Comparison Of Newspaper Reportage Of The Flooding

1. Compare and contrast news and/or press coverage of: a. The Paralympics OR b. The run-up to the United States Presidential Election OR c. The recent UK flooding Introduction The news can be defined as current information of recent events (Reah, 1998:4). The recent UK flooding during September 2012 has had a profound effect on the lives of UK citizens. The news media has, therefore, provided coverage of the flooding. News stories are selected if they contain newsworthy elements called 'news values' (Delin, 2000:12). It is the values that turn an event into a news item (Brighton and Foy, 2007:6). From a systemic-functional view of language, Thompson (2004:86) reports that language that is used to talk about the external world is known as the experiential function of language. The propositional content of the message in the clause helps the speaker to represent the world (Thompson, 2004:86). The transitivity system explains what the content in the clause is expressing. The system includes the 'process', which is the verb unfolding through time, the 'participants' who take on the process, and the 'circumstance' that modifies the process (Halliday, 2004:175). Based on the transitivity model, and reference to news values from Galtung and Ruge (1965) and Harrison (2006), this essay will cover a quantitative and qualitative comparison and contrast on the news coverage of the flooding, during September 25th 2012. The analysis will be from a broadsheet article 'The Guardian' (2012), a tabloid 'The Sun' (2012), the regional 'Liverpool Echo' (2012) and 'BBC News' (2012) from online. Comparisons with Inanimate Actor and Material Process It is evident from all four news articles that there are more inanimate actors in active constructions rather than passive constructions. Table 1 presents this as the case for each news text. Delin (2000:171) defines the 'actor' participant as the doer of an action. When the actor is in subject position, it is in the active voice (Delin, 2000:186). Examples of active clauses are 'Wild, wet weather has swept into the UK' and 'strong gusts dislodged a large branch' (Guardian, 2012). Reah (1998:70) mentions that adjectives are one of the linguistic features that underlie newspaper reporting. This means a lot of meaningful information is compressed into one clause. The pre-modifying adjectives 'wild, wet' and 'strong' compress bleak and forceful characteristics about the inanimate actors they modify. 'The Sun' (2012) and 'The Liverpool Echo' (2012) feature numeric information modifying the inanimate actors. 'As much as 70mm of rain are expected to hit eastern areas', 'Gusts of up to 75-80mph' (Sun, 2012) and '40-50mm of rain' (Liverpool Echo, 2012) are examples. The specific measurements with the pre-modifiers '70mm', '40-50mm' and the post modifier 'up to 75-80 mph', suggest that the ordinary weather has transformed into something problematic. In the 'BBC News' (2012), the active clauses 'heavy rain forced people' and 'trains started running in both directions' are found. The latter example can be considered as a catastrophe happening due to the weather, rather than the trains being the cause. The semantically weather related inanimate actors are held responsible for the flooding as they appear in active clauses. Moreover, the inanimate actors, in conjunction with material process, can be seen as composing a negative news story. Halliday (2004:180) defines 'material process' as an actor participant who unfolds the process, which leads to a change in action. The material processes 'has swept', 'dislodged', 'to hit', 'pushed', and 'forced' from the aforementioned examples are dynamic transitive verbs. They represent actions having occurred by the inanimate actors. These transitive verbs can be specified as 'transformative'. Halliday (2004:185) defines a transformative clause as an actor producing an aspect of change in the outcome. The examples, 'has swept into the UK' (Guardian, 2012), 'hit eastern areas' (Sun, 2012) and 'forced people' (BBC, 2012) incorporate a process and a goal. This pattern conveys a transformation of these goals beyond human control. The example 'caused transport problems' (Liverpool Echo, 2012) has the process and nominal group called the 'scope'. The scope expresses an aspect of the process (Thompson, 2004:107). The nominal 'transport problems' states the result of the flooding. It is for this reason that Galtung and Ruge' (1965) 'negativity' news value can be related to all four articles. A news story which occurs without warning has the 'negativity' news value, and it is therefore newsworthy (Fowler, 1991:14). Flooding, consequently, becomes a newsworthy topic because the destructive weather can only be negative. The inanimate actors used with material process in active constructions, consequently, become a vital part of the news coverage.

Table 1; Inanimate Actor used with Material Process in Active and Passive Constructions from 'The Guardian' (2012), 'The Sun' (2012), 'The Liverpool Echo' (2012) and 'BBC News' (2012) News Text Active (%) Passive (%) The Guardian 3 1.5 The Sun 1.8 0.4 Liverpool Echo 1.5 0.4 BBC News 1.6 0.8 Total 7.9 3.1 11

Contrasts with Animate Actor and Material/behavioural Process In relation to the total of 11% of inanimate actors in Table 1, Table 2 has a total of 5.2% of animate actors with material process. This difference of 5.8% suggests that inanimate actors have the most coverage. For the animate actors and the processes, contrastive news coverage is found in 'The Sun' (2012). In this article, the animate actors are represented as enjoying themselves. 'This daredevil surfer made the most of Scotland's stormlashed seas' and 'Wetsuit-clad thrillseekers raced' are examples (Sun, 2012). The pre-modifying adjective 'daredevil' and the pre-modifying noun 'wet-suit clad' characterise the individuals as risk takers. The animate actors are juxtaposed with thrilling creative material processes. A creative clause is a participant, itself, being the outcome rather than another aspect (Halliday, 2004:184). 'Made the most of' and 'raced' from the above examples express individuals venturing in gratifying experiences. Reah (1998:35) reports that 'The Sun' (2012) is aimed at a younger audience. The newspaper personalises the flooding coverage to an audience, most likely being 18-35, who can relate to risk-taking experiences. Furthermore, Table 2 displays only 'The Sun' (2012) having animate actors with behavioural process, with 0.9%. The behavioural processes 'waited' and 'sheltering' are found in the examples 'they waited for the Queen' and 'sheltering under a golf brolly'. These processes are courageous on behalf of individuals who are not letting the flooding become an issue to them. It can be seen how the creative material processes and the behavioural processes represent animate actors as brave and untroubled by the flooding. However, the other three articles do not have animate actors with behavioural process. Instead, they have animate actors with material process, but the coverage is about rescuing citizens. 'Fire-fighters in boats had to rescue stranded motorists' (Guardian, 2012), 'police ferried the children', 'Hero pulls motorist' (Liverpool Echo, 2012) and 'they have assisted in the evacuation' (BBC News, 2012) are found. The transformative material processes 'pulled', 'ferried' and 'assisted' are serious heroic actions, in contrast with the thrilling material processes 'raced' and 'made the most of' (Sun, 2012). This contrast can now be explored with the notion of news values. Van Dijk (1988:120) says that the competition between different institutions coincides with a newspaper's aim to bring news with a scoop. The examples of material processes mentioned in 'The Sun' (2012) provides a short unexpected insight that does not reflect the seriousness of the flooding issue. Harrison (2006), an analyst of news values, incorporates 'short dramatic sensationalised occurrences' as a criterion whereby news stories can be judged (Brighton and Foy, 2007:9). As the news coverage is reporting on the continuation of the flooding, the tabloid is considered to outcompete against other newspapers by providing a different, unexpected update. 'The Sun' (2012) is providing a much more positive coverage with use of animate actors with material and behavioural processes. Table 2; Animate Actor with Behavioural and Material Process from 'The Guardian' (2012), 'The Sun' (2012), 'The Liverpool Echo' (2012) and 'BBC News' (2012) News Text Behavioural (%) Material (%) The Guardian 0 1 The Sun 0.9 0.9 Liverpool Echo 0 2 BBC News 0 0.4 Total 0.9 4.3 5.2

Comparisons with Inanimate Goal and Material Process It can also be useful to look at the affected objects as a consequence of the flooding. Table 3 presents an overall 13% of inanimate goals with material process. This is 2% more than the overall 11% of inanimate actors from Table 1, but the figures are comparable. A trend is found where each news text has a higher percentage of passive constructions, in comparison, to the active constructions. For passive clauses, Delin (2000:186) says that the object, which is the goal, can be placed first in subject position. For example, 'The Guardian' (2012) reports 'trees and branches were blown down' and 'sections of the track were hit by flooding'. The co-ordinated goal 'trees and branches' and the plural 'sections' suggests that multiples of these goals had been targeted. From 'The Sun' (2012), 'ferry sailings were brought forward' features an inanimate object used to help combat the flooding. 'The Liverpool Echo' (2012) reports 'a police BMW became stuck' and 'Hamilton square station was shut down due to power problems'. The specific references to the concrete noun phrase 'police BMW' and proper noun 'Hamilton square station' are relevant to what is happening in Liverpool. Delin (2000:12) states that Galtung and Ruge' (1965) news value 'geographically close events' yields newsworthiness than distant events. This regional newspaper provides coverage for the Liverpool residents who will be cautious to know the sorts of danger that is close to their home. However, this news value proposed by Delin (2000:12) can be challenged. The Liverpool residents may purchase national newspapers to compare the impact of the flooding in their own area with the other regions. The inanimate goals presenting coverage of distant events from 'The Guardian' (2012) and 'The Sun' (2012), can also yield newsworthiness for the audience of 'The Liverpool Echo' (2012). The 'BBC News' (2012) obtains the highest percentage of inanimate goals with material process. This is found in Table 3 with 4.5%. Examples from the 'BBC News' (2012) include '80 homes had been evacuated' and 'a section of the road gave way under rain'. The focus is on the damage which these inanimate objects undergo as a result of flooding. Individuals can, therefore, face consequences if they are road users or victims of the flooded houses. The BBC News is a news channel and an online website. The BBC website clearly outlines their mission statement, which is 'to inform' their audience (BBC, 2012). Their editorial policy states that flooding is one of the many things their audiences will want to know about (Damazer, 2012). Van Dijk (2004) says that the news of an event given by journalists creates a mental model of that event for the audience. The 'BBC News' (2012) provides the most coverage of the inanimate goals with material process. This means, in comparison to the other newspapers, the audience for the 'BBC News' (2012) are creating a detailed mental model of the objects affected during the flooding.

Table 3; Inanimate Goals in Active and Passive Constructions from 'The Guardian' (2012), 'The Sun' (2012), 'The Liverpool Echo' (2012) and 'BBC News' (2012) News Text Active (%) Passive (%) The Guardian 1.5 2.4 The Sun 0.9 0.9 Liverpool Echo 0.8 1.6 BBC News 0.4 4.5 Total 3.6 9.2 13

Contrast with Dead and Alive Animate Participants In addition to the inanimate goals being affected, all four articles report on individuals who have been affected by the flooding. Nonetheless, the representation of these animate goals is contrastive in 'The Guardian' (2012). 'The Guardian' (2012) focuses on death as its consequence of the flooding. Table 4 shows only 'The Guardian' (2012) displaying a percentage of animates who have died. Passive constructions from this broadsheet include 'three killed amid strong winds' in the headline and 'A woman from New Zealand was killed'. An identifying intensive clause 'She was pronounced dead' is also found. Halliday (2004:230) says that in an identifying clause, the 'token' and 'value' are used to identify each other. In this example, the predicative adjective 'dead' can be analysed as the identified value, whilst the third person plural 'She' as the identifier token. In the other articles, the animate participants are alive; the news coverage is about animate goals being helpless and in danger. Passive constructions include 'the country took a battering' and 'Drivers were also affected' (Sun, 2012). 'The Liverpool Echo' (2012) incorporates '10 tots became stranded' and 'trapping several drivers'. The 'BBC News' (2012) reports 'rescue of people' and 'Resident Bruce Watson was among those evacuated'. The animate goals, in these examples, are facing moments of hardship, but are still alive, rather than facing death from the flooding. 'The Guardian' (2012) gives a more tragic coverage of individuals dying from the flooding.

Table 4; Dead Animate and Alive animate Goals from 'The Guardian' (2012), 'The Sun' (2012), 'The Liverpool Echo' (2012) and 'BBC News' (2012) News Text Dead Animates (%) Alive animate goals (%) The Guardian 2 0.5 The Sun 0 0.9 Liverpool Echo 0 4 BBC News 0 0.9 Total 2 6.3 8.3

Conclusion The transitivity analysis of the four news articles has, conclusively, provided a useful insight into the impact of the flooding during September 25th 2012. All news texts display high percentages of active constructions with inanimate actors and material processes. The semantically weather related actors are responsible for the flooding and construe a negative news story. 'The Sun' (2012) is the only article that uses material and behavioural process to represent animate actors as enjoying themselves or overriding their fear of the flooding. The other articles refer to animate actors being heroic towards helpless victims of the flooding. All texts incorporate inanimate goals with material process. The highest percentage 4.5% from the 'BBC News' (2012) fulfils the institution's ethos 'to inform' its audience (BBC, 2012). 'The Guardian' (2012) has a contrast as it refers to individuals dying as a result of the flooding. If further investigation was possible, an analysis of the verbal processes from different participants would be made. Word Count: 1,856

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