Displaying Neutrality in Television News Interviews

Abstract

This paper examines the nature and practice of journalistic neutrality in television news interviews. The aim is to describe the underlying speaking practices through which neutrality is regularly conveyed by news interviewers in interaction with their guests. Data are drawn from a variety of U.S. news interview programs, emphasizing Nightline and The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Three procedures are analyzed: 1) embedding statements within questions, 2) attributing statements to third parties, and 3) mitigating. While interviewers use these procedures routinely, they also invoke the first two in specifically hostile environments, suggesting that they serve a significant defensive function. Throughout this analysis, attention is also directed to the actions of interviewees to determine how they may preserve or undermine the interviewer's neutral stance. I conclude that neutrality is not inherent in interviewers or their actions considered in isolation, for the visibility of this “trait” is a collaborative achievement in which interviewees play a significant role.

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