The press and political controversy: The case for narrative analysis

Cornfield, Michael

doi:10.1080/10584609.1992.9962933

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Here the notion of the hegemonic power of news is introduced: whose story is being told and how does it affect its readers or viewers? While some scholars have explored the "ritual" (Carey 1975) and thus consoling function journalism may fulfill during tragedy (Gutsche and Salkin 2013;Kitch 2002Kitch , 2003, far more often the "journalism as myth-making" repertoire involves a critical stance toward journalists and the disempowering effects of their coverage on society (e.g., Bennett and Edelman 1985;Cornfield 1992;Ettema and Glasser 1988;Knight and Dean 1982;Lule 2001;Nossek and Berkowitz 2006;Winch 2005).…”

Section: Journalism As Myth-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Truthful or Engaging?

Kormelink

Meijer

2015

Digital Journalism

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Storytelling is hyped as an instrument to attract audiences, but its potential to engage simultaneously makes it a source of criticism and concern. The debate seems stuck between what the profession of journalism is supposed to be about (facts, objectivity, truth-telling), and the way these ideals are threatened by the trend of engaging users. In this article we explore how it is possible that the discussion about journalism and storytelling seems to have made little progress over many decades. The problem, we argue, is that the discussion appears to take place in the same discursive space, but in actuality takes its cues from several distinctive repertoires, which are in themselves coherent and make sense but when played off against each other create false oppositions that do little justice to the arguments made on both sides. We will try to open up and enlarge the discursive space to talk about storytelling in the context of journalism by showing how both terms function differently in seven distinct repertoires. This maneuver should enable us to move forward the analysis, the value, the function, and the conceptual development of journalistic storytelling.

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Section: Journalism As Myth-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Truthful or Engaging?

Kormelink

Meijer

2015

Digital Journalism

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“…Goodnight’s (1991) call for more research on controversy has attracted scholarly attention. Cornfield (1992, p. 47) introduced a narrative analysis methodology to examine the impact and representations of media on political controversies. In addition, Olson and Goodnight (1994) offered a critical approach on how to read social controversy to allow critical inquiry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies (e.g., Carmer, 2011; Cornfield, 1992; Johnson & Johnson, 1979, 1989, 2007, 2014; Porto, 2007; Tenenboim-Weinblatt, 2013) examined how to form and design controversies excluding the role of linguistic choices, which, as van Dijk (1998, p. 25) asserts, “effectively emphasize or de-emphasize political attitudes and opinions, garner support, manipulate public opinion, manufacture political consent, or legitimate political power.” In an attempt to contribute to the available literature on controversial discourse, the current study is interested in how to subdue controversies through representations. Through representations, meanings are created, roles are assigned, and attitudes are formed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controversy and Discourse: The Arts of Transforming Negativity Through Transitivity

Alharbi

2021

Sage Open

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Controversial topics make discourse complicated and hard to construct. However, through selected linguistic tools, the negativity of controversies can be subdued and reconstructed successfully. In this study, Halliday’s Transitivity System and van Leeuwen’s role allocation were utilized to show how speakers construct social actors in such a discourse to experientially reconstruct controversial topics without evoking negative feelings or creating conflicts. This study examined Jared Kushner’s interview on the peace deal to show how such a controversial topic was constructed. It was noted that Kushner utilized three tools. He (1) foregrounded noncontroversial participants and backgrounded controversial ones, (2) identified actions of noncontroversial participants and suppressed the actions of those who are controversial, and (3) activated positive aspects and passivated negative aspects. In doing so, Kushner evaded controversial arguments by selectively representing participants and their social roles to achieve strategic goals, for example, obtaining a positive response, subduing negativity, and eventually may succeed in encouraging his audience to listen or consider his view.

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The Story of an Emerging Energy Issue: National Television News Coverage of Fracking in the United States

Cunningham

2018

Environmental Communication

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The press and political controversy: The case for narrative analysis

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

Truthful or Engaging?

Truthful or Engaging?

Controversy and Discourse: The Arts of Transforming Negativity Through Transitivity

The Story of an Emerging Energy Issue: National Television News Coverage of Fracking in the United States

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