Post by ENGAGE administrator on Mar 10, 2013 19:39:50 GMT -5
Don't miss out this event!
Steve Clayman, professor of sociology at UCLA will give a a talk titled "Question Design and the Sociopolitical Landscape: Policing the Boundaries of the Mainstream" (Abstract below) on Tuesday, March 26 at 3 p.m. in BRNG B222.
Professor's Clayman research connects the disciplines of Communication, Sociology, and Political Science through the study of everyday language practices.
Abstract
Journalism and news media research has focused primarily on the news story as a data source, while other significant modes of journalistic practice have been overlooked. In previous work, using longitudinal data drawn from presidential news conferences, I have demonstrated that question design can be a particularly revealing window into the culture of journalism, the evolution of press-state relations, and the broader sociopolitical landscape.
In this paper, using both press conference and broadcast news interview data, the focus will be on an unexamined manifestation of the journalist’s watchdog role, namely the questions through which journalists elicit opinion and policy pronouncements from politicians. This form of questioning tests how far from the mainstream politicians are willing to go on the issues of the day. The analysis anatomizes the general features of political positioning questions, and demonstrates that ostensibly neutral information-seeking questions implicitly portray politicians as moderate, controversial, or extreme in their views. It also documents a recurrent tension surrounding relatively marginal or extreme views, which tend to be avoided or treated cautiously by politicians, but are pursued vigorously by journalists. The broader ramifications for how journalists police the boundaries of the sociopolitical mainstream, and how both journalists and politicians collaboratively construct those selfsame boundaries, are also developed.
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Create an account with ENGAGE to stay in touch with your Purdue peers who have similar research interests. Find co-authors for research from across the campus via ENGAGE.
Steve Clayman, professor of sociology at UCLA will give a a talk titled "Question Design and the Sociopolitical Landscape: Policing the Boundaries of the Mainstream" (Abstract below) on Tuesday, March 26 at 3 p.m. in BRNG B222.
Professor's Clayman research connects the disciplines of Communication, Sociology, and Political Science through the study of everyday language practices.
Abstract
Journalism and news media research has focused primarily on the news story as a data source, while other significant modes of journalistic practice have been overlooked. In previous work, using longitudinal data drawn from presidential news conferences, I have demonstrated that question design can be a particularly revealing window into the culture of journalism, the evolution of press-state relations, and the broader sociopolitical landscape.
In this paper, using both press conference and broadcast news interview data, the focus will be on an unexamined manifestation of the journalist’s watchdog role, namely the questions through which journalists elicit opinion and policy pronouncements from politicians. This form of questioning tests how far from the mainstream politicians are willing to go on the issues of the day. The analysis anatomizes the general features of political positioning questions, and demonstrates that ostensibly neutral information-seeking questions implicitly portray politicians as moderate, controversial, or extreme in their views. It also documents a recurrent tension surrounding relatively marginal or extreme views, which tend to be avoided or treated cautiously by politicians, but are pursued vigorously by journalists. The broader ramifications for how journalists police the boundaries of the sociopolitical mainstream, and how both journalists and politicians collaboratively construct those selfsame boundaries, are also developed.
==========================================
Create an account with ENGAGE to stay in touch with your Purdue peers who have similar research interests. Find co-authors for research from across the campus via ENGAGE.
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