Genre Analysis of a News Article
Genres have a purpose. The purpose of a news article genre
is to inform the reader about an event/s, or news.
Genres of different cultures may vary even when the social purpose
is similar.
Most newspaper reports use past tense which explain people
and events that have already occurred. People are usually interviewed and
quoted about the event. Both of these features are true of the two news
articles analysed. In article 1 past tense verbs are largely used to describe the
extension of the curfew and the unrest including “had been”, “was imposed”, “has
been”, “we’ve seen”. In article 2 past tense is also largely used such as “was
introduced”, “couldn’t enter”, “was extended” However present tense is also
used in both articles to describe the present reactions to the event, such as “has
triggered mixed reactions” in article 2 and “the families are asking for help”
in article 1.
According to Fairclough, (2003, p.65), “when we analyse a
text or interaction in terms of genre, we are asking how it figures within and
contributes to social action and interaction in social events.” Furthermore,
Fairclough (2003, p.66) adds, that “change in genres is change in how different
genres are combined together. New genres develop through combination of
existing genres. A chain of events may involve a chain or different,
interconnected texts which manifest a ‘chain’ of different genres." A particular text may have a combination of
genres such as in the news articles.
Fairclough (2003, p.66) states that "genre analysis proceeds as follows:
a) analysis of 'genre chains';
b) analysis of genre mixtures in a particular text
c) analysis of individual genres in a particular text."
New technologies are also creating new genres. The news articles studied are presented on the internet and have variable genres, the genre of a news report, a narrative about the topic and interviews, to name a few. There are also links embedded in article 2, that take the viewer to previous news articles on the topic.
A narrative is a genre, and a report is a factual narrative
about actual events. According to Fairclough,(2003, p.68), Swales noted that different
types of narrative genres are associated with a different social practice,
called a ‘pre-genre.' According to Fairclough (2003), a text can contain
a mixture of genres such as the main genre which may be an interview. Within the text
there may also be a sub-genre of a narrative about the history of the topic or an argument. This mixture of
genres can be seen in the two news articles chosen. They both have a main genre
as a news report. They also contain sub-genres of a narrative which describe
the history of the riots in Alice Springs and the subsequent curfew. The
articles also contain the sub-genre of an argument as they show the views of
the residents on the effects of the curfew, either positive or negative. In
article 1 the curfew is largely portrayed as being successful, whereas in
article 2 the positive and negative effects are shown. The sub-genre of an
interview is also within the article as different residents and officials are
interviewed for their opinions on the curfew.
As Fairclough states (2003, p.21), texts can be seen as
“parts of social events”, as is seen in the news texts whereby people are
interacting through writing about a social event, the riots and subsequent
curfew. In the texts we as the reader, are also interacting with the journalist,
about the same social event. Furthermore, Fairclough notes (2003, p.22), “events
and texts themselves also have causes – factors which cause a particular text
or type of text to have the features it has.”
There are genre conventions for how a newspaper article is constructed
and the grammar forms used. Halliday (1978, in Fairclough, p. 24) even saw
“grammars of language as socially shaped.” As Fairclough states (2003, p. 25),
“texts are not just effects of linguistic structures and orders of discourse,
they are also effects of social structures, and of social practices in all
their aspects, so that it becomes difficult to separate out the factors shaping
texts.”
Mediation according to Fairclough 2003, p.32), “is a complex
process which involves…’chains’ or ‘networks’ of texts. In a newspaper article
a journalist writes the article taken from different sources such as
interviews. The articles are read by people who either buy the newspaper or read them on the
internet. It is discussed by readers and further stories on the same topic
occur in other news articles or in other types of texts such as on television or the internet. Genre
chains according to Fairclough (2003, p.31) “are different genres which are
regularly linked together, involving systematic transformations from genre to
genre." People interact from a distance through the
internet and through time and space. Genres of governance according to
Fairclough (2003, p.34), “are essentially mediated genres specialised for
‘action at a distance."
According to Coffin (in Burns & Coffin, 2013, p.94), Systematic Functional Linguistics or “SFL has developed analytical tools for looking at spoken and written language both in terms of how sentences or clauses are organised and how sentences combine to create whole texts. At the level of whole text, genre is a particularly influential tool in educational contexts.”
SFL believes that the
cultural and social environment effect the language system and how language is
used by people. It looks at the role of language in identity and the structure
of nouns and verbal groups, and of clauses. Therefore, the system of language,
the meanings and the language chosen are equally important. Coffin (in Burns
& Coffin, 2000, p.96) uses Halliday’s analogy of climate and weather to
demonstrate this relationship, as these two concepts are two different ways of
viewing the same phenomena.
According to Coffin (in Burns & Coffin, 2013, p.109), “in
SFL, the concept of genre..can be seen as an enhancement of Halliday’s theory
of the relationship between form, function and context. That is, the
relationship of language and its cultural context can be further examined by
analysing how written and spoken texts are structured and shaped in order to
achieve the goals and purposes of a particular culture.” As Martin (in Burns
& Coffin, 2000, p.109) states, “as a level of context, genre represents the
system of staged goal orientated social processes through which social subjects
in a given culture live their lives.”
Burns, A., & Coffin, C. (2013). Analyzing English in a global context: A reader. Taylor and Francis.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. Routledge.
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