Evaluation and Stance in War News: A Linguistic Analysis of American, British and Italian Television News Reporting of the 2003 Iraqi War

In a world in which advanced communication technologies have made the reporting of disasters and conflicts (also in the form of breaking news) a familiar and ‘normalised' activity, the information we present here about television news reporting of the 2003 war in Iraq has implications that go beyond this particular conflict. Evaluation and Stance in War News functions as a tool kit for the critical evaluation of language in the news, both as raw data in need of interpretation and as carefully packaged products of ‘information management' in need of ‘unpacking'. The chapters offer an array of theoretical and empirical instruments for revealing, identifying, sifting, weighing and connecting patterns of language use that construct messages. These messages carry with them world views and value systems that can either create an ever wider divide or serve to build bridges between peoples and countries.

In a world in which advanced communication technologies have made the reporting of disasters and conflicts (also in the form of breaking news) a familiar and ‘normalised' activity, the information we present here about television news reporting of the 2003 war in Iraq has implications that go beyond this particular conflict.

Evaluation and Stance in War News functions as a tool kit for the critical evaluation of language in the news, both as raw data in need of interpretation and as carefully packaged products of ‘information management' in need of ‘unpacking'. The chapters offer an array of theoretical and empirical instruments for revealing, identifying, sifting, weighing and connecting patterns of language use that construct messages. These messages carry with them world views and value systems that can either create an ever wider divide or serve to build bridges between peoples and countries.

Introduction, Haarman and Lombardo 1. Mark up and the narrative structure of TV news, Marchi (University of Siena and Cardiff University) and Venuti (University of Naples Frederico II, Italy) 2. The news presenter as socio-cultural construct, Lombardo (Luiss Guido Carli University, Italy) 3. The news presenter and the TV audience: a comparative perspective of the use of we and you, Ferrarotti (University of Rome, Italy) 4. Wide angles and narrow views: how the Iraq conflict was reported by embeds and other war zone reporters, Clark (University of Bologna, Italy) 5. Decoding codas: evaluation in reporter and correspondent news talk, Haarman (University of Bologna, Italy) 6. ‘If it wasn't rolling, it never happened': the role of visual elements in TV news, Lipson (University of Bologna, Italy) 7. News is reporting what was said: techniques and patterns of attribution, Piazza (University of Sussex, UK) Bibliography Index