‘The moral in the story’: a diachronic investigation of lexicalised morality in the UK press

Corpora ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Marchi
Keyword(s):  
Recent History ◽  
Moral Issue ◽  
General Picture ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
The Press ◽  
Discourse Studies ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Access Patterns

In this paper, I explore the discourses surrounding whatever is explicitly identified as a moral issue in the SiBol corpora. This analysis is mainly diachronic but will combine a variety of parameters in order to access patterns of change/stability across different newspapers, within a single newspaper in time, across different news types, across topics and in the broader context of recent history. I adopt the Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS) 2 2 See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus-assisted_discourse_studies methodology – merging, and shunting between, quantitative and qualitative approaches. The analysis investigates morality-related lexical items, their collocations, the surrounding contexts, and the news items and topics they are framed within, in an attempt to offer a general picture of the topic, while also aiming to provide an in-depth understanding of what the press means or projects by moral.

scholarly journals Confronting the digital mob: Press coverage of online justice seeking

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 597-612
Author(s):  
Daniel Trottier
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Reports ◽  
The Press ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Uk

This article offers an exploratory account of press coverage of digitally mediated vigilantism. It considers how the UK press renders these events visible in a sustained and meaningful way. News reports and editorials add visibility to these events, and also make them more tangible when integrating content from social media platforms. In doing so, this coverage directs attention to a range of social actors, who may be perceived as responsible for these kinds of developments. In considering how other social actors are presented in relation to digital vigilantism, this study focusses on press accounts of those either initiating or being targeted by online denunciations, and also on a broader and often amorphous range of spectators to such events, often referred to as ‘internet mobs’. Relatedly, this article explores how specific practices related to digital vigilantism such as denunciation are expressed in press coverage, as well as coverage of motivations by the public to either participate or facilitate such practices. Reflecting on how the press represent mediated denunciation will illustrate not only how tabloids and broadsheets frame such practices, but also how they take advantage of connective and data-generating affordances associated with social platforms.

Prologue: Dinner in Laeken (1989)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Segers
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Recent History ◽  
German Unification ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Two Sides

The period immediately following the fall of the Berlin Wall is key to studying the Netherlands’ role in European integration. After a brief moment of paralysing doubt, this unbelievable turnaround was celebrated as a victory after Europe’s horrific recent history. But when the dust began to settle, the Netherlands found itself in an uneasy position. The Treaty of Maastricht (1992) made German unification and European integration ‘two sides of the same coin’, catapulting the Netherlands into a political situation comparable to that of the 1950s. On the euro’s debut, the country once again became part of a continental circle in which France and Germany set the pace while the UK, Denmark and Sweden wished the Netherlands luck from the sidelines.

Accession, Renegotiation, Referendum, 1973–1975

2020 ◽  
pp. 109-137
Author(s):  
Stephen Wall
Keyword(s):  
Labour Party ◽  
General Election ◽  
First Year ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
The Press ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Year Of Europe

The first year of Britain’s EEC membership did not run smoothly. The Americans unilaterally declared it ‘the Year of Europe’. Heath was accused by Kissinger of destroying the special relationship. The Arab–Israeli war caused an oil crisis in which the UK, relatively unscathed, did not help her partners. Early in 1974, Heath lost a General Election and was replaced by Wilson. Wilson and Foreign Secretary Callaghan faced a divided Cabinet and Labour Party as they set about renegotiating the terms of Britain’s EEC membership. The improvements they secured, after a second General Election in October 1974, were slight but enough to get the deal through the Cabinet. Labour Ministers campaigned in the referendum on opposite sides, but support for remaining from all the main Party leaders and the Press helped secure a significant majority for staying.

language is drawn from a range of sources (see Figures 2.4 and 2.5, above) and given a new target domain. But it is the hearer/reader who makes the ultimate connections. That such language is used in politics is not surprising. Politicians seek to persuade by all means possible and, as Aristotle remarked, persuasive language is used to effect by the introduction of figurative language. Such language is only one aspect of rhetoric, but, as this extract demonstrates, it is a powerful aspect. Lawyers and the judiciary will always state that emotional and poetic language has no place in the courtroom, in the language of law. Part of the rationale for this is that poetic and emotional language can exercise much power and in matters of innocence and guilt it is surely more just to rely on rationality not emotion. This view can be particularly traced back to the insistence by Francis Bacon who, in the 17th century, insisted that law must be seen to have an objective, scientific, rational methodology. However, it is impossible for there to be a pure science of law given its necessary reliance on language, and the imprecision of language. Therefore, often it is the appeal to the rational neutrality of the science of legal decision making that is misleading. Figurative language is often used in the courtroom despite the view that it is inappropriate, as extracts 2 and 3 illustrate (in Figures 2.7 and 2.9, below, respectively). 2.5.2.2 Extracts 2 and 3: Lord Justice Comyn in Orme v Associated Newspapers Group Inc (1981) Figure 2.7: extract 2—Lord Justice Comyn summing up in Orme v Associated Newspapers Group Inc (1981) (This case was a defamation case involving membership of the Unification Church. Orme is the UK Director of the church.) This is not a battle between the freedom of religion and the freedom of the press; two freedoms which we treasure greatly. This is rather a battle of right and wrong. Has the Daily Mail infringed the plaintiff’s right to a good, clean reputation, or has the plaintiff Mr Orme in all the circumstances no right to any reputation at all in this case because of what he and his organisation have done and do? Was the Daily Mail wrong about its allegations in its article? Was it wrong about its allegations during this case? Or was the plaintiff wrong; was the plaintiff giving a false picture? That is what it is, members of the jury, not a battle between freedom of the press and freedom of religion, but a battle of right and wrong. This extract is useful as an illustration of language techniques, repetition, figurative language (particularly, metaphor) in action; as well providing the basis for a necessarily limited discussion of what the function of these techniques may be. It is set out again below, with phrases and sentences numbered for discussion purposes.

2012 ◽  
pp. 38-38
Keyword(s):  
Figurative Language ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Francis Bacon ◽  
Target Domain ◽  
Daily Mail ◽  
Unification Church ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Church

Manufacturing Consent in Venezuela: Media Misreporting of a Country, 1998–2014

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-290
Author(s):  
Alan MacLeod
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Propaganda Model ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Uk

This article assesses Western news media coverage of Venezuela between 1998 and 2014. It found that the major newspapers in the UK and US reproduce the ideology of Western governments, ignoring strong empirical evidence challenging those positions. The press portrayed Venezuela in an overwhelmingly negative light, presenting highly contested minority opinions as facts while barely mentioning competing arguments, as Herman and Chomsky’s (2002) propaganda model would predict. After conducting interviews, it is clear that a small cadre of pre-selected journalists is immersed into a highly antagonistic newsroom culture that sees itself as the “resistance” to the Venezuelan government and its purpose to defeat it. As a result, hegemony of thought reigns and some journalists report self-censorship.

History of the Press in Equatorial Guinea in the 20th Century: Periodicals Published in Equatorial Guinea 1901–2000

2015 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. vii-xxix
Author(s):  
Carlos González Echegaray
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Equatorial Guinea ◽  
Recent History ◽  
The Press ◽  
Bibliographic Data ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Parallel Action

No one today doubts that the press is an essential tool to know and understand recent history of countries and nations. And not just from the standpoint of politics and economics but also of everyday life, reflected in these types of publications, sometimes undervalued by historians and others. The evolution of the press in developed countries has been the subject of several studies. A parallel action is needed for the still recently established African states, paying special attention to the post-independence period. For this research an inventory of the titles of those publications is essential, as well as bibliographic data that can be documented.

scholarly journals Evolving Responsibility or Revolving Bias? The Role of the Media in the Anti-Sugar Debate in the UK Press

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Topić ◽  
Ralph Tench
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
The Press ◽  
Supermarket Industry ◽  
The Media ◽  
British Press ◽  
The Uk

This paper analyzed the coverage on the anti-sugar debate and the supermarket industry in the British press, in a period between 2014 and 2015. Using social responsibility of the press theory and a qualitative two-tier content analysis, we first conducted a documentary analysis of public relations materials (press releases and surveys published by Action on Sugar as a main anti-sugar advocate in the UK), and then we traced these public relations materials in the press coverage. We also analyzed whether some sources are preferred more than others by focusing on the nature of quoted sources and whether the media give a voice to everyone, both the anti-sugar activists and the relevant industry figures who claim that sugar is not the only reason for the current obesity problem in the UK. The results show that the media have not given a representative voice to the industry but only to the anti-sugar NGOs, thus opening a question of journalism standards and the extent the press could be considered as socially responsible in this particular case.

Channel 4 and the Red Triangle: A Case Study in Film Curation and Censorship on Television

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-498
Author(s):  
Justin Smith
Keyword(s):  
Audience Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Feature Film ◽  
Home Video ◽  
Film And Television ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Autumn And Winter

This article charts the history of an experiment, conducted during the autumn and winter of 1986–7, in which Channel 4 trialled an on-screen visual warning symbol to accompany screenings of a series of international art-house films. The so-called ‘red triangle’ experiment, though short-lived, will be considered as a case study for exploring a number of related themes. Firstly, it demonstrates Channel 4's commitment during the 1980s to fulfilling its remit to experiment and innovate in programme form and content, in respect of its acquired feature film provision. Channel 4's acquisitions significantly enlarged the range of international classic and art-house cinema broadcast on British television. Secondly, it reflects contemporary tensions between the new broadcaster, its regulator the IBA, campaigners for stricter censorship of television and policy-makers. The mid-1980s was a period when progressive developments in UK film and television culture (from the rise of home video to the advent of Channel 4 itself) polarised opinions about freedom and regulation, which were greatly exacerbated by the press. Thirdly, it aims to shed light on the paradox that, while over thirty years of audience research has consistently revealed the desire on the part of television viewers for an on-screen ratings system, the UK is not among some forty countries that currently employ such devices on any systematic basis. In this way the history of a specific advisory experiment may be seen to have a bearing on current policy trends.

The changing discourses on antisemitism in the UK press from 1993 to 2009

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Partington
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
British Politics ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
National Quality ◽  
Close Textual Analysis ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Discourse Studies ◽  
Complete Set ◽  
The Uk

This paper examines the discourses relating to antisemitism in the three leading UK national “quality” newspapers from 1993 to 2009. To this end, three corpora were compiled, each consisting of the complete set of instances in context in these papers where antisemitism is mentioned, the first from 1993 the others from 2005 and 2009. Considerable changes were noted between the discourses in the earlier corpus compared to the later ones. In the first, the majority of discourses were either historical and/or literary-artistic (typically discussing whether a particular writer or artist had been antisemitic) or, if they were related to contemporary society, they were discussions of potential or reported antisemitism outside the UK, especially in Eastern Europe. In the later corpora, however, there is much more discussion about a perceived resurgence of antisemitism in the UK and Western Europe. After an overview of these changing patterns, particularly controversial recent cases of alleged antisemitism in British politics are discussed. The methodology of this research combines corpus-analysis techniques with more traditional close textual analysis, characteristic of corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS: Stubbs 1996, Partington 2008).

Welfare restrictions and ‘benefit tourists’: Representations and evaluations of EU migrants in the UK

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deanna Demetriou
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Newspapers ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Public Comment ◽  
Critical Discourse Studies ◽  
Discourse Studies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Discourse Historical Approach

Abstract This article investigates online representations and evaluations of EU migrants, focusing on the notion of ‘benefit tourism’ and discursive strategies used in the (de)legitimization of new welfare restrictions in the UK. Through the examination of online newspapers and corresponding public comment threads, this article adopts theoretical and methodological premises from Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), drawing upon the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA) to provide both a politically motivated as well as reflexive account. Although new participatory structures allow for resistance to emerge, the openness, scalability and anonymity of the internet also allows for the spread of discrimination through the construction of EU migrants (in particular Bulgarians and Romanians) as the ‘Other’.

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