Echo

Analysing language use in media

The following is a guide to assist students in analysing the language of the media.
This advice is intended to be of help to English and media students generally, but especially to those studying VCE English in years 11 and 12.
If you are following a particular course of study, your teacher's directions are always your most important source of information. Nothing suggested here should alter that.


The first steps
Identify the type of writing you are analysing. Is it a ...

a) news report?
b) comment or opinion?
c) editorial?


Key features of each type of media treatment

1. A news report:
a news report is meant to be neutral, that is, it should not be favouring any particular position on an issue. It should not be attempting to persuade you. Its purpose is to pass on information - the who, what, when, where, how of the news.

Most of the language devices used in a news report are intended to attract attention.

These attention-grabbing devices include:
  • short, dramatic headlines often including alliteration, puns or others sorts of verbal humour;
  • graphics - photographs, illustrations, cartoons; (Graphics generally have a focus, that is, a particular point they emphasis. Even photographs are usually cropped (or cut) and enlarged so that what the photo editor wants as the centre of attention occupies most of the frame)
  • short, often dramatic, sentences;
  • vivid, apparently factual information, for example, how many people were killed or injured in a particular accident or how much a particular project will cost and how big it will be;
  • vivid first person quotes from people involved; (Ideally these quotes should be balanced, so that people with opinions on both sides of a question are quoted)

    Please note: news reports are generally written in the third person, (The report is written about them, they, he, she, him, her. The reporter does not speak in the first person, I or me, and avoids giving an obvious opinion.)
    Writing in the third person is meant to give an appearance of objectivity or neutrality. It helps create the impression that the journalist is presenting the objective truth, rather than simply his or her opinion.

    BEWARE
    Though news reports are supposed to be objective, they are often not.
    News reports frequently present an opinion.
    Look for evidence of a slant or a bias in a news report.

    Devices that can slant a news report include:
  • slanted or biased headlines (headlines that suggest a positive or negative attitude to the report's subject)
  • an imbalance of quotes, where more column centimetres are given to one point of view than another.
  • the order of presentation of information or quotes. (Whatever is treated first in a news report tends to get most reader attention. Therefore if all the favourable facts or quotes are presented first this tends to slant the report.)
  • emotive language or language that appeals to the reader's emotions. These emotions include fear, pride, patriotism, greed, sympathy or compassion.
    Appeals to emotion are often made through value-laden language, that is, words that carry either positive or negative connotations about their subjects.


    2. Opinion pieces or comments:
    Opinion pieces or comments are not news reports. Their obvious aim is to persuade, to give a particular point of view.

    They are usually written by either
  • an expert, someone with specialised knowledge on the topic being discussed or
  • a regular commentator for the newspaper concerned.

    People such as Robert Manne, Jill Singer and Andrew Bolt are regular commentators for the newspapers for which they write. These commentators are generalists, that is, they are usually well informed people, often with their own special areas of interest or knowledge, but they frequently write on subjects about which they have no particular expertise.
    An expert commentator is usually more persuasive than a generalist commentator, because he or she has specialist knowledge in the particular field about which he or she is writing.
    However, even with specialist writers you need to be aware of the possibility of bias. Where they are using specialist writers, many newspapers will often print two comments on a particular issue, each one giving a different point of view. This is the newspaper's way of trying to ensure balance.

    Persuasive devices used in opinion pieces or comments
    Logical or reasoned argument.
  • One method of attempting to persuade readers is to present a series of reasonable arguments in support of a main contention. Such arguments tend to appeal to commonsense and are often supported by apparently factual evidence.
  • Another similar method is to consider the arguments offered by opponents and to demonstrate why they are unreasonable or faulted.
  • A commentator can criticise an opponent's definition of terms. For example, someone supporting abortion could object to opponents describing the practice as 'murder', by claiming that the term 'murder' cannot be used to describe abortion because a foetus is not a fully formed human life.
  • A commentator can also challenge the evidence offered by an opponent, and ask for specific sources, more explanation or greater detail.
    Any persuasive piece which attempts to show the shortcomings of opposing arguments in a rational, well-informed manner will tend to be effective because it will appear moderate and reasonable.

    Use of evidence.
    An argument will appear more persuasive if it is supported by evidence. Evidence ( apparently factual support for a claim) will be more effective if it appears reliable.

    Evidence is likely to appear reliable if it
  • is sourced (that is, if we know where it comes from);
  • comes from a reliable source, that is, one that is expert, relevant, current and unbiased;
  • is detailed;
  • is relevant
    (Please note: statistics tend to be persuasive because they give an appearance of accuracy. However, as with all supposedly factual evidence, they should be reliably sourced. Statistics can also be distorted, as we noted in Michael Carr-Gregg's piece on condoms in schools)

    Assertions (claims stated as fact but made without evidence to support them) and assumptions (hidden assertions, arguments based on unstated, unexamined and unsupported claims.)
    Example: 'As a mother, I object to any form of cruelty to children.'
    The assumption (or unstated claim) here is that mothers are more sensitive to issues of child cruelty than are other people. That may not be true and has not been supported.)

    Rhetorical questions (questions which allow only one answer) These are persuasive because they shape or manipulate the reader's response.

    Generalisations (statements made about a group, often on the basis of only one example.) Generalisations are more likely to be acceptable if qualified or limited. For example, Some Australians are racist is a more reasonable claim than All Australians are racist.

    Appeals to emotion
    Some of the emotions that can be appealed to are
  • greed/thrift (the desire to make or save money, sometimes referred to as an appeal to the hip-pocket nerve),
  • fear,
  • conservatism (fear of change/ respect for the past),
    pride/vanity,
  • patriotism (love of/ pride in one's country),
  • desire for conformity/acceptance,
  • desire for non-conformity (to be individual/different)
  • sympathy/compassion

    Value laden or emotive language.
    Appeals to emotion are often made in value-laden or emotive language.
    Here, words that are not neutral are used to describe someone or something.
    Example: an inventor could be described as a 'pathfinder' or a 'trailblazer'. These words both have positive connotations.
    The same person could be described as a 'maverick' or a 'ratbag'. These words both have negative connotations

    Tone (This is the overall attitude of the piece. It is a little like its emotional temperature.)
    Example: a quietly argued, reasonable piece could be described as having a moderate, subdued or restrained tone.
    A strongly argued piece could be described as having a confident, assertive or assured tone.
    A piece that was highly critical of its opponents could be described as having a mocking, belittling or disparaging tone toward them.
    A piece that seems to strain too hard and force its arguments on its reader could be described as having a heckling or strident tone.
    A piece that seems unsure of its overall position could be described as having an uncertain, ambiguous or hesitant tone.
    Other possible words you might use to describe tone, as appropriate, are: angry, indignant, defiant, belligerent, self-righteous, moralising, calm, rational, reasonable, considered
    You may describe the tone of a whole piece or of individual paragraphs and sentences within it.

    Exaggeration - though sometimes effective, this will not work if it is recognised for what it is

    Abusing opponents - again this is sometimes effective, but will not work if the reader recognises the abuse as irrelevant

    Opinion pieces are nearly always written in the first person; that is, the author speaks as I, me, my. The author is clearly giving his or her opinion on an issue.
    This can be very effective if
  • the author seems credible or believable,
  • the author's personal experience seems particularly relevant,
  • the author does not appear ill-informed, biased or confused.

    Establishing a common interest - Some opinion pieces try to draw the reader in by using words such as we and us (the second person). This is an attempt to have readers believe that the author shares their interests and is speaking for them.

    Colloquial language - this is using common terms or slang usage, usually in an attempt to appeal to an audience by establishing some common ground.

    Writing for a particular audience - Is a particular audience being appealed to? How?


    3. Editorials
    Editorials are very similar to opinion pieces or comments. Their aim is to express a point of view or to persuade.

    Unlike an opinion piece or a comment, an editorial does not have an identified author. The usual assumption is that an editorial is written by the newspaper's editor, the person with overall responsibility for the newspaper's content.

    In practice editorials are not always written by the newspaper's editor. They are, however, always written by senior staff on the paper and are meant to have the authority or prestige of the newspaper behind them. They represent the formal position of the newspaper on a particular issue.

    They are always published under the newspaper's banner.

    They are written in the third person. This usually makes them appear more objective and dispassionate.

    All the persuasive devices found in opinion pieces or comments can also be found in editorials.

    Editorials are usually, but by no means always, more moderate in tone than opinion pieces or comments.

    They very rarely are accompanied by either graphics or photographs.


    A final note.

    Early in your analysis you should establish the slant of a piece or its main contention.
    A main contention is the principal point a comment is trying to establish.

  • If a news report, does it have a slant or a stance on the question it deals with? What is this? How do you know?

  • If the piece is an editorial, comment or opinion piece does it have a clear main contention? What is this?

  • If there is no clear main contention, is this a problem, indicating confusion? Or a strength, indicating a thoughtful, even-handed exploration of the issue?