A CENTURY OF NEWS DISCOURSE

This paper traces the development of news discourse across the 20th century ihrough a case study ofthe coverage of three expeditions to the South Pole: Captain Scott in 1912, Sir Edmund Hillary in 1958, and Peter Hillary in 1999. The way the news about the three expeditions reached New Zealand media...

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Main Author: Allan Bell
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Murcia 2003-05-01
Series:International Journal of English Studies (IJES)
Subjects:
Online Access:http://revistas.um.es/ijes/article/view/48651
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author Allan Bell
author_facet Allan Bell
author_sort Allan Bell
collection DOAJ
description This paper traces the development of news discourse across the 20th century ihrough a case study ofthe coverage of three expeditions to the South Pole: Captain Scott in 1912, Sir Edmund Hillary in 1958, and Peter Hillary in 1999. The way the news about the three expeditions reached New Zealand media serves as a framework and an illustration to examine three related issues: how technology has changed the time and place dimensions of news delivery; the consequent and concomitant shifts in news presentation; and associated changes in how humans have understood time and place. News values remain the same at a broad level across the century, but different in detail. Nationalism is obtrusive, but its focus shifts. In news practice, the deadline and the scoop drive the news in al1 three periods, but the scooping medium shifts from press to radio to television. The lapse between an event and its reporting shrinks exponentially from months to hours to minutes. The design of newspaper front pages changes radically, and news language compresses. There are social impacts, with newsworthy figures receiving closer exposure and the audience being cast in a more voyeuristic role.
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spelling doaj.art-563bef3103b74463b5c4e829540e1c112022-12-22T02:15:53ZengUniversidad de MurciaInternational Journal of English Studies (IJES)1578-70442003-05-013118920810.6018/ijes.3.1.48651A CENTURY OF NEWS DISCOURSEAllan BellThis paper traces the development of news discourse across the 20th century ihrough a case study ofthe coverage of three expeditions to the South Pole: Captain Scott in 1912, Sir Edmund Hillary in 1958, and Peter Hillary in 1999. The way the news about the three expeditions reached New Zealand media serves as a framework and an illustration to examine three related issues: how technology has changed the time and place dimensions of news delivery; the consequent and concomitant shifts in news presentation; and associated changes in how humans have understood time and place. News values remain the same at a broad level across the century, but different in detail. Nationalism is obtrusive, but its focus shifts. In news practice, the deadline and the scoop drive the news in al1 three periods, but the scooping medium shifts from press to radio to television. The lapse between an event and its reporting shrinks exponentially from months to hours to minutes. The design of newspaper front pages changes radically, and news language compresses. There are social impacts, with newsworthy figures receiving closer exposure and the audience being cast in a more voyeuristic role.http://revistas.um.es/ijes/article/view/48651news discourselanguage changenews technologynews presentationtime and place reorganisationglobalisationantarcticasouth poleScott
spellingShingle Allan Bell
A CENTURY OF NEWS DISCOURSE
International Journal of English Studies (IJES)
news discourse
language change
news technology
news presentation
time and place reorganisation
globalisation
antarctica
south pole
Scott
title A CENTURY OF NEWS DISCOURSE
title_full A CENTURY OF NEWS DISCOURSE
title_fullStr A CENTURY OF NEWS DISCOURSE
title_full_unstemmed A CENTURY OF NEWS DISCOURSE
title_short A CENTURY OF NEWS DISCOURSE
title_sort century of news discourse
topic news discourse
language change
news technology
news presentation
time and place reorganisation
globalisation
antarctica
south pole
Scott
url http://revistas.um.es/ijes/article/view/48651
work_keys_str_mv AT allanbell acenturyofnewsdiscourse
AT allanbell centuryofnewsdiscourse