8. Who's speaking?: Evidentiality in US newspapers during the 2004 presidential campaign
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Gregory Garretson
Abstract
We examine a corpus of texts drawn from 11 US newspapers and related to the 2004 US presidential election, focusing on hearsay evidentiality, the reporting of what one has heard from others. Motivated by the general question of whether bias exists in news reporting, we analyze the sources to whom statements in the corpus are attributed, in order to determine who gets to speak through the press, and whether there is balance between the two sides in this election. We also examine the ways in which speech is reported, asking questions about the use of direct vs. indirect speech, the explicitness of source identification, and the effects that the choice of reporting word can have on the portrayal of a source. Although we find slight evidence of an apparent preference for one candidate or the other in certain papers, overall we find no statistically significant differences that could be construed as bias.
Abstract
We examine a corpus of texts drawn from 11 US newspapers and related to the 2004 US presidential election, focusing on hearsay evidentiality, the reporting of what one has heard from others. Motivated by the general question of whether bias exists in news reporting, we analyze the sources to whom statements in the corpus are attributed, in order to determine who gets to speak through the press, and whether there is balance between the two sides in this election. We also examine the ways in which speech is reported, asking questions about the use of direct vs. indirect speech, the explicitness of source identification, and the effects that the choice of reporting word can have on the portrayal of a source. Although we find slight evidence of an apparent preference for one candidate or the other in certain papers, overall we find no statistically significant differences that could be construed as bias.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- 1. The challenges of different settings: An overview 1
-
Section I. Exploring discourse in academic settings
- 2. '…post-colonialism, multi-culturalism, structuralism, feminism, post-modernism and so on and so forth' : A comparative analysis of vague category markers in academic discourse 9
- 3. Emphatics in academic discourse: Integrating corpus and discourse tools in the study of cross-disciplinary variation 31
- 4. Interaction, identity and culture in academic writing: The case of German, British and American academics in the humanities 57
-
Section II. Exploring discourse in workplace settings
- 5 . 'Got a date or something?': A corpus analysis of the role of humour and laughter in the workplace meetings of English language teachers 95
- 6. Determining discourse-based moves in professional reports 117
- 7. // --> ONE country two SYStems //: The discourse intonation patterns of word associations 135
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Section III. Exploring discourse in news and entertainment
- 8. Who's speaking?: Evidentiality in US newspapers during the 2004 presidential campaign 157
- 9. Television dialogue and natural conversation: Linguistic similarities and functional differences 189
- 10. A corpus approach to discursive construction of hip-hop identity 211
-
Section IV. Exploring discourse through specific linguistic features
- 11. The use of the it-cleft construction in 19th-century English 243
- 12. Place and time adverbials in native and non-native English student writing 267
- Author index 289
- Corpus and tools index 291
- Subject index 293
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- 1. The challenges of different settings: An overview 1
-
Section I. Exploring discourse in academic settings
- 2. '…post-colonialism, multi-culturalism, structuralism, feminism, post-modernism and so on and so forth' : A comparative analysis of vague category markers in academic discourse 9
- 3. Emphatics in academic discourse: Integrating corpus and discourse tools in the study of cross-disciplinary variation 31
- 4. Interaction, identity and culture in academic writing: The case of German, British and American academics in the humanities 57
-
Section II. Exploring discourse in workplace settings
- 5 . 'Got a date or something?': A corpus analysis of the role of humour and laughter in the workplace meetings of English language teachers 95
- 6. Determining discourse-based moves in professional reports 117
- 7. // --> ONE country two SYStems //: The discourse intonation patterns of word associations 135
-
Section III. Exploring discourse in news and entertainment
- 8. Who's speaking?: Evidentiality in US newspapers during the 2004 presidential campaign 157
- 9. Television dialogue and natural conversation: Linguistic similarities and functional differences 189
- 10. A corpus approach to discursive construction of hip-hop identity 211
-
Section IV. Exploring discourse through specific linguistic features
- 11. The use of the it-cleft construction in 19th-century English 243
- 12. Place and time adverbials in native and non-native English student writing 267
- Author index 289
- Corpus and tools index 291
- Subject index 293
