Description of the Critical Social Event


The similarities and differences of the grammatical features of the two articles from the genre of a news article, will be analysed with a focus on Systematic Functional Linguistics, (SFL). 

The critical social event that I will be performing a grammatical analysis on, is the riots that occurred in Alice Springs, which led to curfews being implemented on youths.

The riots in Alice Springs are believed to have begun after the death of an indigenous youth in a car crash on March 8, 2024. A group of young men, including the youth, were in a Ute believed to have been stolen. The police chased the Ute and as it sped away it rolled over, killing one of the young men. This death triggered anger amongst family members, which erupted at his funeral. Over a hundred people carried weapons, smashed windows damaging cars and buildings through the CBD of Alice Springs. A large group attacked the Todd Tavern. The Federal Government was asked to step in to introduce a curfew from 6pm to 6am for people aged 18 and under for two weeks. Up to 58 extra police were used to implement the curfew.

The unrest in Alice Springs has been an ongoing situation due to a combination of factors including alcohol abuse, social disadvantage of Aboriginals and the effects of generational trauma stemming from colonisation.

Two news articles that I will be conducting a grammatical analysis on will be focusing on the curfew that was implemented on the youth in Alice Springs.

News article 1 was printed in The Northern Daily Leader and reports how the curfew will be extended beyond the school holidays. The Northern Daily Leader is the daily newspaper in Tamworth. The Leader’s journalists live and work in the local area. They write about local, state and national news and focus on how the news effects local people. The journalist who wrote this article largely reports on the success of the curfew.

News article 2 was published in ABC news and focuses on the community’s negative and positive reactions to the curfew implementation.

The similarities and differences of the grammatical features of the two articles from the genre of a news article, will be analysed with a focus on Systematic Functional Linguistics, (SFL). 


Article 1:

Shteyman, J. (2024, April 9). Alice Springs youth curfew extended beyond school break. The Northern Daily Leader.

Article 2:

Allison, C. (2024, April, 16). The youth in Alice Spring has ended. What did we learn? Will it happen again? ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

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