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Volume 14, Issue 5
  • ISSN 1878-9714
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Abstract

Abstract

Is the use of the first-person singular becoming more prevalent in journalistic writing, like often claimed, and what is it used for? In order to tackle these questions, we analysed 11,775 articles published between 1960 and 2010 in the cultural sections of and (Spain), (Sweden), (Finland), (France), and (UK). Our analysis focuses on the variation and change in the frequency and functions of first-person singular pronoun and verb forms over time and between different newspapers. We provide a logistic regression analysis of the whole dataset, as well as a qualitative analysis of the 1,077 articles containing at least one first-person singular. The analyses reveal a considerable amount of variation in first-person singular usage between each newspaper. The findings, however, converge to reveal that the frequency of first-persons singulars increases over time while its narrative uses become predominant at the expense of the evaluative and epistemic ones.

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/content/journals/10.1075/ps.20062.pos
2023-04-03
2025-04-28

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/content/journals/10.1075/ps.20062.pos
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From evaluative authorities to involved narrators
Pragmatics and Society 14, 667 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.20062.pos
/content/journals/10.1075/ps.20062.pos
/content/journals/10.1075/ps.20062.pos
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): first-person singular; journalism; objectivity; pronouns; subjectivity

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