In 'From talk to text: newspaper accounts of reporter-source interactions', Clayman (1990) discusses the use of quotations in news stories and how their interpretation can differ when they are reported as stand alone quotes as opposed to through quotational sequences that portray interactional context.
Clayman (2010, p.97) argues that including the context of specific interactions as opposed to an abstract quote, allows readers to better develop a sense of the character of the speaker, their motives, role obligations and other circumstantial factors that can influence a reader's response to a speaker.
Quoted questions are particularly useful in portraying the resistance of a speaker to questioning (Clayman 2010, p.97). News reporters are required to remain objective in their reporting and therefore are often unable to use overly descriptive terms to describe a speaker's behaviour (Clayman 2010, p. 98). If an interaction is reported in the place of a single quote, the reporter is better able to show the reader what took place and therefore allow them to see for themselves without the reporter losing the credibility of remaining objective.
Clayman (2010, p.82) states that political news stories are often reported to include an audience response. This is certainly something to keep in mind when constructing the speech for Assignment 2. The research done by Heritage & Clayman (2010) into ways of eliciting greater responses from an audience will definitely need to be applied here. The correct inclusion of pausing in combination with the various techniques discussed by Heritage & Clayman (2010), such as the use of lists and contrasts throughout a speech, would be invaluable if a news reporter was able to include a phrase such as "Mr Millar MP said "QUOTE" and this was met with strong applause from parliament".
When constructing the maiden speech for the local State MP, it will be important to consider how the speech can be reported when stand alone quotes are used, as they can in some cases entirely remove the context of the quote. It will be important to ensure that the speech operates well outside of the initial context (ie. parliament) and translates well across a variety of media platforms.
References
Clayman, S. (1990). From talk
to text: newspaper accounts of
reporter-source interactions.
Media Culture & Society, 12, 79-
103, viewed 27th April 2016, http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/clayman/Site/Publications_files/Clayman%201990%20Talk_to_Text.pdf
Heritage, J & Clayman, S 2010 Talk in Action: Interactions, Identities, and Institutions, WileyBlackwell, West Sussex, pp. 263-287.
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