The Language of Journalism

Reviews / Votes

The Language of Journalism's impressive theoretical analysis will satisfy the most demanding scholar, while its clarity of purpose and expression will also enlighten those new to the subject. Higgins and Smith's critical analysis is clearly linked to appropriate and interesting empirical examples; extraordinarily useful for scholars, teachers and students. The book is essential reading for any serious student of the power of language and its use within all aspects of journalism. -- Mick Temple, Professor of Journalism & Politics, Staffordshire University, UK, Co-editor, Journalism Education; Co-convener, Media & Politics Group, PSA This book is a pleasure to read. Its pages brim with ideas that will challenge students and professors alike. The authors are to be commended for their critical appraisal of the language of journalism. Readers are brought to the core of understanding journalism with a focus on the place of language in how stories are built and understood. Key concepts and the techniques of language and discourse analysis are outlined before the authors dissect the role of language in broadcast, print and online journalism. They make a very strong case for why language is central to unraveling the conundrum of what we understand journalism to be today. -- Kevin Rafter, Senior Lecturer in Political Communication & Associate Dean for Research, Dublin City University, Ireland Through rich analysis of examples from contemporary journalism, this book does an excellent job of introducing readers to analysis of journalistic language. The authors achieve the difficult task of introducing readers to discourse analysis while also remaining firmly focused on the value of that in understanding our media, from the way live news achieves its appeal to how readers of consumer magazines are invited to make sense of themselves. Above all, the book gives readers a wide range of tools to think in greater depth about the way journalism's textual practice constructs versions of our world. -- Donald Matheson, Senior Lecturer, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Canterbury, NZ Angela Smith and Dr. Michael Higgins explore the media's use of language to purposely and inadvertently maintain the societal status quo. The chapters are clearly organized with plenty of subheadings throughout and a labeled conclusion, which, again, could be helpful for students. It would be a good reading for use in an introductory media and society course...It, thus, provides a useful contribution to our academic field. -- Alyssa Appelman, Pennsylvania State University * Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly *