A STUDY OF THE LANGUAGE OF RADIO NEWS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

News is supposedly a result of neutral reporting; but the language of news can be and is likely to be used as a vehicle of directed expression of implicit meanings and covert interpretation. Media news is in fact a socially constructed product. Underlying the linguistic manifestation of media news are systems of beliefs and ideology pertaining to society. Aspects of social and power relations are realised in the text through a set of linguistic resources which are distinctly typical of the register or discourse under study. This study attempts to describe the language of radio news in Singapore using a model of critical linguistics, which Fairclough has devised and adopted for his own study of newspapers. This model requires the researcher to analyse how underlying ideologies are embodied in linguistic expression. It enables the researcher to examine how syntactic rules ( e.g. nominalisation and agent deletion in passives) serve to reveal ideological frameworks in media texts. For example, it is possible to use this model to make direct comparison of different media accounts of the same event. In this study, I have adapted Fairclough's model of critical news analysis to examine radio news of two local stations, namely Radio One 90.5 FM and Radio Heart 91.3FM. I have incorporated into this model the works of systemic-functional grammarians like Halliday and Martin in its first stage of description of the text. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 examine the ideational and interpersonal functions of the language of radio news respectively. The second and third stages of the model provide the interpretation and explanation of the text. Chapter 6 attempts to describe the possible interpretation of and provide the plausible explanation for the radio news texts of the two stations used in this study. Both stations share the common linguistic resources for establishing the ideational and interpersonal relations in the discourse. The coverage of local news by both stations is generally comprehensive, though Radio One 90.SFM provides detailed and thorough reports on government policies and other local events while Radio Heart 91.3FM tends to cover local news that is of more interest to the workers (who are its main target audience). The study has also revealed the nature of the role played by radio stations in Singapore to articulate aspects of national ideology and values, as well as to disseminate information and events deemed relevant for the masses to know. More importantly, this study has contributed to an understanding of the possible interpretation of news values relevant to Singapore and the plausible explanation of the power and ideology behind the radio news discourse of Singapore. A study of news values is applied to both local and world news of the two stations. It is found that news values are related to the complex relationships of power and ideology pertaining to Singapore society. The study ends with some recommendations for future research and application. Fairclough's model of critical news analysis should be improved upon, perhaps making as much elaborate reference to the news discourse analysis approach ( e.g. incorporate van Dijk' s concepts of news schemata and categories) as he has done to the semiotic approach (which suggests a close reading of media texts, with a view of identifying and decoding the ideological frameworks which underpin media messages). On a practical note, it is important and useful for readers, who are faced with all kinds and sources of news from mass media nowadays, to be educated on the importance of having critical reading and interpretation of the wise selection of the news.