DISCOURSE STRATEGIES USED BY INTERVIEWERS TO ACHIEVE NEUTRAL STANCE IN CROATIAN NEWS INTERVIEWS

• Main Author: Sandra Tominac Coslovich
• Format: Article
• Language: Bulgarian
• Published: University of Rijeka. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences 2012-01-01
• Series: Fluminensia: Journal for Philological Research
• Subjects: spoken media discourse; news interview; conversation analysis; turn-taking procedure; interviewer’s neutral stance; discourse strategies for achieving neutral stance
• Online Access: http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/142581

This paper analyzes one type of spoken media discourse, i.e. Croatian news interviews. To explore this issue, the methodology of conversation analysis is employed. The aim of the paper is to describe the basic characteristics of Croatian news interviews and to focus on the role of the interviewer and the strategies (s)he uses to achieve and maintain neutral stance during the interview. The most significant procedure interviewers use to achieve neutrality is limiting themselves to exclusively asking questions. However, in certain situations interviewers are also forced to make assertions which may sound more or less overtly opinionated and thus put their neutrality at risk. In such situations, interviewers use specific discourse strategies to create some degree of distance between themselves and their remarks. They primarily do this by attributing their statements to third parties.