilkinson
    2012 “Pursuing a Response By Repairing an Indexical Reference.” Research on Language and Social Interaction45(2): 137–155. doi: 10.1080/08351813.2012.673380
    https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2012.673380 [Google Scholar]
  2. Clayman, Steven E.
    1988 “Displaying Neutrality in Television News Interviews.” Social Problems35(4): 474–492. doi: 10.2307/800598
    https://doi.org/10.2307/800598 [Google Scholar]
  3. 1992 “Footing in the Achievement of Neutrality: The Case of News Interview Discourse.” In Talk at Work, ed. by Paul Drew , and John Heritage , 163–198. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. 2002 “Tribune of the People: Maintaining the Legitimacy of Aggressive Journalism.” Media, Culture, and Society24: 191–210. doi: 10.1177/016344370202400203
    https://doi.org/10.1177/016344370202400203 [Google Scholar]
  5. Clayman, Steven E. , and John Heritage
    2002aThe News Interview: Journalists and Public Figures On the Air. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511613623
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511613623 [Google Scholar]
  6. 2002b “Questioning Presidents: Journalistic Deference and Adversarialness in the Press Conferences of U.S. Presidents Eisenhower and Reagan.” Journal of Communication52(4): 749–775. doi: 10.1111/j.1460‑2466.2002.tb02572.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02572.x [Google Scholar]
  7. Clayman, Steven E. , Marc N. Elliott , John Heritage , and Laurie McDonald
    2006 “Historical Trends in Questioning Presidents 1953–2000.” Presidential Studies Quarterly36: 561–583. doi: 10.1111/j.1741‑5705.2006.02568.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5705.2006.02568.x [Google Scholar]
  8. Clayman, Steven E. , John Heritage , Marc N. Elliott , and Laurie McDonald
    2007 “When Does the Watchdog Bark?: Conditions of Aggressive Questioning in Presidential News Conferences.” American Sociological Review72: 23–41. doi: 10.1177/000312240707200102
    https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240707200102 [Google Scholar]
  9. Clayman, Steven E. , Marc Elliott , John Heritage , and Megan Beckett
    2010 “A Watershed in White House Journalism: Explaining the Post-1968 Rise of Aggressive Presidential News.” Political Communication27: 229–247. doi: 10.1080/10584609.2010.496712
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2010.496712 [Google Scholar]
  10. Conza, Angiola Di , Augusto Gnisci , and Angelo Caputo
    2011 “Interviewers Use of Coercive Questioning During a Midterm Period Favorable to the Opposition Party.” In Toward Autonomous, Adaptive, and Context-Aware Multimodal Interfaces, ed. by A. Esposito , 147–154. Berlin: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978‑3‑642‑18184‑9_13
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18184-9_13 [Google Scholar]
  11. Ekström Mats
    2011 “Hybridity as a Resource and Challenge in a Talk Show Political Interview.” In Talking Politics in Broadcast Media, ed. by Mats Ekström , and Marianna Patrona , 135–153. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/dapsac.42.12eks
    https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.42.12eks [Google Scholar]
  12. Ekström, Mats , Göran Eriksson , Bengt Johansson , and Patrik Wikström
    2012 “Biased Interrogations? A Multi-Methodological Approach on Bias in Election Campaign Interviews.” Journalism Studies14(3): 423–439. doi: 10.1080/1461670X.2012.689488
    https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2012.689488 [Google Scholar]
  13. Eriksson, Göran
    2011a “Adversarial Moments: A Study of Short-Form Interviews in the News.” Journalism12(1): 51–69. doi: 10.1177/1464884910367588
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884910367588 [Google Scholar]
  14. 2011b “Follow-Up Questions in Political Press Conferences.” Journal of Pragmatics43(14): 3331–3344. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2011.07.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.07.004 [Google Scholar]
  15. Eriksson, Göran , and Johan Östman
    2013 “Cooperative or Adversarial? Journalists’ Enactment of the Watchdog Function in Political News Production.” International Journal of Press/Politics18(3): 304–324. doi: 10.1177/1940161213482493
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161213482493 [Google Scholar]
  16. Ford, Cecilia , Barbara Fox , and Sandra A. Thompson
    2002 “Constituency and Turn Increments.” In The Language of Turns and Sequences, ed. by Cecilia Ford , Barbara Fox , and Sandra A. Thompson , 14–38. London: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Heritage, John
    2002 “Ad Hoc Inquiries: Two Preferences in the Design of Routine Questions in an Open Context.” In Standardization and Tacit Knowledge: Interaction and Practice in the Survey Interview, ed. by Douglas W. Maynard , Hanneke Houtkoop , Nora C. Schaeffer , and Johannes van der Zouwen , 313–334. New York: Wiley.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. 2012 “The Epistemic Engine: Sequence Organization and Territories of Knowledge.” Research on Language and Social Interaction45: 30–52. doi: 10.1080/08351813.2012.646685
    https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2012.646685 [Google Scholar]
  19. Heritage, John , Jeffrey Robinson , Marc Elliott , Megan Beckett , and Michael Wilkes
    2007 “Reducing Patients’ Unmet Concerns in Primary Care: The Difference one Word Can Make.” Journal of General Internal Medicine22(10): 1429–1433. doi: 10.1007/s11606‑007‑0279‑0
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0279-0 [Google Scholar]
  20. Heritage, John and Andrew Roth
    1995 “Grammar and Institution: Questions and Questioning in the Broadcast News Interview.” Research on Language and Social Interaction28(1): 1–60. doi: 10.1207/s15327973rlsi2801_1
    https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi2801_1 [Google Scholar]
  21. Huls, Erica and Jasper Varwijk
    2011 “Political Bias in TV Interviews.” Discourse and Society22(1): 48–65. doi: 10.1177/0957926510382836
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926510382836 [Google Scholar]
  22. Hutchby, Ian
    2011 “Non-Neutrality and Argument in the Hybrid Political Interview,” Discourse Studies13(3): 349–367. doi: 10.1177/1461445611400665
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445611400665 [Google Scholar]
  23. Jefferson, Gail
    2004 “Glossary of Transcript Symbols with an Introduction.” In Conversation Analysis: Studies From the First Generation, ed. by Gene H. Lerner , 13–31. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/pbns.125.02jef
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.125.02jef [Google Scholar]
  24. Kampf, Zahar , and Efrat Daskal
    2011 “When the Watchdog Bites: Insulting Politicians On Air.” In Talking Politics in the Broadcast Media: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, ed. by Mats Ekström and Marianna Patrona , 177–197. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/dapsac.42.14kam
    https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.42.14kam [Google Scholar]
  25. Krippendorff, Klaus
    1980Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology. Newbury Park: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Montgomery, Martin
    2007The Discourse of Broadcast News. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Rendle-Short, Johanna
    2007 “Neutralism and Adversarial Challenges in the Political News Interview.” Discourse and Communication1(4): 387–406. doi: 10.1177/1750481307082205
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481307082205 [Google Scholar]
  28. Romaniuk, Tanya
    2013a “Interviewee laughter and disaffiliation in broadcast news interviews.” In Studies of Laughter in Interaction, ed. by Phillip Glenn , and Elizabeth Holt , 201–220. London, England: Bloomsbury Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. 2013b “Pursuing Answers to Questions in Broadcast Journalism.” Research on Language and Social Interaction46(2): 144–164. doi: 10.1080/08351813.2013.780339
    https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2013.780339 [Google Scholar]
  30. Schegloff, Emanuel A.
    1996 “Turn Organization: One Intersection of Grammar and Interaction.” In Interaction and Grammar, ed. by Elinor Ochs , Emanuel A. Schegloff , and Sandra A. Thompson , 52–133. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511620874.002
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620874.002 [Google Scholar]
  31. Schudson, Michael
    2008Why Democracies Need an Unlovable Press. Cambridge: Polity.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Tolson, Andrew
    2012 “You’ll Need a Miracle to Win this Election.” ( J. Paxman 2005): Interviewer Assertiveness in UK General Elections 1983–2010.” Discourse, Context, and Media1: 45–53. doi: 10.1016/j.dcm.2012.05.003
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2012.05.003 [Google Scholar]
  33. Walker, Gareth
    2004 “On Some Interactional and Phonetic Properties of Increments to Turns in Talk-in-Interaction.” In Sound Patterns in Interaction, ed. by Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen , and Cecilia E. Ford , 147–170. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/tsl.62.10wal
    https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.62.10wal [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.16.1.02cla
Loading
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