Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
C O N T I N U U M DISCOURSE
Series Editor: Professor Ken Hyland,University of Hong Kong
SERIES
Discourse is one of the most significant concepts of contemporary thinking in the humanities and social sciences as it concerns the ways language mediates and shapes our interactions with each other and with the social, political and cultural formations of our society. The Continuum Discourse Series aims to capture the fast-developing interest in discourse to provide students, new and experienced teachers and researchers in applied linguistics, ELT and English language with an essential bookshelf. Each book deals with a core topic in discourse studies to give an in-depth, structured and readable introduction to an aspect of the way language is used in real life. Other titles in the series: Academic Discourse Discourse, Analysis, Ken Hyland Brian Paltridge Caroline Tagg
of Blogs and Wikis, Greg M y e r s of Text Messaging, of Twitter and Social Media, Michele Zappavigna Caroline Coffin Britt-Louise Gunnarsson Paul Baker Ken Hyland Frances Christie Almut Koester
Historical Discourse,
Discourse,
School Discourse,
CONTINUUM DISCOURSE
News Discourse
MONIKA BEDNAREK AND HELEN CAPLE
continuum
Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 11 York Road London SE1 7 N X www.continuumbooks.com Monika Bednarek and Helen Caple 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Monika Bednarek and Helen Caple have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-. H B : 978-1-4411-2090-8 PB: 978-1-4411-4799-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bednarek, Monika. N e w s discourse / Monika Bednarek and Helen Caple. p. c m . Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4411-2090-8 (alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4411-4799-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4411-3976-4 (ebook p d f : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4411-8420-7 (ebook epub : alk. paper) 1. Journalism. I. Caple, Helen. II. Title. PN4731.B333 2012 070.40V41-dc23 2011047843 80 Maiden Lane Suite 704 N e w York NY 10038
Typeset by N e w g e n Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India Printed and bound in India
CONTENTS
viii xi
Acknowledgements
xiv
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Introduction
1 19
E v a l u a t i o n i n the news
B a l a n c i n g a c t : image c o m p o s i t i o n
Appendix Appendix
1 2
Tables
Evaluation assignment
251
LIST OF TABLES
1.1 1.2
12 22 24 25 Sun 27
P r o d u c e r roles P r o d u c e r s of language a n d image, their roles a n d labels A u d i e n c e roles Sample advertisements i n the Ottawa a n d the Globe and Mail
2.5
Categorizing news'values' N e w s values s u m m a r y Associations w i t h Australia S u m m a r y of l i n g u i s t i c resources that c a n be used to construe news values
55 Times 64 66
' O ' D o n n e l l to address D . C . p a r l e y ' , Washington 'George M i c h a e l jailed f o r d r u g - d r i v i n g c r a s h ' , Guardian 'I w e n t to bed w i t h a m i g r a i n e a n d w o k e u p w i t h a F r e n c h accent', Daily Mail
75 86 92 93 99 102
K e y n o u n s a n d adjectives i n U K news discourse Types o f reported speech R e p o r t i n g expressions Structure o f the 'fire story' f r o m the Boston Herald N e w s headlines f r o m a r o u n d the w o r l d
LIST OF T A B L E S
ix
V e r b s i n the headlines Radio and T V ' h e a d l i n e s ' D i f f e r e n t w a y s of s t r u c t u r i n g the news T i m e l i n e o f t e c h n o l o g i c a l advancements Categories f o r a n a l y s i n g intersemiotic relations E x a m p l e s o f o v e r l a p i n t e x t - i m a g e relations i n m o v i n g images
122
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7 5.8
E x a m p l e s o f o v e r l a p i n image/headline relations Image/body text relations i n ' C h i l d r e n O K , jake injured i n blaze', Boston Herald
130 131
5.9 5.10
133 149 164 165 166 168 dividing compositional 169 serialising compositional 171
Bases of i n f o r m a t i o n K e y t e r m i n o l o g y f o r discussing c o m p o s i t i o n a n d the Balance Framework E x a m p l e s of t y p i c a l isolating compositional configurations and iterating
compositional configurations
Iterating images d e m o n s t r a t i n g t w o o r m o r e
7.6
7.7
7.8
U n b a l a n c e d images a n d r e b a l a n c i n g effects
LIST OF T A B L E S
G e n e r a l quantitative results o n the stand-alone c o r p u s Stories s o u r c e d f r o m agencies (63 p e r cent) Pointers to evaluations i n the c a p t i o n text i n stand-alones, Sydney Morning Herald
184 185
187
8.4
Pointers t o evaluations i n the headline text i n stand-alones, Sydney Morning Herald 188
8.5
8.6
T w o ' h a r d n e w s ' stand-alone stories a b o u t the environment 192 199 200 Seconds 201 World News 202
D a t a c o l l e c t i o n f r o m B B C / A B C f o r the case study Screenshots o f B B C One-minute a n d A B C News in 90 Seconds T r a n s c r i p t of the A B C ' s News in 90 video summary World News
9.4
9.5
9.6
Al.l
P o t e n t i a l resources f o r c o n s t r u i n g news values t h r o u g h language a n d image 219 224 226 232 238
A1.2 A1.3 1 2
Parameters o f e v a l u a t i o n a n d examples N e w s m e d i a outlets Categories o f r e p o r t i n g expressions r e c o g n i z e d i n Bednarek (2010) Sources q u o t e d i n the Wall Street Journal news story
LIST OF FIGURES
T h e New York Times, W o r l d section T h e ' c o m m u n i c a t i v e c o n t e x t ' o f news P r o d u c e r roles as p a r t o f the news story cycle N e w s presenter Jessica Y e l l i n as a h o l o g r a m o n C N N T h e c o m p l e x i t y o f audience roles E m a i l alerts - one m e t h o d o f s h a r i n g news stories A screen shot o f a ' n e w s ' b u l l e t i n o n C h a n n e l Seven N e w s values, the c o m m u n i c a t i v e c o n t e x t a n d the c o n s t r u c t i o n o f text
15 20 22 23 26 32 34
45
3.2 i C o n c o r d a n c e lines d e m o n s t r a t i n g N o v e l t y i n a news story 3.3 3.4 F r o n t pages o n the k i l l i n g o f O s a m a b i n L a d e n A n image c o n s t r u i n g the news values o f Superlativeness, N e g a t i v i t y a n d P e r s o n a l i z a t i o n 3.5 3.6 3.7 ' B l o o d y e n d t o chase', Daily Telegraph ' A fiesta f o r history, the f u t u r e ' , Chicago (Australia) Tribune 60 62 65 47 48
O n l i n e news gallery image sequence ' D i s s i d e n t q u i z z e d over m u r d e r o f c r i m i n a l ' , Irish Independent 'Firefighters c o n t a i n i n d u s t r i a l b l a z e ' , New Zealand Herald
3.11
xii
LIST OF FIGURES
3.12
3.13
3.14 3.15
' T r a g i c case o f elder abuse', Ottawa Sun ' O h deer, it's t u r n e d o u t c o l d a g a i n ' , Daily Telegraph (UK)
81 97 104
T h e structure o f a ' t y p i c a l ' h a r d news story T h e Irish Times (online) Story p a c k a g i n g - the e v o l u t i o n o f news p r i n t f r o m t e x t - d o m i n a n c e to i m a g e - d o m i n a n c e
F r o n t pages o n the k i l l i n g of O s a m a b i n L a d e n ' C h i l d r e n O K , jake i n j u r e d i n blaze', Boston Parameters o f e v a l u a t i o n V i s u a l representations o f the G o l d e n R a t i o , Rule of T h i r d s a n d D y n a m i c A s y m m e t r y Herald
A n e x a m p l e stand-alone d o m i n a t e s the page ' D r y h a r d w i t h a vengeance': A n e x a m p l e stand-alone story C o m p o s i t i o n a l c o n f i g u r a t i o n s i n stand-alones f r o m the Sydney Morning Herald
T h i s b o o k emanates f r o m o u r desire to analyse news discourse f o r w h a t it is: sometimes t e x t - d o m i n a t e d , sometimes a c o m b i n a t i o n of b o t h w o r d s a n d images a n d , i n c r e a s i n g l y , sometimes i m a g e - d o m i n a t e d . It combines o u r expertise i n a n a l y s i n g language ( M o n i k a B e d n a r e k ) a n d images ( H e l e n C a p l e ) , a n d treats w o r d s a n d p i c t u r e s as t r a d i n g partners i n the r e p o r t i n g o f news events. B a s e d o n o u r o w n research i n t o news d i s c o u r s e , we offer readers specific f r a m e w o r k s to analyse different aspects of such d i s c o u r s e , r a n g i n g f r o m the e x p r e s s i o n o f o p i n i o n t h r o u g h language to the c o m p o s i t i o n o f press p h o t o g r a p h s to the w a y i n w h i c h news values are d i s c u r s i v e l y c o n s t r u e d t h r o u g h b o t h language a n d images. T h e d a t a that we analyse w i t h the help o f these a n d other f r a m e w o r k s i n this b o o k c o m e f r o m p r e v i o u s research c o n d u c t e d o n B r i t i s h a n d A u s t r a l i a n newspapers as w e l l as n e w d a t a c o l l e c t i o n s s p e c i f i c a l l y u n d e r t a k e n f o r this b o o k . T h i s includes a 5 - m o n t h c o l l e c t i o n (September 2 0 1 0 to J a n u a r y 2011) of 2 9 p r i n t newspapers across a range o f E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e newspapers i n the U n i t e d K i n g d o m , I r e l a n d , N o r t h A m e r i c a a n d A u s t r a l a s i a . W e also d r a w o n r a d i o broadcasts/podcasts c o l l e c t e d b e t w e e n D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0 a n d A p r i l 2 0 1 1 f r o m n a t i o n a l p u b l i c r a d i o broadcasters i n C a n a d a (CBS), I r e l a n d ( R T E ) , A u s t r a l i a ( A B C ) , N e w Z e a l a n d ( R a d i o N e w Z e a l a n d ) , the U n i t e d States ( N P R ) a n d the U n i t e d K i n g d o m ( B B C ) . S p e c i a l r e p o r t i n g of s i g n i f i c a n t n e w s events are also used as case studies o f online/televisual news d i s c o u r s e a n d w e d r a w o n a range o f other d a t a i n e x e m p l i f y i n g a n d i l l u s t r a t i n g specific aspects o f n e w s d i s c o u r s e . T h i s b o o k is a i m e d at a n y o n e w a n t i n g to get a f u l l e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of news d i s c o u r s e a n d the m a n y w a y s i n w h i c h it c a n be a n a l y s e d , w i t h a specific focus o n the discursive c o n s t r u c t i o n o f w h a t w e c a l l 'news'. W e hope that it s h o w s readers h o w to a p p r o a c h such a n analysis systematically, u s i n g specific f r a m e w o r k s , w h i l e also c o n s i d e r i n g the s o c i a l a n d h i s t o r i c a l c o n t e x t s o f news d i s c o u r s e a n d the general characteristics o f language a n d images i n the n e w s . T h i s offers f u l l e r insights i n t o h o w events are t u r n e d i n t o news a n d ' p r o c e s s e d , b u n d l e d a n d d e l i v e r e d ' (Brenton a n d H a r e 1 9 8 5 : 10) to a g l o b a l audience.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In c o m p i l i n g this b o o k we have received tremendous help a n d advice f r o m colleagues a n d friends, f i n a n c i a l support f r o m employers, as w e l l as c o p y r i g h t permissions f r o m publishers a n d news organizations a r o u n d the w o r l d a n d we w o u l d like to acknowledge these here. First, t h a n k s to K e n H y l a n d , series editor, G u r d e e p M a t t u , c o m m i s s i o n i n g editor, a n d C o l l e e n Coalter, e d i t o r i a l assistant, at C o n t i n u u m for s u p p o r t i n g the w r i t i n g a n d p u b l i c a t i o n of this b o o k . H e l e n C a p l e w o u l d like to t h a n k the U n i v e r s i t y of N e w S o u t h Wales ( U N S W ) for f i n a n c i a l support t h r o u g h the S c h o o l of E n g l i s h M e d i a a n d P e r f o r m i n g A r t s Research G r a n t Scheme. M o n i k a B e d n a r e k is l i k e w i s e grateful to the University of Sydney for f u n d i n g t h r o u g h the S c h o o l of Letters, A r t a n d M e d i a Research Support Scheme. W e t h a n k o u r colleagues - P h i l i p B e l l , K a t h e r i n e Brandon, W o l f r a m Bublitz, A n n e D u n n , Gerard Goggin, John K n o x , Brian Paltridge, R o b e r t a P i a z z a , L o u i s e R a v e l l i a n d M i c h e l e Z a p p a v i g n a - w h o read a n d commented o n earlier chapter drafts. W e w o u l d also like to t h a n k the students w h o u n d e r t o o k the f o l l o w i n g subjects i n Semester 1, i n 2 0 1 1 : Multiplatform Journalism at U N S W a n d Media Discourse at the U n i v e r s i t y of Sydney for their useful i n p u t o n earlier chapter drafts. F o r p e r m i s s i o n to r e p r i n t parts of ' E v a l u a t i o n i n the news', we w o u l d l i k e to t h a n k R o s l y n Petelin a n d the Australian Journal of Communication. W e are also very g r a t e f u l to the news o r g a n i z a t i o n s a r o u n d the w o r l d that lent s u p p o r t for this p u b l i c a t i o n by g i v i n g us p e r m i s s i o n to reproduce news stories a n d images i n this b o o k . W e are p a r t i c u l a r l y t h a n k f u l to the f o l l o w i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n s w h i c h w a i v e d c o p y r i g h t fees: the Daily Telegraph ( U K ) , the Irish Independent (Ireland) a n d the Boston Herald (US). C o p y r i g h t f o r a l l news stories remains w i t h the o r g a n i z a t i o n s . A l l sources are f u l l y a c k n o w l e d g e d t h r o u g h o u t the b o o k , a n d we have clearly i d e n t i f i e d where each e x a m p l e was first published/broadcast ( i n c l u d i n g outlet a n d date of p u b l i c a t i o n ) . W h i l e a l l attempts have been made to secure c o p y r i g h t p e r m i s s i o n s where relevant, the publishers a n d the authors w o u l d w e l c o m e approaches f r o m anyone w h o sees any s i g n i f i c a n t omissions a n d k n o w s where the c o p y r i g h t m i g h t lie f o r these so that we c a n p r o p e r l y a c k n o w l e d g e t h e m . F i n a l l y , w e w o u l d l i k e to give heartfelt t h a n k s to o u r friends a n d colleagues N a o m i K n i g h t a n d L o u i s e R o w a n , w h o t o o k us over that f i n a l h u r d l e to see the m a n u s c r i p t readied for s u b m i s s i o n . T h a n k y o u for c a s t i n g that final k e e n a n d c r i t i c a l eye over o u r w o r k . N e e d l e s s to say, a l l r e m a i n i n g mistakes a n d o m i s s i o n s are o u r s .
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
NEWS
DISCOURSE
F u r t h e r , news d i s c o u r s e f o r us is defined ' e x t e r n a l l y ' at this stage, rather t h a n t h r o u g h c o m m o n d i s c o u r s e features. I n other w o r d s , s a y i n g that this b o o k is a b o u t news d i s c o u r s e means that it discusses the d i s c o u r s e that audiences encounter i n n e w s b u l l e t i n s , n e w s p r o g r a m m e s , o n n e w s websites, o r i n the n e w s p a p e r - d i s c o u r s e that reports o n n e w s w o r t h y events, h a p p e n i n g s a n d issues. T h e f o u r stories i n Table 1.1 o n p p . 3 - 5 are examples of w h a t w e c o n s i d e r news d i s c o u r s e i n this b o o k , s h o w i n g some of the r e p o r t i n g o n the 2 0 1 0 P i k e river c o a l m i n e accident i n N e w Z e a l a n d i n o n l i n e , p r i n t , r a d i o a n d T V n e w s . S t o r y extracts are i n the l e f t - h a n d c o l u m n , w i t h f u r t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n i n the r i g h t - h a n d c o l u m n . T a b l e 1.1 illustrates some of the k i n d s of n e w s d i s c o u r s e that w e w i l l discuss i n this b o o k . T h u s , i n e x p l o r i n g news d i s c o u r s e w e w i l l d r a w o n e x a m p l e s n o t o n l y f r o m news stories i n newspapers b u t also discuss o n l i n e news (e.g. o n l i n e v i d e o news s u m m a r i e s i n C h a p t e r 9), r a d i o news (e.g. podcasts i n C h a p t e r 6) a n d t e l e v i s u a l n e w s (e.g. t e x t - i m a g e relations i n C h a p t e r 5). T o s u m u p , this b o o k i n t r o d u c e s w a y s to research a n d analyse the use o f language a n d images that r e p o r t o n n e w s w o r t h y events, h a p p e n i n g s a n d issues across a range of news outlets. W e r e c o g n i z e o f course, that there is a l o t o f v a r i e t y w i t h i n these k i n d s o f n e w s d i s c o u r s e - f o r e x a m p l e , newspapers i n c l u d e different sections (national/international/business/sports news). O n t e l e v i s i o n a n d r a d i o w e encounter news d o c u m e n t a r i e s , news a n d c u r r e n t a f f a i r s p r o g r a m m e s (e.g. Today Tonight (Seven n e t w o r k , A u s t r a l i a ) a n d Panorama ( B B C , U K ) ) , n e w s i n t e r v i e w s , o r investigative j o u r n a l i s m p r o g r a m m e s (e.g. N P R ' s All Things Considered (US) a n d Dateline (SBS, A u s t r a l i a ) ) . O n l i n e w e c a n c o m e across
INTRODUCTION
Headline
Picture gallery
H-<WlilliHafrliM--~-"
<
< "
"i
rerun
news/world/daniel-rockhouseand-russell-smiith-tell-ofescape-from-pike-river-mine/ story-e6f r e v O O - 1 2 2 5 9 5 8 2 1 3 6 8 2 -
[continues]
PRINT N E W S D I S C O U R S E
Headline
A u t h o r by-line Large picture left of text s h o w s a woman weeping. S m a l l e r picture in the top righthand corner s h o w s o n e young w o m a n w i t h her arm around the s h o u l d e r s of another y o u n g (image c r o p p e d ) woman.
A G R O W I N G f e e l i n g of h e l p l e s s n e s s , e v e n h o p e l e s s n e s s , is c r e e p i n g a c r o s s G r e y m o u t h , N e w Z e a l a n d , as fears rise that t i m e is fast running out for the 2 9 m e n t r a p p e d in the Pike River coal m i n e . A s t e n s i o n s rise in the t o u g h , tight-knit, w e s t c o a s t c o m m u n i t y , police w a r n that w o r r i e s about toxic g a s e s , fires a n d further e x p l o s i o n s are preventing t h e m f r o m r e s c u i n g the m e n , including t w o A u s t r a l i a n s , w h o have b e e n m i s s i n g s i n c e Friday a f t e r n o o n .
Source: ' A g o n i s i n g wait as a small t o w n rides a roller-coaster of e m o t i o n s ' , Sydney Morning Herald, 22 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 , p. 1
NEWS
DISCOURSE
Extract f r o m the Pike River mining disaster story, w h i c h w a s the s e c o n d story in the bulletin.
drill t o w a r d s 2 9 trapped m i n e r s
INTRODUCTION
in N e w Z e a l a n d . Authorities are hoping for the b e s t but preparing for the worst. w e are planning for the p o s s i b l e loss of life as a result of what's occurred underground' [music] Source: A B C News24, 2010 22 N o v e m b e r
n e w s blogs, T w i t t e r n e w s updates, G o o g l e n e w s , n e w s feeds, Y o u T u b e news v i d e o s , news v i a d i g g o r news websites. M o r e generally, there is b o t h m a i n s t r e a m news a n d alternative o r specialist n e w s , b o t h c o m m u n i t y / l o c a l , provincial/rural, regional, metropolitan, and national news, both paid n e w s (e.g. newspapers) a n d 'free' news (e.g. 'freesheets'). O u r m a i n focus i n this b o o k w i l l be o n the ' n e w s ' s e c t i o n of n a t i o n a l a n d m e t r o p o l i t a n p r i n t newspapers because this is w h e r e m o s t l i n g u i s t i c research to date has been d o n e . H o w e v e r , as m e n t i o n e d above, w e w i l l also discuss other news m e d i a f o r m s (e.g. o n l i n e , r a d i o ) . W h i l e w e w i l l n o t be able to e x p l o r e a l l different types of news d i s c o u r s e to the same extent, it is c l e a r l y i m p o r t a n t to r e c o g n i z e t h i s variety. A n o t h e r f o c u s of this b o o k is that w e l i m i t o u r d i s c u s s i o n to E n g l i s h s p e a k i n g news d i s c o u r s e of the ' W e s t e r n ' w o r l d ( U K , I r e l a n d , U S , C a n a d a , A u s t r a l i a , N Z ) , as there are t o o m a n y c r o s s - l i n g u i s t i c a n d c r o s s - c u l t u r a l differences to d o justice to news d i s c o u r s e i n other languages a n d cultures w i t h i n the scope of o u r d i s c u s s i o n . T h i s is also w h e r e o u r o w n research is situated. T h e r e is, h o w e v e r , a g r o w i n g n u m b e r of c r o s s - c u l t u r a l or c o m p a r a t i v e research projects, f o r i n s t a n c e c o m p a r i n g B r i t a i n , the U n i t e d States a n d G e r m a n y ( L a u e r b a c h 2 0 0 7 ) , B r i t a i n , the U n i t e d States a n d Italy ( H a a r m a n and L o m b a r d o 2009), Britain and Japan (Murata 2007), Britain a n d I t a l y (Semino 2 0 0 2 , P o u n d s 2010) to n a m e but a few. Research o n languages other t h a n E n g l i s h a n d o n E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e newspapers outside the above c o u n t r i e s also exists.
NEWS
DISCOURSE
news discourse. P u t s i m p l y , three reasons f o r such study are (1) there is a lot o f it; (2) it is easy to c o l l e c t e x a m p l e s of it; a n d (3) m o s t i m p o r t a n t l y , since we a l l spend a l o t of o u r t i m e c o n s u m i n g it, it has great p o t e n t i a l to exert considerable influence over us. I n the a c a d e m i c l i t e r a t u r e , it is w e l l d o c u m e n t e d that the p r o d u c t i o n a n d d i s t r i b u t i o n of n e w s discourse is i m m e n s e a n d that we spend a large p o r t i o n of o u r w a k i n g h o u r s a t t e n d i n g to the news m e d i a . Some w i l l even go as far as to suggest that n e w s is a n a d d i c t i o n (see L a m b l e 2 0 1 1 : 3). W e listen, w a t c h , r e a d a n d then share w i t h f a m i l y , friends a n d colleagues. S o m e t i m e s w e m a y m o d i f y o u r b e h a v i o u r , ideas a n d beliefs, based o n w h a t we have read o r h e a r d a n d i n this w a y we navigate o u r paths t h r o u g h o u r lives as members o f a p a r t i c u l a r s o c i a l g r o u p . T h i s also p o i n t s to the p o w e r of the m e d i a : the influence they exert b o t h o n o u r governments a n d m a j o r i n s t i t u t i o n s as w e l l as their a b i l i t y to shape o u r ideas a n d b e h a v i o u r s . In this b o o k w e s t u d y n e w s d i s c o u r s e f r o m a l i n g u i s t i c / s e m i o t i c perspective, a n d there are specific reasons b e h i n d this a p p r o a c h as w e l l . L i n g u i s t s a n d s o c i a l s e m i o t i c i a n s w o u l d argue that the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the p r o d u c e r s o f n e w s m e d i a , the i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d k e y figures that are s c r u t i n i z e d by t h e m a n d the audiences w h o c o n s u m e their end p r o d u c t s is a r e l a t i o n s h i p that is enacted p r i n c i p a l l y t h r o u g h s e m i o t i c resources - w o r d s , s o u n d s a n d images. T h e choices m a d e i n the use o f language a n d s o u n d s , i n the c a p t u r e a n d c o m p o s i t i o n of images a n d i n the layout a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n o f these o n the page o r the screen have m e a n i n g s , a n d these m e a n i n g s m a y have p o w e r f u l i m p a c t s . A l i n g u i s t i c / semiotic analysis o f these choices a n d the w a y s i n w h i c h they c o m b i n e c a n help us to discover the m e a n i n g p o t e n t i a l that lies b e h i n d the techniques used by news w o r k e r s i n t h e i r d a i l y c r a f t i n g of the n e w s d i s c o u r s e w e i m m e r s e ourselves i n . W e w i l l i n t r o d u c e o u r o w n research-based l i n g u i s t i c and s e m i o t i c f r a m e w o r k s i n C h a p t e r s 3, 6 a n d 7 i n this b o o k a n d h o p e to demonstrate h o w the a p p l i c a t i o n of s u c h f r a m e w o r k s c a n give us d e t a i l e d insights i n t o the w a y m e a n i n g s are d i s c u r s i v e l y c o n s t r u e d i n the n e w s . O t h e r chapters (e.g. C h a p t e r s 5, 8 a n d 9) also d e m o n s t r a t e h o w l o o k i n g at n e w s discourse t h r o u g h a l i n g u i s t i c a n d s e m i o t i c perspective t h r o w s l i g h t u p o n the c o n s t r u c t i o n of n e w s . A n o t h e r w a y i n w h i c h a linguistic/semiotic perspective m a y be u s e f u l is i n p r o v i d i n g detailed evidence f o r researchers i n other d i s c i p l i n e s , f o r e x a m p l e i n J o u r n a l i s m . A s p e c i a l issue o f Journalism Studies d e d i c a t e d to l a n g u a g e a n d j o u r n a l i s m ( R i c h a r d s o n 2 0 0 8 a ) explores this i n m o r e d e t a i l . I n d e e d , a systematic linguistic/semiotic analysis o f news discourse has the p o t e n t i a l to p r o v i d e u s e f u l u n d e r p i n n i n g s for research i n M e d i a / J o u r n a l i s m a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Studies - w h e t h e r that concerns the analysis of i d e o l o g i c a l p o s i t i o n i n g a n d p o w e r relations o r the analysis of news practice a n d n o r m s (cf. C h a p t e r 3 o n news values). T h e r e f o r e , c r o s s - d i s c i p l i n a r y research projects that include d e t a i l e d l i n g u i s t i c o r semiotic analyses c a n