“Obviously, everything that happens to be printed in a newspaper or a magazine or written by a journalist is not going to be linguistically homogeneous – nor is there any reason for expecting it to be so” (Crystal/Davy 1969: 173).
This statement by the famous British linguist David Crystal opens a very interesting discussion on the language of print media. If we assume that language as a whole is a vivid and fluid construct that always changes and will never be fixed, it is obvious that nothing which has been printed is linguistically homogenous. However, there are rules and guidelines for the use of language, such as grammar and syntax for example. As language and its use can be investigated, the present study’s aim is to investigate the syntax of newspaper articles that deal with football match reports and to establish similarities and differences between different kinds of newspapers, namely broadsheets and tabloids .
Nowadays, print media can no longer be imagined without sport reporting and particularly the reportage of football matches. Football has become a mainstream pastime and enjoys great popularity. It takes up a considerable part of British newspapers – depending on the targeted readership of the newspaper in question. Even though the sport sections vary in size, they can be found in every single issue and in some newspapers, take up more space than topics with supposedly more impact on peoples’ lives such as politics or economics. Although the newspapers report on the same events, there are notable differences in the manner in which they report on them. If we consider sport reporting, it becomes obvious that the language is always tailored to the audience the newspaper wants to reach. Considering the great variety of newspapers and their differences with regard to focuses and targeted readerships, it can be assumed that there are differences between up-market (broadsheet) and down-market (tabloid) newspapers concerning the style of writing, the research quality or the credibility.
Above all, in the sport section the differences between broadsheet and tabloid reporting become particularly apparent. Even at first glance it is obvious that differences are to be found: not only do the front page designs of the sport sections vary greatly, but it may also be assumed that there are differences concerning the degree of complexity of expression within the articles themselves.[...]
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Field of Research
2.1 Current State of Scientific Research
2.2 Outline of Newspapers Used in the Study
2.2.1 Tabloids
2.2.2 Mid-Market Tabloids
2.2.3 Broadsheets
2.2.4 Circulation
2.3 Readership Profiles
3 The Language of Sports in the Media
3.1 The Language of Newspapers
3.2 The Term “Language of Sports”
3.3 The Football Match Report
4 Analysis and Database
4.1 Methodology
4.1.1 Corpus Linguistics
4.1.2 Corpus Compilation
4.2 Sentences
4.2.1 Sentence Length
4.2.2 Sentence Fragments
4.2.3 Complexity of Sentences
4.3 Use of Active / Passive Voice
4.4 Type / Token Ratio
4.5 The Use of That
4.5.1 That-Complement Clauses
4.5.2 Post Modifiers – That as a Relative Pronoun
4.5.3 Demonstrative Determiners
4.5.4 Demonstrative Pronouns
4.5.5 Distribution of That – Result
4.5.5.1 Distribution of That in Relation to Absolute Number of That in Each Newspaper
4.5.5.2 Distribution of That in Relation to the Sub-Corpus
4.5.5.3 The Distribution of That – A Comparison of Broadsheets and Tabloids
5 Conclusion
Objective and Research Focus
The primary objective of this thesis is to perform a comparative syntactic analysis of football match reports across different British newspapers, specifically investigating the differences between broadsheets and tabloids. The research seeks to test the hypothesis that broadsheet newspapers employ a more complex syntax than their tabloid counterparts in their sports coverage.
- Comparison of syntactic complexity in broadsheets vs. tabloids.
- Application of corpus linguistics to a 40,000-word corpus of match reports.
- Examination of sentence structure, passive voice usage, and lexical variety.
- Analysis of specific linguistic markers, particularly the usage of the word "that."
- Investigation into the influence of spoken language conventions on written sports journalism.
Excerpt from the Book
The Football Match Report
The match report is both the essence of sportswriting and its area of sorest neglect. After all, so much sportswriting now revolves around the match – the preview, the post mortem, the follow-up story, the transfer story, the injury story, the discipline story, the Jose-slags-off Arsene story, the corruption story, the drug story, the sex scandal story, the Bloggs-has-a-book-to-sell-so-he’ll-say-anything story. (Steen, 2008: 76)
This quote from Rob Steen indicates that the football match report involves a special kind of sportswriting. It further stresses – albeit with a wink – how many different types of sport reporting there are nowadays beside the actual essence, the match report. Steen, a former sports journalist who has worked for TV, radio, online and print media provides an appropriate and up to date description that serves as a basis for this chapter.
First of all, it has to be said that ways of reporting in print media have changed in recent decades with regard to the media where these are published. Whereas before newspapers used to be the chief source of information, they have become progressively less important with the technological advances in the field of information technology. With the launch of TV live transmissions and especially with the rise of the internet, accessible on mobile phones anytime anywhere, newspaper coverage has lost its significance, at least when it comes to the essential facts. Usually most readers already know the result of a game or even who scored by the time they read the newspaper (2008: 76). This development is the reason for the many background stories, comments, scandal stories, etc. mentioned in the above quote.
Chapter Summaries
1 Introduction: This chapter defines the scope of the study, presents the research hypothesis, and explains the motivation for comparing broadsheet and tabloid syntax in football match reporting.
2 Field of Research: This section reviews relevant scientific literature on newspaper language, categorizes British newspapers, and establishes the socioeconomic profiles of their respective readerships.
3 The Language of Sports in the Media: This chapter discusses the characteristics of sports reporting, the emergence of specific sports jargon, and the unique time pressures involved in writing football match reports.
4 Analysis and Database: This section details the methodology used for the syntactic analysis, including corpus compilation and the specific criteria, such as sentence length, passive voice, and the usage of "that," applied to the datasets.
5 Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the findings of the study, confirming that broadsheets generally utilize more complex syntactic structures, while noting the prevalence of spoken-language patterns across both newspaper types.
Keywords
Syntax, Corpus Linguistics, Football Match Reports, British Newspapers, Broadsheets, Tabloids, Sentence Complexity, Passive Voice, WordSmith, Sports Journalism, Readership Profiles, Functional Linguistics, Newspaper Style, Language Variation, Media Language.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
This thesis investigates the syntactic differences between football match reports in British broadsheet and tabloid newspapers to determine if there is a significant variation in writing style and complexity.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The work explores media language, the specific genre of sports journalism, the role of newspaper readership, and the application of corpus linguistics to syntactic analysis.
What is the primary hypothesis of the study?
The author proposes that broadsheet newspapers exhibit a more complex syntax in their football match reports compared to tabloid newspapers.
Which scientific method is employed?
The research uses corpus-based linguistics, utilizing a 40,000-word corpus of match reports and WordSmith 5.0 software to manually and computationally analyze syntactic criteria.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main part examines sentence length, sentence fragments, the use of passive voice, the Type/Token ratio, and a detailed functional analysis of the usage of the word "that."
Which keywords best describe this study?
Key terms include corpus linguistics, syntax, sports journalism, media studies, broadsheet/tabloid comparison, and functional text analysis.
How does the author define a "tabloid" compared to a "broadsheet"?
The author differentiates these based on both physical format and the target socioeconomic audience, noting that tabloids prioritize sensationalism and larger mass appeal, whereas broadsheets cater to more affluent readers.
What role does the "running copy" technique play in the study?
The author identifies "running copy" as a crucial time-pressured journalism technique that influences the syntax of match reports by necessitating shorter, more direct sentences written while matches are in progress.
How does the distribution of the word "that" differ between paper types?
The findings indicate that broadsheets use "that" significantly more often as a complement and relative clause marker, while tabloids use it more frequently as a demonstrative pronoun to create a more conversational tone.
- Quote paper
- Florian Schweitzer (Author), 2012, A Comparison of the Syntax of Football Match Reports in British Newspapers, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/264339
