“As hard as it gets”
A preliminary analysis of news reports of the internal conflict in the Colombian press
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v4i1.5Keywords:
Experiential meanings, transitivity, news, Colombian conflictAbstract
The turn of the century marked an escalation of the violence of the Colombian conflict by both Marxist guerrillas and right wing paramilitaries. However, popular perception of each group contrasts sharply with the statistics on responsibility for criminal acts. Since the press is one of the main sources of information on the conflict for the general population, analyzing the way in which it reconstructs these events may provide some insights into this phenomenon. Thus, as an initial step in this process, two pieces of news on violent acts perpetrated by each group reported in ‘El Tiempo’, the leading Colombian newspaper, in December 1998 are analysed. Within a Systemic Functional Linguistics framework, it will contrast who the participants are in each text and how they are nominated, what types of processes they carry out, and how explicitly causation is attributed. The analysis shows how despite having the same context, the experiential meanings realized in the lexicogrammatical selections of each text construe a remarkably different semiotic space.
References
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d’Haenens, L., Jankowski N. and Heuvelman A. (2004) News in online and print newspapers: Differences in reader consumption and recall. New Media & Society 6 (3): 363–382. doi:10.1177/1461444804042520
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Ghio, E. and Fernández, M. D. (2005) Manual de Lingüística Sistémico Funcional: El Enfoque de M. A. K. Halliday y R. Hasan. Aplicaciones a la Lengua Española. Santafé, Argentina: Universidad Nacional del Litoral.
Gunter, B. (2000) Media Research Methods: Measuring Audiences, Reaction, and Impact. London: Sage
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Halliday, M. A. K. and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen (1997) Construing Experience through Meaning: A Language-Based Approach to Cognition. London: Continuum.
Halliday, M. A. K. and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Hasan, R. (1985) Language, Context, and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social-semiotic Perspective. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Hasan, R. (1985) Linguistics, Language, and Verbal Art. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Hasan, R. (1988) The analysis of one poem: theoretical issues in practice. In D. Birch and M. O’ Toole (eds) Functions of Style 45–73. London: Pinter..
Ipsos-Napoleon Franco (Mayo 3, 2007) Estudio de opinión sobre el paramilitarismo y la para-política en Colombia. Semana. Retrieved on 15 June 2008 from http://www.semana. com/Documentos.aspx?IdSeccion=23&Pagina=6
Lavid, J., Arús, J, and Zamorano, J. R. (2010) Systemic Functional Grammar of Spanish: A Contrastive Study with English. New York: Continuum.
McNair, B. (2003) News and Journalism in the UK. London: Routledge.
McQuail, D. (2005) McQuail’s Communication Theory. London: Sage.
Pardo, N. (2005) Representación de los actores armados en conflicto en la prensa colombiana. Forma y Función 18: 167–196.
Restrepo, J., Spagat, M. and Vargas, J. F. (2004) La dinámica del conflicto colombiano 1988– 2003. Retrieved on 8 August 2008 from http://eprints.rhul.ac.uk/436/1/Dinmica_del_ conflicto_colombiano_1988-03.pdf
Robinson, J. P. and Levy, M. R. (1986). The Main Source, Learning from Television News. London: Sage.
Ruiz, B. (2001) The Colombian Civil War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
Sacco, V. F. (2006) Media constructions of crime. In G. W. Potter and W. E. Kappeler (eds). Constructing Crime: Perspectives on Making News and Social Problems 29–41 (2nd edn). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.
Thoumi, F. E. (1995) Political Economy and Illegal Drugs in Colombia. Boulder, CO: L. Rienner.
Van Leeuwen, T. (1996) The representation of social Actors. In C. R. Caldas-Coulthard and M. Coulthard (eds) Texts and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis 32–70. London: Routledge.
Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (27.10.2006) Total de víctimas muertas y porcentaje de autoría por presuntos autores, según períodos julio de 1996 a junio de 2006. Retrieved on 10 June 2009 from http://www.coljuristas.org/Portals/0/Vida96-06.pdf
d’Haenens, L., Jankowski N. and Heuvelman A. (2004) News in online and print newspapers: Differences in reader consumption and recall. New Media & Society 6 (3): 363–382. doi:10.1177/1461444804042520
Dudley, S. (2004) Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerrilla Politics in Colombia. New York: Routledge.
Dugas, J. C. (2009) Colombia. In H. Vanden and G. Prevost (eds) Politics in Latin America, the Power Game 495–523. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
El Espectador (10 de Octubre de 2009). Reabren proceso contra Francisco Santos.
El Tiempo (1995) Manual de Redacción. Bogotá: Editorial Printer Colombiana.
El Tiempo (30 de Julio de 1987) Legítima Defensa. p 2A.
El Tiempo (4 de Diciembre de 1997) Paramilitares y Derechos Humanos. p 2A.
Fundacion País Libre. (n.d.) Estadisticas Secuestro a 2006. Retrieved on 15 June 2009 from http://www.convecar.org.ve/docs/FPLColsecuesestad2006.pdf
Ghio, E. and Fernández, M. D. (2005) Manual de Lingüística Sistémico Funcional: El Enfoque de M. A. K. Halliday y R. Hasan. Aplicaciones a la Lengua Española. Santafé, Argentina: Universidad Nacional del Litoral.
Gunter, B. (2000) Media Research Methods: Measuring Audiences, Reaction, and Impact. London: Sage
Halliday, M. A. K. (2003) Is the grammar neutral? In J. Webster (ed.) On Language and Linguistics 271–292. London: Continuum.
Halliday, M. A. K. and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen (1997) Construing Experience through Meaning: A Language-Based Approach to Cognition. London: Continuum.
Halliday, M. A. K. and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Hasan, R. (1985) Language, Context, and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social-semiotic Perspective. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Hasan, R. (1985) Linguistics, Language, and Verbal Art. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Hasan, R. (1988) The analysis of one poem: theoretical issues in practice. In D. Birch and M. O’ Toole (eds) Functions of Style 45–73. London: Pinter..
Ipsos-Napoleon Franco (Mayo 3, 2007) Estudio de opinión sobre el paramilitarismo y la para-política en Colombia. Semana. Retrieved on 15 June 2008 from http://www.semana. com/Documentos.aspx?IdSeccion=23&Pagina=6
Lavid, J., Arús, J, and Zamorano, J. R. (2010) Systemic Functional Grammar of Spanish: A Contrastive Study with English. New York: Continuum.
McNair, B. (2003) News and Journalism in the UK. London: Routledge.
McQuail, D. (2005) McQuail’s Communication Theory. London: Sage.
Pardo, N. (2005) Representación de los actores armados en conflicto en la prensa colombiana. Forma y Función 18: 167–196.
Restrepo, J., Spagat, M. and Vargas, J. F. (2004) La dinámica del conflicto colombiano 1988– 2003. Retrieved on 8 August 2008 from http://eprints.rhul.ac.uk/436/1/Dinmica_del_ conflicto_colombiano_1988-03.pdf
Robinson, J. P. and Levy, M. R. (1986). The Main Source, Learning from Television News. London: Sage.
Ruiz, B. (2001) The Colombian Civil War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
Sacco, V. F. (2006) Media constructions of crime. In G. W. Potter and W. E. Kappeler (eds). Constructing Crime: Perspectives on Making News and Social Problems 29–41 (2nd edn). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.
Thoumi, F. E. (1995) Political Economy and Illegal Drugs in Colombia. Boulder, CO: L. Rienner.
Van Leeuwen, T. (1996) The representation of social Actors. In C. R. Caldas-Coulthard and M. Coulthard (eds) Texts and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis 32–70. London: Routledge.
Published
2011-01-21
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Garcia, A. I. (2011). “As hard as it gets”: A preliminary analysis of news reports of the internal conflict in the Colombian press. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 4(1), 5-30. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v4i1.5
