In this timely and important study Martin Montgomery unpicks the inside workings of what must still be considered the dominant news medium: broadcast news. Drawing principally on linguistics, but multidisciplinary in its scope, The Discourse of Broadcast News demonstrates that news programmes are as much about showing as telling, as much about ordinary bystanders as about experts, and as much about personal testimony as calling politicians to account.

Using close analysis of the discourse of television and radio news, the book reveals how important conventions for presenting news are changing, with significant consequences for the ways audiences understand its truthfulness. Fully illustrated with examples and including detailed examination of the high profile case of ex-BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan, The Discourse of Broadcast News provides a comprehensive study which will challenge our current assumptions about the news. The Discourse of Broadcast News will be a key resource for anyone researching the news, whether they be students of language and linguistics, media studies or communication studies.

About the Author
University of Strathclyde, UK

Reviews

'In this accessible and thought-provoking book, Martin Montgomery explores the everyday discourse practices of broadcast news. Compared to other forms of mass communication, broadcast news is much closer to the real time co-presence of speech, so the models and frameworks required to understand it, as Montgomery capably demonstrates, are of a different order to those required for the understanding of print media. Richly illuminated with a range of textual examples, and written with typical lucidity, Montgomery guides us through the discursive system of news media, developing the key models and frameworks needed for the analysis of its dominant mode of dissemination - broadcasting. The result is a coherent, rigorous and structured account of the anatomy and function of this endemic verbal practice. As a study of broadcast news in particular, this book is the first of its kind; as a study of media discourse in general, this book is undoubtedly the best of its kind.' Paul Simpson, Queen's University, Belfast, UK

'The only show in town! The best and broadest account of the language of broadcast news for critical audiences.' Martin Conboy, Sheffield University, UK

Book Information
ISBN 9780415358729
Author Martin Montgomery
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 490g