1887
Volume 16, Issue 2-3
  • ISSN 1018-2101
  • E-ISSN: 2406-4238

Abstract

From a systemic linguistics perspective, this paper investigates, via a corpus discourse analysis of news stories, the news reporters’ purposes and intentions of using direct and/or indirect quotations (henceforth DQs & IQs) in news reporting. By randomly selecting and analysing a number of news stories taken from two leading American and two leading British newspapers, reporting the same two incidents of killing resulting from the al-Aqsa Intifada, this study reveals the following: 1. DQs are used to add some flavour, vividness and a sense of immediacy and authority to the news story that can be manipulated in such a way as to achieve a variety of certain socio-political ends, e.g. to make a mere viewpoint seem authoritative rather than personal (in our case the newsmaker’s). 2. DQs function as a distancing and a disowning device, i.e. absolving the journalist/the news reporter from endorsement of what the source, i.e. the newsmaker, has said. 3. DQs are also used to show that what is reported is an unconvertible fact, despite the fact that a news reporter may take sides by selecting quotations, and may thus exhibit a biased and prejudiced position. As for the use of IQs, this study also reveals the following: 1. They show the subjective perspective of the news reporter, since he/she merely paraphrases and gives a summary of the content of what has been recorded, written or uttered by the newsmaker.<<<2. They indicate the political bias and prejudice of the news reporter. 3. They sometimes present an ambiguous account of what has been recorded, written or uttered by the newsmaker, since the news reporter only presents an interpretation, as in the cases of free direct & indirect quotations (henceforth FDQs & FIQs). However, IQs, and to a lesser extent DQs, can also serve the news reporter, by means of manipulating the pragma-linguistic functions of the reporting/projecting verbs, in assessing and evaluating both the socio-political stance and status of the newsmaker, in addition to exposing the political bias of the news reporter him-/herself.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/prag.16.2-3.03obi
2006-01-01
2025-02-07
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ali, A.Y
    (1989) Translating the Meanings of the Holy Quran into English: Text, Translation and Commentary. Brentwood, Maryland, USA: Amana Corporation.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson, L.P
    (1986) Evidentials, paths of change and mental maps: Typologically regular asymmetrics. In C. Wallas , and N. Johanna (eds.), Evidentiality: The linguist coding of epistemology. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, pp. 273-312.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bakhtin, M
    (1981 [1953]) The problem of speech genre. Translated by V. MaGee . InSpeech Genre and Other Late Essays. Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 60-102.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. (1981 [1935]) Discourse in the novel. Translated by C. Emerson . InDialogic Imagination. Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 259-422.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Banfield, M
    (1993) What epistemology, style, and grammar meet literary history: The development of represented speech and thought. In J. Lucy (ed.), Reflexive Language: Reported Speech and Metapragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 339-364. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511621031.018
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621031.018 [Google Scholar]
  6. Baynham, M
    (1996) Direct speech: What’s it doing in non-narrative discourse? Journal of Pragmatics25: 61-81. doi: 10.1016/0378‑2166(94)00074‑3
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(94)00074-3 [Google Scholar]
  7. Bell, A
    (1991) The Language of Mass Media. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Bell, A. , & P. Garratt
    (eds.) (1998) Approaches to Media Discourse. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Bloor, T. , & M. Bloor
    (1995) A functional Analysis of English: A Hallidayean Approach. London: Edward Arnold.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Brown, P. , & S. Levinson
    (1978) Universals in language usage: Politeness phenomena. In E.N. Goody (ed.), Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 56-289.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Caton, S.C
    (1993) The importance of reflexive language in George H. Mead’s theory of Self and Communication. In J. Lucy (ed.), Reflexive Language: Reported Speech and Metapragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 315-337. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511621031.017
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621031.017 [Google Scholar]
  12. Chafe, W
    (1994) Discourse, Consciousness and Time: The Flow and Displacement Conscious Experience in Speaking and Writing. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Clark, H. , & R.J. Gerrig
    (1990) Quotations as demonstrations. Language 66.4: 261-286. doi: 10.2307/414887
    https://doi.org/10.2307/414887 [Google Scholar]
  14. Clayman, S.E
    (1990) From talk to text: Newspaper account of reporter-source interaction. Media, Culture and Society12: 79-103. doi: 10.1177/016344390012001005
    https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/016344390012001005 [Google Scholar]
  15. Clark, U
    (1992) An Introduction to Stylistics. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Stanley Thomas Publishers Ltd.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Coulmas, F
    (1985) Direct & indirect speech: General problems and problems in Japanese. Journal of Pragmatics9: 41-63. doi: 10.1016/0378‑2166(85)90047‑5
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(85)90047-5 [Google Scholar]
  17. (1986) Reported speech: Some general issues. In F. Coulmas (ed.), Direct and Indirect Speech. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 1-28. doi: 10.1515/9783110871968
    https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110871968 [Google Scholar]
  18. Cruze, D.A
    (2000) Meaning in Language: An introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. De Beaugrande, R. , & W. Dressler
    (1981) Introduction to Text Linguistics. London & New York: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Dik, S
    (1997) The Theory of Functional Grammar. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Downing, A. , and P. Locke
    (1992) A University Course in the English Grammar. London: Prentice Hall.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Fairclough, N
    (1992) Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. (1995) Media Discourse. New York: Edward Arnold.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Fishman, M
    (1980) Manufacturing the News. Austin: University of Texas Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Fowler, R
    (1991) Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press. London and New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Geis, M
    (1987) The Language of Politics. New York: Springer Verlag. doi: 10.1007/978‑1‑4612‑4714‑2
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4714-2 [Google Scholar]
  27. Glasgow University Media Group
    (1980) More Bad News. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Grice, H.P
    (1975) Logic and conversation. In P. Cole (ed.), Radical Pragmatics. New York: Academic Press, pp. 183-198.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Gruber, H
    (1988) The Jewish Trick: The dissemination of anti-Semitic prejudice in a newspaper editorial. Transl.Ide Informationen Zur Deutschdidaktik 12.2/88: 72-84.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. (1990) Anti-Semitic prejudice in newspaper reports: A textlinguistic study of two Austrian newspapers[Trans.]. Klagenfurter Beitrage Zur Sprachwissenschaft15-16: 145-162.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Halliday, M.A.K
    (1967) Transitivity and theme in English: Part 2. Language2: 199-244.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. (1978) Language as Social Semiotic. London: Edward Arnold.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. (1985) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Harder, P
    (1996) Functional Semantics: A Theory of Meaning, Structure and Tense in English. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Hickman, M
    (1993) The boundaries of reported speech in narrative discourse: Some development aspects. In J. Lucy (ed.), Reflexive Language: Reported Speech and Metapragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 63-89. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511621031.006
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621031.006 [Google Scholar]
  36. Holborow, M
    (1999) The Politics of the English Language. London and New Delhi: Sage Publications.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Huddleston, R. , & G.K. Pulum
    (2002) The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Jackson, H
    (1990) Grammar and Meaning: A Semantic Approach to English Grammar. London and New York: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Leech, G
    (1983) Principles of Pragmatics. London and New York: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. (1988) Meaning and the English Verb. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Leech, G. , & M. Short
    (1981) Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Levinson, S.C
    (1981) Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Locher, M. , & S. Wortham
    (1996) Voicing on the news: An analytic technique for studying media discourse. Text 16.4: 557-585.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Lucy, J
    (ed.) (1993) Reflexive Language: Reported Speech and Metapragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511621031
    https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621031 [Google Scholar]
  45. Lyons, J
    (1977) Semantics, Vols. 1 & 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Maingueneau, D
    (1993) Linguistique pour le texte littéraire. 3rd ed. Paris: Dunod.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Obiedat, N
    (2000) The use of first person deixis in political interviews: A pragma-ideological implication. Dirasat (University of Jordan) 27.2: 514-531.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. (2002) Biased news reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian clashes following al-Aqsa intifada. Dirasat (University of Jordan) 30.3: 798-820.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Parmetier, R.J
    (1993) The political function of reported speech: A Belauan example. In J. Lucy (ed.), Reflexive Language: Reported Speech and Metapragmatism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 261-286. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511621031.014
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621031.014 [Google Scholar]
  50. Plett, H.F
    (1991) “Intertextualities”. In H.F. Plett (ed.), Intertextuality. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 3-29
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Quirk, R . et al
    (1995) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Reisigl, M. , and R. Wodak
    (2001) Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Anti-Semitism. London and New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Robinson, M.J. , and J.A. Sheenan
    (1983) Over the Wire and on TV: CBS & UPI in Campaign 1980. New York: Russel Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Searle, J.R
    (1979) Expression and Meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511609213
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511609213 [Google Scholar]
  55. Simpson, P
    (1994) Language, Ideology and Point of View. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Short, M
    (1988) Speech presentation, the novel and the press. In W. van Peer (ed.), The Taming of Press: Exploration in Language, Literature and Culture. London: Routledge, pp. 61-81.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Tannen, D
    (1988) Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue and Imagery in Conversational Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Tuchman, G
    (1978) Making News: A Study of the Construction of Reality. New York: Free Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. (1972) Objectivity as strategic ritual: An examination of newsmen’s notions of objectivity. American Journal of Sociology 77.4: 660-679. doi: 10.1086/225193
    https://doi.org/10.1086/225193 [Google Scholar]
  60. Van Dijk, T
    (1988) News as Discourse. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Verschueren, J
    (1985) International News Reporting: Metapragmatic Metaphors and the U-2. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. doi: 10.1075/pb.vi.5
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pb.vi.5 [Google Scholar]
  62. Volosinov, V.N
    (1986) Marxism and the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Waugh, L.R
    (1993) Arbitrariness: Imitation and motivation revived, with consequences for textual meaning. Diacritics23: 71-87. doi: 10.2307/465317
    https://doi.org/10.2307/465317 [Google Scholar]
  64. (1995) Reported speech in journalistic discourse: The relation of function and text. Text 15.1: 129-173.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Wodak, R
    (1987) And where is the Lebanon? A case study in the selection of news. Text 7.4: 377-410.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.16.2-3.03obi
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