Skip to Content

Department of Linguistics

Current Research Projects

Reporting war: mapping meaning and the potential for bias in the news

Welcome to the "Reporting war: mapping meaning and the potential for bias" project website. This project is funded through the Macquarie University Research Fellowship scheme. The project team combines expertise in linguistics, computational linguistics, media and journalism, and Middle Eastern politics and history. The project developed out of an ongoing project called "Discourses of War", based at the Centre for Language in Social Life

 

 

Project team

Mentor: Professor Christian Matthiessen, Chair, Dept of Linguistics

Postdoctoral Fellow: Dr Annabelle Lukin

Computational linguist: Dr Wu Canzhong

Researcher: Ms Kathryn Tuckwell

Media Consultant: Peter Manning, Adjunct Professor of Journalism, UTS, and former Head of News and Current Affairs at ABC and 7 Network

Middle East Expert: Dr Andrew Vincent, Director, Centre for Middle Eastern and North African Studies

Linguistic consultant: Emeritus Professor Ruqaiya Hasan

[Back to top]

Project aims

The interdisciplinary nature of the project is reflected in the aims of the project, which go across four domains:

  1. understanding media bias
  2. studying the reporting of war
  3. linguistic modelling of media reports
  4. combining media studies and linguistic methodologies for the analysis of media texts

1. Aims: understanding media bias

Current approaches to understanding media bias are sensitive only to particular words or phrases taken to be ‘biased’ by some individual or section of a community. But single, or even sets, of individual instances of words or phrases do not provide a view of the ‘climate’ of meanings which create our experience of war. This ‘climate’ is the effect of the accumulation of the many instances of news reports which each of us hears and reads. By examining the patterns of grammatical and semantic choices and the selection of visual images, the project will develop a semiotic map (i.e. a map of meaning patterns) of how war is reported. This map will reveal the selectiveness of all forms of news reporting (i.e. both ‘factual’ news reports and ‘commentary’ or feature style pieces), by examining the dimensions of choice available in creating a news report of war. This ‘cartographic’ approach permits the specification not only of the selections made in news reports of war, but also enables the mapping of meanings which might have been, but were not selected, or which are, across a large corpus, under-represented. It is only through understanding this ‘climate’ of meanings that we can move towards an empirical, evidence based methodology for understanding ‘bias’ in news reporting. While the war in Iraq will be the topic for modelling in this research, the method will be transferable to any other topical area of news reporting.

2. Aims: studying the reporting of war

Based on a large sampling of news reports of the Iraq war the project will provide a semiotic map of the reporting of war in Australian and international (e.g. BBC, New York Times, CNN, Aljazeera) media. Combining computational searching of large media databases for lexical and collocational patterns, with detailed grammatical analysis of a sub-corpus of media texts, the project will consider the following questions:

  • What kinds of events are deemed newsworthy in reporting war? (e.g. how much of news reports of wars concern what was done versus what was said?)
  • How are ‘high impact’ events – those concerning killing and physical destruction – typically reported? (e.g. are actions reported in concrete or abstract terms?)
  • Who or what is attributed responsibility for the events of war? (e.g. what roles are humans given in the ‘theatre’ of war versus the roles of technology?)
  • What range of voices is heard in news reports? (e.g. who are the typical spokespeople, and what constituents do they represent?)
  • How do ‘human impact’ stories vary from standard news reports in the way they represent war?
  • How do feature/comment style pieces, e.g. from journalists such as The Independent’s Robert Fisk, or the Sydney Morning Herald’s Paul McGeogh, vary from standard news reports in their construal of war?
  • How does mode variation (e.g. print, radio, tv, web) affect the way in which war is reported?

From this perspective, we would be contributing to work investigating the media coverage of war, such as the Glasgow University Media Group, 1985 (and see: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/sociology
/units/media.htm), McLaughlin, 2000 Knightley, 2000, Tumber and Palmer, 2004,

3. Aims: linguistic modelling of media reports

As a linguistic study, this project aims to develop linguistic accounts of media reports as a register, i.e. as a kind of social, linguistic practice. The project will build on earlier linguistic/discourse analysis studies of news discourse (e.g. Bell, 1991, 1998, 2003, Carter, 1988, Fairclough, 1995, Fowler, 1991, Iedema, Feez, and White, 1994, Manning, 2004, Nanri, 1995, van Dijk, 1988, van Leeuwen, 1987, White, 1997, 1998), by combining a large data base of media texts with computational linguistic tools which support both large scale lexical and collocational pattern searching and detailed grammatical/semantic analysis. The project will enable the ‘probabilistic’ modelling of language patterns in news reports (e.g. modelling probable selections from a range of grammatical and semantic systems). The work will add linguistic perspectives to work on news discourse from other disciplinary perspectives (e.g. Cohen and Young, 1973, Galtung and Ruge, 1973, Hall, 1973, Hansen et al., 1998, Karim, 2002, Lewis, 1985, Manning, 2001, Morrison, 1992, Mowlanda and Gerbnew, 1992, Rock, 1972, Tuchman, 1972, Zelizer and Allan, 2002).

4. Aims: combining media studies and linguistic methodologies for the analysis of media texts

Existing media studies methods for investigating the way in which issues or events are reported typically rely either on quantitative methods (such as content analysis) or qualitative, interpretative methods, drawing on discourse analysis and semiotics. This project will extend existing quantitative methods by greatly extending the number and conceptual range of textual dimensions which can be measured. In addition, it will bring together with this quantitative method the qualitative, interpretative dimension of discourse analytic techniques, relating the grammatical and semantic patterns in the text to the sociocultural context of news reporting.

[Back to top]

Project outcomes

Project outcomes include a book and journal articles for discourse/media analysts, a book for a general audience and further applications for industry funding to produce a handbook for media professionals.

Analytical and computational tools

The project will combine linguistic and multimodal analysis, with more traditional forms of content analysis. Linguistic analyses will include studies of semantics, lexicogrammar and phonology, in relation to developing an understanding of the context of news reporting, with specific reference to the Iraq war. Studies on context include e.g. Halliday and Hasan, 1985, Hasan, 1995, 1999, and Butt 2000. In relation to the study of patterns of meaning, we will be drawing on e.g. Appraisal (e.g. Martin 2000, 2004, Martin and White in press), Rhetorical Unit Analysis (e.g. Cloran, 1994), Message Semantics (e.g. Hasan, 1983, 1996), Rhetorical Structure Theory (Mann, Matthiessen, and Thompson, 1992, Matthiessen, forthcoming), Semantic Cycles (Butt, forthcoming).

For visual semiotics, will draw particularly on work by e.g Kress and van Leeuwen , 1996, L.M. O’Toole, 1994, O’Halloran, 2004.

Computational tools developed by team member Dr Wu Canzhong will be used for large scale automated analysis (e.g. SysConc) and for manual, detailed linguistic analysis (e.g. SysFan).

Publications & Presentations


Publications

Butt, D.G., Lukin, A., & Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. 2004. “Grammar as Covert Operation”, Special 9/11 volume of Discourse and Society, edited by Edwards, J., B. Hawkins, & J.R. Martin. 15 (2-3), pp267-290.

Lukin, A. in press. “Review of (Mis)Representing Islam: The racism and rhetoric of British broadsheet newspapers”. Linguistics and the Human Sciences.

Lukin, A. in press. “Information Warfare: the grammar of talking war”, Social Alternatives.

Lukin, A. in press. “Mapping media bias: a multidimensional affair”, Australian Journalism Review.

Lukin, A. 2005. “A grammar of life: in dialogue with Don Watson’s Death Sentence”, Arena. New Series, No. 23, pp111-127.

Lukin, A., Butt, D.G., & Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. 2004. “Reporting War: A View from Linguistics” in Pacific Journalism Review (special edition, papers from the Public Right to Know Conference, Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, 2003). 10(1), pp 58-74.

Presentations

2005 (May). ‘War is not a verb’. Presentation to SFL inter-university seminar series, University of Sydney.

2004 (October). ‘Talking war’, paper presented to the Race, Religion and Rhetoric conference, conference of FAIR (Forum on Australia’s Islamic Relations), Sydney.

2004 (August). ‘Mapping media bias: a multidimensional affair’, paper presented to Public Right to Know conference, conference of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, UTS.

2004 (June/July). ‘Talking War, Talking Reconciliation’, paper presented to Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics conference, QLD ED, Brisbane.

2003 (October). ‘Reporting War: A View from Linguistics’, paper presented to Public Right to Know conference, conference of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, UTS.

In the news

[Back to top]

Contact us

Click here to send an email to the project team

If you are considering Ph.D research in linguistics at Macquarie, and this topic interests you, please contact us with a brief outline of your proposed research.

Bibliography of relevant sources

Bell, A. (1991). The Language of News Media. Oxford, Blackwell.

Bell, A. (1998). The discourse structure of news stories. Approaches to Media Discourse. A. Bell and P. Garrett. Eds. Oxford, Blackwell: 64-104.

Bell, A. (2003). Poles apart: globalization and the development of news discourse across the twentieth century. New Media Language. J. Aitchison and D. M. Lewis. Eds. London and New York, Routledge.

Butt, D. (forthcoming). Semantic Cycles: Structure Statements at the Level of Meaning. The Meaning Potential of Language: Mapping Meaning Systemically. D. Butt and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen, Mimeo. Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University.

Butt, D., A. Lukin and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen (March/May 2004). “Grammar - the first covert operation of war.” Discourse and Society, Special Issue. Interpreting tragedy: the language of 11 September 200115(2-3): 267-290.

Carter, R. (1988). Front Pages: Lexis, Style and Newspaper Reports. Registers of Written English - Situational Factors and Linguistic Features. M. Ghadessy. Ed. London, Pinter.

Cloran, C. (1994). Rhetorical Units and Decontextualisation: an Enquiry into some Relations of Context, Meaning and Grammar. Nottingham, Department of English Studies, University of Nottingham.

Cohen, S. and J. Young, Eds. (1973). The manufacture of news: social problems, deviance and the mass media. London, Constable.

Fairclough, N. (1995). Media Discourse. London, Edward Arnold.

Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the News: discourse and ideology in the press. London, Routledge.

Galtung, J. and M. Ruge (1973). Structuring and selecting news. The manufacture of news: Social problems, deviance and mass media. S. Cohen and J. Young. Eds. London, Constable.

Golding, P. and P. Elliott (1979). Making the News. London, Longman.

Glasgow University Media Group. (1985). War and Peace News. Milton Keynes, Open University Press.

Hall, S. (1973). A world at one with itself. The manufacture of news: Social problems, deviance and the mass media. S. Cohen and J. Young. Eds. London, Constable.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1961). “Categories of the theory of grammar.” Word17: 241-292.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1967) Intonation and grammar in British English .The Hague, Paris: Mouton.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1967/68). “Notes on transitivity and theme in English (Parts 1-3).” Journal of Linguistics3, 4: 3.1: 37-81; 3.2: 199-244; 4.1: 179-215.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1973). Explorations in the functions of language. London, Edward Arnold.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1975). Learning How to Mean: explorations in the development of language. London, Edward Arnold.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. London, Edward Arnold.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). Spoken and Written Language. Geelong, Victoria, Deakin University Press.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar. Second edition. London, Edward Arnold.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1995). On language in relation to the evolution of human consciousness. Of thoughts and words: The relation between language and mind. Proceedings of Nobel Symposium 92 Stockholm, 8-12 August 1994. S. Allen. Ed. London, Imperial College Press: 45-84.

Halliday, M. A. K. and R. Hasan (1985/1989). Language, context and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective. Geelong, VIC/ Oxford., Deakin University Press/Oxford University Press.

Halliday, M. A. K. and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen (1999). Construing experience through meaning: a language-based approach to cognition. London, Cassell.

Halliday, M. A. K. and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Third Edition. London, Arnold.

Hansen, A., S. Cottle, R. Negrine and C. Newbold, Eds. (1998). Mass Communication Research Methods. Macmillan Press, Hampshire and London.

Hartley, J. (1982). Understanding News. London and New York, Metheun.

Hasan, R. (1983). Message semantics coding manual.

Hasan, R. (1996). Semantic networks: a tool for the analysis of meaning. Ways of Saying, Ways of Meaning. C. Cloran, D. Butt and G. Williams. London, Cassell.

Iedema, R., S. Feez and P. R. R. White (1994). Media Literacy. Sydney, Disadvantaged Schools Program, NSW Department of School Education.

Karim, K. H. (2002). Making sense of the "Islamic peril": journalism as cultural practice. Journalism after September 11. B. Zelizer and S. Allan. Eds. London and New York, Routledge.

Knightly, P. (2000). The First Casualty: the War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Kosovo. London, Prion.

Kress, G. and T. van Leeuwen (1996). Reading Images. London and New York, Routledge.

Lewis, J. (1985). Decoding television news. Television in Transition. P. Drummond and R. Paterson. Eds. London, British Film Institute.

Lukin, A., D. Butt and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen (2004). “Reporting war: grammar as covert operation.” Pacific Journalism Review10(1): 11-27.

Mann, W., C. Matthieseen, et al. (1992). Rhetorical Structure Theory and Text Analysis. Diverse Descriptions of Text. W. Mann and S. Thompson. Amsterdam, Benjamins.

Manning, P. (2001). News and News Sources: A Critical Introduction. London, Sage.

Manning, P. (2004). Dog Whistle Politics and Journalism: reporting arabic and muslim people in sydney newspapers. Sydney, Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, UTS.

Martin, J. R. (1992). English Text: Systems and Structure. Amsterdam, Benjamins.

Martin, J. R. (2000). Beyond Exchange: Appraisal Systems in English. Evaluation in Text. S. Hunston and G. Thompson. Eds. Oxford, Oxford University Press: 142-175.

Martin, J. R. (2004). “Mourning: how we get aligned.” Discourse and Society. Special Issue: Interpreting Tragedy; the language of 11 September 200115(2-3): 321-344.

Martin, J. R. and P. R. R. White (in press). The Language of Evaluation - appraisal in English. London and New York, Palgrave.

Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (1995). Lexicogrammatical Cartography: English Systems. Tokyo, International Language Sciences Publisher.

Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (1999). “The system of TRANSITIVITY: an exploratory study of text-based profiles.” Functions of Language6(1): 1-5.

Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2002). Combining clauses into clause complexes: a multi-faceted view. Complex sentences in grammar and discourse: essays in honor of Sandra A. Thompson. J. Bybee and M. Noonan. Eds. Amsterdam, Benjamins. 237-322.

Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (in press). Frequency profiles of some basic grammatical systems: an interim report. Evaluation in Text. S. Hunston and G. Thompson. Eds. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (forthcoming). The semantic system of RELATIONAL EXPANSION: Rhetorical Structure Theory. The Meaning Potential of Language: Mapping Meaning Systemically.

McChesney, R. (2002). September 11 and the structural limitations of US journalism. Journalism after September 11. B. Zelizer and S. Allan. London and New York, Routledge.

McLaughlin, G. (2000). War reporting at the end of the twentieth century. Formations: a 21st century media studies textbook. D. Fleming. Ed. Manchester, Manchester University Press.

Morrison, D. E. (1992). Television and the Gulf War: Acamedia Research Monograph 7. London, John Libbey.

Mowlanda, H., G. Gerbnew, et al., Eds. (1992). Triumph of the Image: The Media's War in the Persian Gulf - A Global Perspective. Boulder, San Francisco and Oxford, Westview Press.

Nanri, K. (1995). An attempt to synthesize two systemic contextual theories through the investigation of the process of the evolution of the discourse semantic structure of the newspaper reporting article. Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Dept of Linguistics, University of Sydney.

O'Halloran, K. (2004). Multimodal Discourse Analysis. Continuum, London.

O'Toole, M. (1994). The Language of Displayed Art. London, Leicester University Press.

Rock, P. (1973). News as eternal recurrence. The manufacture of news: Social problems, deviance and the mass media. S. Cohen and J. Young. Eds. London, Constable.

Tuchman, G. (1972). “Objectivity as a Strategic Ritual.” American Journal of Sociology77(4): 660-79.

Tumber, H. and J. Palmer (2004). Media at War: The Iraq Crisis. London, Sage.

van Dijk, T. A. (1988). News As Discourse. Hillsdale, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

van Leeuwen, T. (1987). “Generic Strategies in Press Journalism.” Australian Review of Applied Linguistics10(2): 199-220.

White, P. R. R. (1997). Death, Disruption and the Moral Order: the Narrative Impulse in Mass-Media Hard News Reporting. Genres and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School. F. Christie and J. R. Martin. Eds. London, Cassell: 101-133.

White, P. R. R. (1998). Telling media tales: the news story as rhetoric. Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Dept of Linguistics, University of Sydney.

Zelizer, B. and S. Allan, Eds. (2002). Journalist after September 11. London and New York, Routledge.

[Back to top]

 

Exercitationem

Visi ut aliquid ex

Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur.

Visi ut aliquid ex

Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatu

Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio.