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from acoustic features, because shot shift is considered to be related to event shift
(Montgomery, 2007), we also mark it in our text. All of the transcription symbols are
listed in Table 2.
Table 2 Transcription symbols
Features Symbols
Pause9 1) Long: …(N)
2) Short: ..
Intonation 1) Rising pitch: /
2) Falling pitch: \ 3) Level pitch:_
Shot shift >
3.3 Analytical Framework
Concerning the discourse structure of TV news, we chose the narrative approach
as our framework for two main reasons: 1) TV news shares similar structural elements
with narratives, and 2) these elements are presented in a canonical way as oral
narratives. Among the narrative approaches, we mainly followed Montgomery’s (2007)
and Labov and Waltezky’s (1975) models. To begin with, we took Montgomery’s
(2007) observations on the overall structure of broadcast news as our model, in which
a broadcast news item is composed of an obligatory news kernel and a succeeding
news body. A news kernel is a summary of the whole news story (“in a nutshell”). The
news body, on the other hand, clarifies and adds details to the news story. Nevertheless,
9 In Du Bois et al.’s (1993) framework, pauses are categorized into long, medium and short. Long pauses are beyond 0.6 seconds, medium ones are between 0.6 and 0.3 seconds, and short ones are below 0.3 seconds. However, in broadcast news, which is so constricted in time span, long pauses are seldom found. Thus, we divide pauses into only long and short ones. Long pauses are beyond 0.3 seconds and
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Montgomery’s study does not elaborate on the components of the two macrostructures.
To solve this problem, we adopted Labov and Waltezky’s (1975) analysis of narratives.
In their framework, a narrative consists of abstract, orientation, complicating actions,
evaluation, resolution and coda. These elements are also found in news. Yet some of
the terms and definitions are modified. First, the abstract in Labov and Waltezky’s
(1975) framework is roughly equal to the opening phrases in a news kernel. Like the
abstract, the opening phrases in a news kernel serve as a prelude to the upcoming news.
Its major function is to attract the audience’s interest in the news story. Orientation is
usually combined with the first event of the complicating actions, so we take it as
“oriented event 1.” Complicating actions are concerned with what happens in the news,
so we replace it with “main news events.” Resolution is replaced by “follow-ups,”
since news is an on-going story and often presents the latest development instead of
the final result, as the event has usually not yet ended. Evaluation remains the same as
it is in narratives. The types of coda differ greatly between broadcast news and
narratives. In narratives, codas are usually a few words or sentences concluding the
whole event or series of events. In broadcast news, however, news items always end
with a routine formula covering channel names, journalists’ identities and reporting
locations. Thus, we replace the term coda with “routine ending.” Besides the elements
abovementioned, after analyzing the data, we added one news-specific category in the
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present study, the event scene presentation in the news body. The unit is characterized
as presenting newsworthy or shocking scenes and is always placed at the beginning of
the news body to catch the audience’s attention (Yang, 2006).
Thus, in our framework, a news item consists of seven parts in total: opening and
abstract of news story in news kernel, and event scene presentation, main news events,
follow-ups, evaluation and routine ending in the news body. The opening manages the
discourse relationships between news items, and specifies the logical or sequential
relationship between successive news. Abstract of the news story summarizes the
whole news story. The event scene presentation, the added news-specific category, is
optional, showing the most impressive or newsworthy scenes to attract the audiences’
attention (Thompson, 2005; Chang, 2007; Yang, 2006). Next to event scene
presentation are the main news events. This section presents the news story thoroughly.
Its background information is always fused with the first event, so we take the first
event as an oriented one. Next to the main news events are the follow-ups. In fact, this
section supplements any other less relevant events. The majority of them take place
after the main news events. They explain the present investigation result and how the
authorities are going to solve the case. Investigation results serve as a possible
explanation for why the main news events have taken place. Next to the follow-ups is
an optional evaluation. It may form a separate unit or closely adhere to the follow-ups.
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The final section is a routine ending, indicating the television channel, journalists’
identity and location.
Based on Montgomery’s and Labov and Waltezky’s observations, the structure of
broadcast news is illustrated in Figure 1.
News Kernel
News Body
Figure 1 The discourse structure of broadcast news
As Figure 1 demonstrates, a broadcast news item is composed of a news kernel and
news body, each of which is further divided into smaller units. The news kernel is
composed of an opening and abstract of the news story. The news body consists of (Event scene presentation)
Abstract of the news story Event 1
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event scene presentation, main news events, follow-ups, evaluation and routine ending.
In total, there are seven smaller units. Each of the seven units has a different focus and
thus differs in its contents; therefore, we expect that they are marked by different
boundary markers.
In the present study, these boundaries are divided into three levels according to the
size of the structure. Level 1 is the most global level, including the markers for the
beginnings of the news kernel and news body. Level 2 includes the markers occurring
at the shift of intermediate structures under the news kernel and news body. Level 3,
the most local one, includes the markers for the transitions of events within the
abstract, event scene presentation, and main news events as well as follow-up sections.
In evaluating possible boundary markers of the structures at different levels, Level
1 includes the beginning of the news kernel and news body (i.e., opening and event
scene presentation or main news events). The opening signals the completion of a
previous news item and then introduces a new one10. Therefore, the corresponding
boundary markers are expected to show the logical relationship of two successive
news items. The possible boundary markers are listed below.
1. Shot shift: Routinely, the beginning of every news item is marked by shot shift.
10 Yet, we need to note that the opening section is not required. From time to time, news kernels directly present evaluative comments on the following news and abstracts of news story without any opening. In the previous situation, the news kernel is considered to be marked by shot shift only. In the
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The shot is switched from the opening of the news program or the news field of the
previous news to the anchor.
2. Topic shift fillers: Topic shift fillers may be hao 好 ‘okay’ and er 而 ‘and/but.’
Hao 好 ‘okay’ indicates the completion of a prior unit as well as the beginning of
a following unit (Miracle, 1991; Wang, 2005), so does er 而 ‘and/but,’ which
works as an indicator of the shift of topics.
3. Connectives: Connectives occurring here are mainly additives, adversatives and
temporals. They denote the logical and sequential relationship of two news items.
Additives, such as lingwai 另外 ‘in addition,’ signal the addition of another piece
of news. Adversatives like dan 但 ‘however’ show that the contents of two news
items are contrasted. Temporals, like shouxian 首先 ‘at first’ and jiexialai 接下
來 ‘subsequently’ do not function as advancing the story-line of the present news
item; instead, they indicate the chronological progression of news items.
Besides, in our data, we found after the markers often come in an inviting phrase
or an evaluative comment. Inviting phrases include (women) laikan (我們)來看 ‘let’s
take a look at,’ or women dai ning laikan de shi 我們帶您來看的是 ‘what we are
going to show you is….’ They prepare the audience to receive a new news item. As for
the evaluative comment, it arouses the audiences’ curiosity about what happened. The
boundary markers (i.e., shot and speaker shift, connectives and topic shift fillers) often
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co-occur with an inviting phrase or evaluative comment. The following excerpt may
serve as an example.
(2)
1. Anchor: ..>而另外而另外而另外而另外我們再來看到的,_
2. ..也是相當離奇的,_
Anchor: Besides, what we are going to see is also very bizarre.
(#5, CTI) The news kernel begins with a topic shift filler er 而 ‘and/but’ plus an additive
lingwai 另外 ‘in addition’ and a shift of shot and speaker. Following the two markers
is an inviting phrase: women zailai kandao de 我們再來看到的 ‘what we are going
to see’ and an evaluative comment: yeshi xiangdang liqi de 也是相當離奇的 ‘is also
very bizarre.’ In this case, we treat the beginning of the news as triply marked.
Another global boundary is the inception of the news body. As the framework in
Figure 1 shows, the news body may begin with an event scene presentation, the
authentic scene to prove the reliability of the news. From that moment, visual elements
come to play an influential role. The journalists present the news by describing what is
shown on the screen; therefore, many boundary markers at the beginning are
referential forms or locative phrases. Referential forms definitely refer to the news
characters on the screen, due to their descriptive nature. They are usually full NPs and
modified NPs. Locative phrases, such as anfaxianchang 案發現場 ‘the crime scene,’
introduce the audiences to the background scene against which the event takes place.
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However, we need to note that event scene presentation is not required; at times, the
main news events are presented at the very beginning of the news body. In such cases,
we categorize boundary markers of main news events as Level 2 markers.
Level 2 includes the shift of the intermediate structures under the news kernel and
news body. The news kernel consists of the opening and abstract of the news story.
After the opening, the abstract of the news is brought into the discourse. Therefore,
basic background information, including location, news characters and time are
supposed to be provided at the beginning. The corresponding boundary markers may
include locative phrases, referential forms and temporals. Besides, topic shift fillers,
such as name 那麼 ‘then’ and zhegeshi 這個是 ‘this is’ are also taken as possible
boundary markers to mark the beginning of an abstract of the news story.
However, in some cases, the beginning of the abstract of the news story takes place
in the same IU with opening, for at times the opening is merely a single word like a
connective or topic shift filler. In this case, we take the first information concerning
the news story as the beginning of the abstract of the news. The following example
illustrates the point.
(3)
1. Anchor: ..>另外在嘉義縣的中埔鄉一處民宅在嘉義縣的中埔鄉一處民宅在嘉義縣的中埔鄉一處民宅,_ 在嘉義縣的中埔鄉一處民宅 2. ..今天也傳出大火.\
Anchor: Besides, a fire took place at a residence in Zhongpu County, Jiayi.
(#18, CTS) Opening
Abstract of the news story
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In (3), the additive lingwai 另外 ‘in addition’ is a Level 1 marker, which signals the
addition of a new news item. The subsequent locative zai jiayixian de zhongpuxiang
在嘉義縣的中埔鄉 ‘in Zhongpu County, Jiayi,’ and the indefinite NP yichu minzhai
一處民宅 ‘a residence’ together introduce the location and referent of the news story
into the discourse. Thus, we take the two markers as Level 2 markers marking the
inception of the abstract of the news story.
Another group of boundaries at Level 2 are those of the intermediate structures in
the news body, including the beginning of the main news events, follow-ups,
evaluation and routine ending. The types of linguistic markers to mark them differ.
First, the complete news story is only presented along with the main news. Therefore,
the main news events will start with an oriented event. The two most frequently
provided background information details concern time and news characters. Therefore,
temporals, especially those pinpointing the exact time, are very likely to appear here.
Also, we find referential forms like full NPs and modified full NPs. Simultaneously,
since there is a drastic difference in the content of the event scene presentation and the
main news events, the shot is very likely to shift.
Follow-ups cover any events happening after the main news events. The majority
of them show the investigation results (or inferred causes) and the actions to be taken
later. In our data, the investigation results are often led by a reporting verb plus the
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sources, such as genju liaojie 根據了解 ‘according to the sources,’ or causatives such
as youyu 由於 ‘because.’ Regarding the subsequent actions, the boundary markers
may include full NPs, connectives or a shift of speakers. Full NPs are often used to
refer to a few limited people, including police officers, rescuers and investigators.
Evaluation, if there is any, may be either separated from follow-ups or adhere to
them. In the latter case, no clear boundary markers are identified. For the separable
ones, two subtypes can be distinguished. First, they may be contrastive events to the
main news events. The contrastive event usually concerns the participants’ previous
experiences. Thus, it is often marked by a referential form. For example, in a piece of
news that concerns a woman committing suicide due to her husband’s betrayal, the
evaluation section tells the audiences that the couple once led a happy life. Let’s
observe the following example.
(4)
32. Reporter: ..>結婚六年的夫妻兩人原本結婚六年的夫妻兩人原本結婚六年的夫妻兩人原本結婚六年的夫妻兩人原本幸福美滿,_
33. ..沒有想到愛情的難解習題打開不了心中的結,_
34. ..讓雙方家屬,_
35. ..無盡感慨.\
Reporter: The couple, married for six years, once led a happy life. However, they are unable to solve the tangle of love. It has made the relatives of the couple very sad.
(#6, CTV) The evaluation begins with a full NP modified by a relative clause jiehun liunian de fuqi lianren 結婚六年的夫妻兩人 ‘the couple, married for six years.’ In addition to
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the time when the couple was happy.
Another kind of separable evaluation conveys how news characters’ actions
influence other participants. Therefore, full NPs are mostly about the participants’
actions, like ta de jianyiyongwei 他的見義勇為 ‘his courageous deed,’ and then
reporters instantly state other people’s comments on it. For the evaluations closely
adhering to the follow-ups, we still see them as distinct from follow-ups, for their
functions differ. There would be no clear boundary markers for such kinds of
evaluative comments. Let’s take the following excerpt as an example.
(5)
Reporter: “After the two people fell into the valley, they were still conscious. Fortunately, they only hurt their faces.” (Car accident, Era News, Taitung, synthesized)
(#11, Era News) In the example, the news ends with an evaluative comment on the result of the car accident shi buxing zhong de dashing 是不幸中的大幸 ‘fortunately.’ Apparently, no
explicit linguistic marker is used to signal the evaluative comment. Besides, after Follow-ups
Routine ending Evaluation
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evaluative comment is considered to be unmarked.
Routine ending is the last macrostructure under news body. Conventionally, it
shows the television channels, journalists’ identities and reporting locations. In our
data, most cases are not marked by explicit linguistic markers. The demarcation is
usually only labeled by longer pauses. For example, in example (5), there is a clear 0.5
second pause preceding the routine ending.
The boundaries at the most local level, i.e., Level 3, are those of the transition of
events within abstract of the news story, event scene presentation, main news events
and follow-up sections. The shift of events often implies an evident change in
participants, actions and time. Accordingly, the potential boundary markers include:
shot shift, referential forms, and connectives. To begin with, because broadcast news is
basically a commentary on pictures, i.e., the voice-overs theoretically correspond to
the scenes, as long as the events change, the scene is very likely to shift accordingly.
Thus, the shot boundaries coinciding with IUs boundaries will be taken as possible
boundary markers.
The second group of boundary markers is referential forms. In the present study,
the referential forms are classified into three categories based on the criteria of topic
continuity: 1) pronouns, 2) full NPs, and 3) modified full NPs11. Pronouns occur at the
11 According to Li’s (1985, cited in Yu, 1990) categorization, referential variants include zero anaphora,
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beginning positions of intermediate units whose continuity is slightly damaged. Full
NPs here stand for nouns alone, without any modifiers or qualifiers. Modified NPs
cover the nouns modified by adjectives, a possessive or relative clause preceding them
and indefinite NPs preceded by you 有 ‘have.’ These referential variants always hint
discontinuity of the discourse, i.e., topic shift.
The last group of boundary marker is connectives, including adversatives,
temporals and causals12. Adversatives like danshi 但是, buguo 不過 ‘but’ as well as
meixiangdao 沒想到 ‘unexpectedly’ usually connect two topic chains which have
different participants and temporal settings. Temporals set the time frame for the
following topic. They are realized in different forms at different positions. For
example, the beginning event of the main news events may be marked by a temporal
explicating the time, such as lingchen liandian 凌晨兩點 ‘2 a.m.’ The subsequent
events, on the other hand, are marked by sequential temporals such as bujio 不久 ‘by
and by,’ jieshialai 接下來 ‘subsequently,’ and dangshi 當時 ‘at that time.’ The final
event tends to be marked by conclusive temporals like zhongyu 終於 ‘finally.’
Regarding causals, such as youyu 由於 ‘because,’ they may mark a larger as well as a
smaller unit13.
12 In fact, they are often followed by nominal forms which refer to newly introduced or reintroduced referents.
13
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In this section, a piece of news is taken as an example to illustrate how the model
In this section, a piece of news is taken as an example to illustrate how the model