The News Interview: Journalists and Public Figures on the Air

Steven Clayman; John Heritage

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511613623

The news interview has become a major vehicle for presenting broadcast news and political commentary, and a primary interface between the institutions of journalism and government. This much-needed work examines the place of the news interview in Anglo-American society and considers its historical development in the United States and Britain. The main body of the book discusses the fundamental norms and conventions that shape conduct in the modern interview. It explores the particular recurrent practices through which journalists balance competing professional norms that encourage both objective and adversarial treatment of public figures. Through analyses of well-known interviews, the book explores the relationship between journalists and public figures and also how, in the face of aggressive questioning, politicians and other public figures struggle to stay 'on message' and pursue their own agendas. This comprehensive and wide-ranging book will be essential reading for students and researchers in sociolinguistics, media and communication studies.

‘… a welcome addition to the growing number of substantive studies into the local production of media discourse … an excellent introduction to, and summary of, the authors’ and others’ work gathered over a number of years, and places this in the context of the evolution of political programming and interviews in the USA and UK.’

Source: Journal of Sociolinguistics

'… a fascinating account of the process of news interview. … this is an eminently readable book which readers with an interest in news media should find thoroughly interesting and useful.'

Source: Debate

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The News Interview

Journalists and Public Figures on the Air

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

Acknowledgments
pp ix-x

1 - Introduction
pp 1-25

2 - The news interview in context: institutional background and historical development
pp 26-56

3 - Openings and closings
pp 57-94

4 - Basic ground rules: taking turns and “doing” news interview talk
pp 95-149

5 - Defensible questioning: neutralism, credibility, legitimacy
pp 150-187

6 - Adversarial questioning: setting agendas and exerting pressure
pp 188-237

7 - Answers and evasions
pp 238-298

8 - The panel interview: discussion and debate among interviewees
pp 299-336

9 - Conclusion
pp 337-346

Appendix: transcript symbols
pp 347-353

References
pp 354-365

Subject index
pp 366-368

Index of names
pp 369-372

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Journalists and Public Figures on the Air

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