Distributing News Via Weblog - a Linguistic Analysis of the Guardian Newsblog

Diplomarbeit von Ulrike Michels

Abstract:

This study investigates in how far the news language of weblogs differs from the news language in traditional print or online newspapers. A special focal point is set on oral language and its functions.

The analysis should help to answer the questions:

- Can weblogs help to minimize the distance between journalists and readers?

- Can weblogs assist in attracting a new kind of readership?

- Can weblogs assist in raising readership loyalty?

All results can also be transferred from journalism to public relations and marketing:

- Can weblogs help to provide you closer insight into your customer needs?

- Can weblogs assist in attracting new target groups?

- Can weblogs assist in raising customer loyalty?

The study is set up according to the following sequence:

Firstly, a general approach to weblogs is presented, describing their structure, development and implementation. Secondly, differences between the spoken and written mode are outlined and several models depicting the continuum relationship between both are introduced. After the explanation of the significance and function of orality in written electronic and news discourse, the concept of oral models in the press is introduce. In a last step, a sample analysis of several articles from one journalistic weblog is conducted, one online and one traditional newspaper, applying a linguistic framework based on the theoretical works presented before.

With this examination, it is shown that the language used in journalistic weblogs contains more characteristics from the variety of spoken language than the languages of online and traditional print newspapers. From the results, potential effects are derived, e.g. on the practical fields of application or on the composition of the readership.

Until now, only 38% of all adult US internet users and 37% of the Germans know what a weblog or short blog is. But nevertheless, weblogs have already attracted great attention from around the globe during the past nine years since their first appearance. In September 2004, Time asked „Is this a media revolution?” Initially, bloggers pointed their readers to interesting sites they found on their travels in the World Wide Web. Later, this filter function was used primarily to comment and criticize media coverage of news. Thus, bloggers were claimed to be the „antithesis of traditional journalists: unedited, unabashedly opinionated, sporadic and personal”. This personal aspect was extended even further: After the development of easy-to-use publishing tools, it was suddenly possible to create a weblog without having any experience in programming. With this, the rise of the personal diary type weblog was heralded.

Academic interest has accompanied the development of weblogs from the beginning. However, at the initial stage, scholars regarded the phenomenon with mistrust, as it has often happened with new forms of technology at other points in history. By now weblogs have entered the various fields of computer science, sociology, communication science, and so on. The University of California in Berkeley has adopted weblogging as part of their syllabus, Harvard has established the initiative Weblogs at Harvard Law hosted by the Berkman Center for the Internet and Society, and has engaged Dave Winer, the „father of all weblogs”, as one of its lecturers.

Controversial issues include the influence which weblogs will have on society, language and the relationship between writer and reader: Given that anybody can voice his or her opinion publicly; do they foster democracy and equality? How do communities develop as forms of networks? Are bloggers to be regarded as journalists? In course of the presidential elections in 2004, bloggers were first empowered to participate in the Democratic Convention, a right that before had exclusively been reserved to journalists. On the other hand, there have been cases like Joe Gordon’s: After he was fired for criticizing his employer Waterstone on his blog, he claimed that his weblog could not be compared to a traditional newspaper or magazine, and therefore he should not be treated as if he had taken his revelations to the media. Despite the slurry relationship between journalists and bloggers, there are certainly fields in which both sides can benefit from each other’s technique. This study shows some of the linguistic techniques of weblogs and it provides insight in their positive effects on the reader.

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