The Language of News Media

An account of the language of the news media written by a man who is both a linguist and journalist. In Western countries we hear more language from the media than we do directly from others in conversation, and within the media, news is the primary language genre. The aim of this book is to explore this pervasive language, to ask what the patterns of media discourse tell us about language itself and what that language tells us about news and the media. The book emphasizes the importance of the processes which produce media language, as stories are moulded and modified by various hands. It stresses indeed that journalists and editors produce stories, not articles, with structure, order, viewpoint and values. It is concerned too with the role of the audience in influencing media language styles, and in understanding, forgetting or misconceiving the news presented to it. Located in the frameworks of sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, this book draws together research literature and adds its own observations based on the author's experience as both journalist and researcher.