Newsround: The Language Of Mass Communication

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Introduction
The news is fascinating to me because, in my opinion, it is an integral yet under-appreciated part of daily life. Due to technological advances, it is now possible for people around the world to access information on the world’s current affairs at almost any time and place. We constantly take in this information whilst giving little to no thought about the process behind it. Some scholars have referred to the news as the 'language of mass communication', speech that is designed to be heard not only by a select few people, but by an unknown number of viewers. Yet even so the audience are central to the style of language produced. It is therefore interesting to compare the way in which television news broadcasting channels implement …show more content…

“we'll” (Ending 2a, line 1). The presenter using these features shows Bell's audience design theory in effect as they converge their language to bring themselves on par with their audience, as Crystal (1995) says “The chief use of slang … is to show that you are one of the gang” (Page 182). I believe the reason for this is because the presenters on Newsround are significantly older than their target audience and so have to use a great deal of informal vocabulary so that the presenter appears more relatable to the audience. One example of this is the presenter's use of the slang imperative verbal phrase “check out” to instruct the audience to go onto the Newsround website and read more on all the stories they cover. The use of slang in this example is effective as it allows the presenter to achieve their goal without sounding as forceful or intimidating to its young audience as they would if chose formal alternatives. This idea fits in with Holmes (1992) who said that a shift to a more informal style using slang “[expresses] solidarity and [minimises] status difference” (Page 297). The use of slang is also important in emphasising how the programme is exclusively for children. This is because, as I mentioned earlier, slang by its very nature excludes those who are not familiar with it, thus 'excluding' adults from partaking in the news

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