3.5 Summary
4.1.1 News kernel markers
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CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents the main findings and discusses them in greater detail.
Section 4.1 focuses on Level 1 markers, which signal the opening of the news kernel
and news body. Section 4.2 presents Level 2 markers, which mark the abstract in the
section of news kernel, main news events, follow-ups, evaluations and routine endings
in the news body section. Section 4.3 focuses on Level 3 markers which indicate the
shift of events within the abstract, event scene presentation, main news events and
follow-ups. Section 4.4 summarizes this chapter.
4.1 Level 1 Markers
Level 1 boundary markers include the markers marking the news kernel and the
news body. The amounts and types of the two global boundary markers will be
discussed in section 4.1.1 and section 4.1.2, respectively. The characteristics of the two
Level 1 markers are summarized in section 4.1.3.
4.1.1 News kernel markers
In this section, we will discuss the boundary markers of the beginning of the news
kernel. As mentioned earlier in Chapter 3, the news kernel may begin with an optional
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news kernels15 directly present the abstract without any opening. The amounts and
types of markers for the opening section are shown in Table 3 below.
Table 3 The boundary markers of news kernel (Level 1 boundary marker)
Boundary markers N %
1. Quadruply marked:
(1) temporal + locative phrase + modified NP + shot shift and speaker shift16
As Table 3 shows, the amounts of markers range from one to four. The ranking of the
amount is double marking (40%) > triple marking (28%) > quadruple marking (16%)
and single marking (16%). Double marking comprises nearly two-fifths (40%) of the
total combinations. The patterns include: additive, adversative or temporal, plus shot
shift and speaker shift. There are five additives: one adversative and four temporals.
Additives include: two lingwais 另外 and qita 其他 ‘besides,’ zhiyu 至於 ‘as for,’
and tongyangyeshi 同樣也是 ‘similarly.’ The only adversative is dan 但 ‘however.’
Temporals include: souxian 首先 ‘at first,’ zaihuidao 再回到 and huitoulaikan 回頭
來看 ‘turning back to,’ and jiexialai 接下來 ‘subsequently.’ The second one goes to
15 The news kernels lacking openings are #2, #10, #11 and #16.
16 In the following tables presenting the combinations of markers, the markers are placed according to B. adversative
C. temporal
+ shot shift and speaker shift
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triple marking (28%). The combinations are very simple; all of them begin with a topic
shift filler hao 好 ‘okay’ plus a temporal. These temporals do not signal the time of
the news events but the sequential relationship between news items. Thus, the
combination may look like hao jiexialai 好, 接下來 ‘okay, subsequently.’ Then,
quadruple marking and single marking are both 16%. Quadruple marking includes a
shot shift and speaker shift plus a temporal, a locative phrase and a modified NP. As
for simple marking, only shot shift and speaker shift are used to mark the boundary.
Now, we shall begin with the most frequent combination, double marking. For
those boundaries doubly marked, connectives are the most common markers. The
majority of them are temporals and additives. They both function in managing a global
relationship of two news items. Temporals here signal the sequential order of news
items, for example, to bring out the first piece of news of the news section, the anchor
uses souxian 首先 ‘at first’ to signal the order of reporting. To connect two news
items, the anchor uses zaihuidao 再回到 ‘turning back to’ and jiexialai 接下來
‘subsequently’ to signal the transition of news items.
As for additives, they indicate the addition of another piece of news. The frequent
use of additives may be because that in Taiwan, news items are usually arranged
according to their subject matter. In other words, news items with the same subject
matter are usually grouped together. The two markers (i.e., temporals and additives)
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are also frequently followed by an inviting phrase which introduces the news to the
audience. Let’s take the following excerpt for example. It is the beginning of a news
kernel on an explosion in Douliu, Yunling.
(7)
1. Anchor: ..>另外也要來看看另外也要來看看另外也要來看看另外也要來看看雲林斗六,_
2. ..八號晚間發生了兩天以來,_
3. ..第四起的爆裂物毀壞民宅的事件.\
Anchor: Besides, let’s also take a look at an explosion taking place in Douliu, Yunling, on evening 8th. It is the fourth accident within only two days.
(#24, SET) The beginning of the news kernel is doubly marked by a shot shift and a speaker shift
and an additive lingwai 另外 ‘besides.’ This additive and the following adverb ye 也
‘also’ together manage the logical relationship of two pieces of news, the addition of a
new piece of news. Aside from that, they are immediately followed by an inviting
phrase yao laikankan 要來看看 ‘let’s see,’ by means of which the anchor presents
and introduces the news event to the audience.
The second most widely seen combination is triple marking. The combination is
the topic shift filler hao 好 ‘okay’ plus a temporal and a shot shift and speaker shift.
Let’s take the following excerpt for example. It is the beginning of a news kernel on an
arson event.
Level 1 marker
Abstract
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Anchor: Okay. Subsequently we will show you this. The man did not regret this violent action.
(#20, CTI) The news kernel is initiated by a shot shift and speaker shift, a topic shift filler hao
好 ‘okay’ and a temporal jiezhe 接著 ‘subsequently.’ Hao 好 ‘okay’ in IU 1
indicates the end of the previous discourse unit as well as the beginning of the
following unit. Then the temporal jiezhe 接著 ‘subsequently’ followed by an inviting
phrase women dai ning laikan 我們帶您來看 ‘we will show you’ bring up the news
item.
The combination of quadruple marking consists of a temporal, locative phrase,
modified NP, as well as shot shift and speaker shift. All of the news kernels marked by
four markers simultaneously present the abstracts at the very beginning. Let’s observe
the following news on a fire accident.
(9)
1. Anchor: ..>今天凌晨台南一間理髮廳發生火警今天凌晨台南一間理髮廳發生火警今天凌晨台南一間理髮廳發生火警今天凌晨台南一間理髮廳發生火警,_
2. ..四層樓的建築,_
3. ..火勢從二樓加蓋一直往上延燒.\
Anchor: This early morning, a barber shop in Tainan was on fire. In the four-story building, the fire extended from the second floor to the upper floors.
(#16, Era-News) Opening
Abstract
Level 1 marker Level 1 marker
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lingchen 今天凌晨 ‘this early morning’ a locative phrase tainan 台南 ‘Tainan,’ and
a modified NP yijia lifating 一家理髮廳 ‘a barber shop.’ There is no opening
managing the relationship between the news items. It directly presents the abstract of
the main news events by providing the background information. Without the opening,
the audience can still notice the coming of the next news because the shots have
returned to the studio and the speakers are switched again to the anchors17.
As for the boundaries marked by only one marker (i.e., shot shift and speaker
shift), no linguistic marker is found. Instead, an evaluation is made before the whole
news is even reported. The following example is about a robber caught by a police
college student who happened to be near the event scene.
(10)
Anchor: One had better not commit wrongdoings. In Pingdong County, a robber intending to rob a gas station with knife stole more than NT$10,000 and even hurt the employee of the gas station. However, a police college student happened to be nearby. He immediately arrested the escaping robber with Qinna.
(#14, CTS) The beginning of the news kernel is only marked by the shot shift and speaker shift;
17 However, the lack of openings seems less preferable in the broadcast news in Taiwan. The phenomenon is different from that in British broadcast news where the connecting phrases tend to be
Opening
Abstract Level 1 marker
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neither connectives nor topic shift fillers are used. What is more, an abrupt comment
unexpectedly shows up in IU 1. Even so, the audiences are still able to recognize the
shift of news items because of the presence of the anchor. The evaluative comment
huaishi zhendeshi bunengzuo 壞事真的是不能做 ‘one had better not commit
wrongdoings’ may be seen as a technique to arouse the audience’s curiosity about why
the anchor made such an introductory comment and therefore keep their focus on the
upcoming news.