Attribution: speech and thought representation Bringing other voices into a text

Voices in the text We know that most articles have an authorial voice This is signalled by the byline in news reports and op-eds, and by an indication that it is the voice of the newspaper in editorials (e.g. The Sun says or Voice of the Mirror) Authorial voices can call on other voices to support their arguments or to make some rhetorical point or evaluation

Attribution and evaluation By choosing to include another voice the author is already evaluating this voice as relevant to his/her argument, along with any other subjective evaluations being made. The way in which the author references these voices can also be a way of evaluating them, their message, or other protagonists and reactions. It is important to recognise who is responsible for the evaluations expressed in a text, which are the voices being given space and how their speech or thoughts are represented

Analysing attribution To do this we need to be aware of The voice : whose, words, speech acts or thoughts are being represented and who is taking responsibility? The speech signal: how is the voice being signalled? The message: the content and form of what has been said or attributed Attitude: is the author expressing any attitude to the other speaker or his/her message?

speech acts Much political activity is done through language and performative documents or texts which represent these speech acts are important sources for journalists. Often they are the trigger for a news story. The protagonists of events react to this activity and speech acts, mostly by producing other speech acts. These reactions are part of the news story (see structure of news reports)

Indirect reporting of speech acts “Indirect reports signal more clearly the reason for reporting the speech. Speakers can manipulate the use of these forms in such a way as to achieve a variety of social ends.” John Lucy E.g. Newspaper reports interpreted the remarks as a direct attack on the duchess. Cameron brands Mantel

Reporting signals These are mostly verbs with the most common being said, says Text nouns can also signal a speech report, such as: announcement, discussion, report, accusation, criticism, comment, complaint there can be other signals such as allegedly, or impersonal constructions such as it is claimed that, it was said that, according to X.

Evaluations and attributions The author can express evaluations of the speaker or the message in a number of ways By choices in the way the source is specified, by the attributes of the source For example anonymous sources have less authority than named sources Sources which have a defined institutional role have more authority than ordinary individuals and the choice of which roles get a voice is significant The author can choose to select characteristics which form evaluations (e.g. Beppe Grillo, a comedian, claims… or pretty 19 year old mother of two Jane smith said ….)

Points of view Usually a journalist will attempt to get more than one point of view by quoting different protagonists in a conflict or a political spectrum, e.g government and opposition (see article about women bishops) Sometimes the choice to represent a number of reactions from the same side in the form of quotations reveals an official position which has been taken (eg. Government sources)

Sound bites – choral responses “A team of briefers work with Blair to prepare for Prime Minister’s Question Time,they then provide briefing on the lines and phrases to any senior politician appearing on Question Time, Any Questions etc. Written briefings are sent out to all MP’s so they know the phrases to use and the line to take.” (Clare Short) Priming

Political textual practices on-message responses known as ‘singing from the same hymn-sheet’ (a blurring of addresser, message and timing, and blurring of attribution). Flooding clusters into the discourse for forced priming (like advertising) through sound bites which are essentially brief and memorable

Signals with evaluation By choices in the reporting signal which can express attitudes about the truth value of the message or the speaker (words like rumour, alleged suggest a lack of conviction about the truth of the message) Reporting verbs or adverbials can indicate characteristics of the way something is said or the emotional state of the speaker (shout, stutter, mumble, firmly, politely, hyterically, Visibly moved)

The choice of representing the actual words a person has used (signalled by the use of speech marks “ “ ) signifies that the author considers them relevant and worth reproducing exactly, this can also signal that the author does not take responsibility for the wording but is simply reporting or it may be to give a more vivid or dramatic account

The choice to represent the speech by means of a paraphrase or summary rather than direct speech, assimilating the speech report in the text without any separation means that the author is controlling the way the speech is represented by using his/her own words. This can often be evaluative. (e.g his ambiguous apology, in an emotional rant,)

Privileged access Thought representation is used in much the same way as speech representation but it is always the result of interpretation by the author as it is difficult to really know what a person thinks, to have access to mental processes, or to be able to confirm or deny the truth value

Critical analysis As well as being able to identify the various choices it is important to consider the effect of such choices and the accumulative effect of choices made throughout an article. A single choice may not be significant but an accumulation of choices building up to a particular evaluative position become salient As well as identifying voice, signal message and attitude you need to ask why the choices were made and for what effect?