Broadcast Talk

Broadcast Talk demonstrates the relevance of talk and its analysis to understanding the communicative process in television and radio. The fundamental significance of the media as communicative outlets in a modern society is widely understood but the language in which this communication takes place is as yet little studied. As the contributors to this book illustrate the study of talk on radio and television addresses central questions of how institutional authority and power are maintained how the media construct audiences and how audiences make sense of programme output terms of styles of discourse the book covers the range of broadcast talk both formal (such as news or political speeches) and informal (chat shows disc jockeys on radio). Theoretically it draws on ideas from discourse and conversational analysis pragmatics and critical linguistics and on the ideas of Goffman Garfinkel and Habermas.Framing a new approach to analysing the institutions of broadcasting as systems of communication Broadcast Talk will be of interest to a wide range of students and lecturers in linguistics sociology communications and cultural studies.