The content analysis and the macrostructure analysis so far have demonstrated the ways how the news stations make up reports that best serve their political interests.
In what follows, the more local and concrete use of textual cohesion is analyzed to
reveal how its usage conforms to the ideological square as well.
Cohesion encodes relations—such as additive, adversative, causal and temporal—among propositions through an inventory of non-structural resources, including reference, ellipsis, substitution, conjunction and lexical cohesion (Halliday and Hasan 1976, Halliday 1985). How sentences are woven into a news report is ideologically-motivated and revealing (Fairclough 1995, van Dijk 1988, 1991).
The present analysis focuses on how the news stations manipulate conjunction and lexical cohesion to present reports congruent with their political stances.
Concerning conjunction, the connective danshi and the adverb6 que are examined, both of which denote adversative relations. As for lexical cohesion, features like repetition, synonym, and collocation (Halliday 1985) are at issue.
First, the connective danshi ‘but/yet’ is examined. As a contrastive marker, danshi encodes adversative relations among propositions and creates textual cohesion.
Different from keshi ‘but’, the most common and general contrastive marker in casual dialogues, danshi is found more frequently in formal discourses, especially in formal monologues, as is the case with news reports. It denotes explicit and direct denial of prior propositions and puts emphasis on following utterances (Lin 2004, Liu 2000, Wang 2005, Wang and Tsai 2007). Hence it is referred to as a ‘point-making device’
in Wang and Tsai (2007).
Concerning the special expenses trial, both ETTV News and CTi News used the contrastive marker danshi in their reports to underline the inequality Ma was facing.
According to ETTV News, Ma was summoned as a witness, but treated as a defendant during the investigation. The use of dan7 highlighted the contrast between being a witness and being a defendant. In CTi News, Ma was summoned, but not informed of
6 Unlike danshi, que is not a grammatical conjunction, but a conjunctive adjunct.
7 Dan is a variant of danshi.
his identity. The use of danshi emphasized the uncertainty of Ma’s being a witness or a defendant.
(3) a. 通知書上寫的是關係人，實務關係則是證人，但一開庭卻變成被告。
Tongzhishu shang xie de shi guanxiren, shiwu guanxi ze shi zhengren, dan yi kaiting que biancheng beigao.
‘The notice marked that Ma was a related party, and that the practical relation is a witness. Yet when the court was called to order, Ma became a defendant.’
(ETTV News, April 17, 2007) b. 然而只載明案件有請馬英九來說明之必要，但是究竟是被告還是關係 人身份來出庭，根本就沒有註記。
Raner zhi zaiming anqian you qing Ma Ying-jeou lai shuoming zhi biyao, danshi jioujing shi beigao haishi guanxiren shenfen lai chuting, genben jiou meiyou zhuji.
‘However, it only notified that it was necessary for Ma Ying-jeou to come and explain. But whether he was summoned as a defendant or a related party, it did not mark out.’
(CTi News, April 17, 2007) The unjustified investigation against Ma suggested that Ma was the victim of an unfair trial. The use of the contrastive marker dan in ETTV News and danshi in CTi News highlighted information that was beneficial to Ma’s situation. That is to say, in terms of the ideological square, the emphatic feature of the contrastive marker danshi can be used to express information that is positive about us.
In contrast to ETTV News and CTi News, SET News used danshi to refute Ma’s statement. It was reported that in court Ma especially criticized that he bei youdao
‘was induced’ by the prosecutor concerning the details of the case. Passivization in
Chinese, often in the form of the bei construction, denotes an adverse situation, i.e.
something unfortunate has happened (Chao 1968). However, the immediate use of danshi followed by the quote of Lin Chung-mo changed the tone of the report. Lin, a DPP Legislator, made fun of Ma that how a grown-up like him could be induced into making statements he did not mean.
(4) 庭內呢，馬英九特別批評說是被誘導整個案情喔。但是現在呢，林重謨 他說話囉，他就說呢，馬英九那麼大的一個人了，怎麼可能這麼容易被 誘導呢？
Tingnei ne, Ma Ying-jeou tebie piping shuo shi bei youdao zhengge anqing o.
Danshi xianzai ne, Lin Chung-mo ta shuohua lu, ta jiu shuo ne, Ma Ying-jeou namo da de yigeren le, zemo keneng zhemo rongyi bei youdao ne?
‘In court, Ma Ying-jeou especially criticized that he was induced in terms of the details of the case. But now, Lin Chung-mo spoke up, he said, how could a grown-up like Ma Ying-jeou be so easily induced?’
(SET News, April 17, 2007) The contrastive feature of danshi rejected the prior statement that Ma was induced by the prosecutor, and its emphatic feature thickened Lin’s sarcasm towards Ma. Instead of identifying with Ma’s claims, SET News ridiculed his situation. The use of the contrastive marker danshi allowed SET News to suppress information that was favorable to Ma, and, at the same time, express information that was unfriendly to him. Namely, with the help of the contrastive marker, SET News suppressed information positive about them and meanwhile expressed information negative about them, which fulfilled its own ideological intention.
A similar ideological move is found in CTi News, as shown in (5). As a pan-blue medium opposite to SET News, CTi News used the contrastive marker danshi to de-emphasize information positive about the prosecution and to emphasize
information positive about Ma. According to CTi News, Ma denied that Ho had laid pressure on him, but he questioned that the procedure was flawed. The contrastive marker danshi downplayed the previous statement that Ho did not force Ma, but stressed the later interrogation that the prosecution’s procedure was unrighteous.
(5) 雖然馬英九是說否認說侯寬仁有施壓的動作，但是卻質詢第一次的應訊 呢，原本是以關係人，卻轉以被告身份偵訊，認為檢方的程序上有瑕疵。
Suiran Ma Ying-jeou shi shuo fouren shuo Hou Kuan-jen you shiya de dongzuo, danshi que zhixun di yi ci de yingxun ne, yuanben shi yi guanxiren, que zhuan yi beigao shenfen zhenxun, renwei jianfang de chengxu shang you xiaci.
‘Ma denied that Hou Kuan-jen put pressure on him, but he questioned that in the first investigation, instead of the original identity as a related party, he was investigated as a defendant. He thought that the prosecution’s procedure was flawed.’
(CTi News, April 17, 2007) To resist Ma’s confrontation, SET News employed the contrastive marker dan as well. It can be seen that, through the use of the contrastive marker dan, the censure from Ma’s camp against the prosecution was suppressed, while the new evidence against Ma was accentuated.
(6) 辯方律師團特別指責說檢方呢突襲被告做法有爭議。但檢方也特別見招 拆招，提出了厚達 38 頁的新證據喔。
Bianfang lushituan tebie zhize shuo jianfang ne tuxi beigao zuofa you zhengyi. Dan jianfang ye tebie jianzhaochaizhao, tichu le hou da 38 ye de xin zhengju o.
‘The defendant’s attorneys especially criticized that the prosecution’s practice to ambush the defendant was controversial. But the prosecution
repelled the attack by bringing out 38-page-long new evidence.’
(SET News, April 17, 2007) From the above analysis, it can be readily seen the contrastive marker danshi is manipulated in a way to serve the news stations’ political stances. It is employed to express information that is positive about us or negative about them, and to suppress information that is positive about them. The contrastive marker can also be used to suppress information that is negative about us, as shown below.
(7) a. 雖然謝蘇兩人座位一左一右隔了大老遠，沒有太多的機會交談，但這 一握兩人用眼神傳遞訊息，很有默契的點點頭，在鏡頭前謝蘇一笑泯恩 仇。
Suiran Hsieh Su liang ren zuowei yizuoyiyou ge le dalaoyuan, meiyou taiduo de jihui jiaotan, dan zhe yi wo liang ren yong yanshen chuandi xunxi, hen youmoqi de diandiantou, zai jingtou qian Hsieh Su yixiaominenchou.
‘Hsieh and Su sat far apart and had few conversations. Yet through the handshake, the two exchanged telling glances and nodded with a tacit understanding. In front of the camera, Hsieh and Su dismissed their enmities with a laugh.’
(SET News, April 17, 2007) b. 四大天王是一笑泯恩仇再度同台，要來展現團結的氣勢。但是這蘇謝 兩人位置隔得很遠，甚至眼神很少交集，連喊口號也是有氣無力的。
Sidatianwang shi yixiaominenchou zaidu tongtai, yao lai zhanxian tuanjie qishi. Danshi zhe Su Hsieh liangren weishi ge de hen yuan, shenzhi yanshen hen shao jiaoji, lian han kouhao ye shi youqiwuli de.
‘The four heavyweights dismissed their enmities with a laugh and appeared on the same stage again to display the power of union. But the seats of Su and Hsieh were far apart, their eye contacts were few, and the slogan was
shouted in a feeble voice.’
(CTi News, April 17, 2007) In reports about the DPP conference, both SET News and CTi News mentioned that the heavyweights dismissed their enmities with a laugh and that Hsieh and Su sat far apart. The former piece of information was beneficial to the DPP solidarity image while the latter implied a split between Hsieh and Su. Yet with the tactical use of contrastive marker, SET News and CTi news put forth two opposite interpretations.
As a supporter of the DPP, SET News used dan to downplay the prior description that Hsieh and Su sat far apart, and to emphasize the later interaction that the two heavyweights dismissed their enmities with a laugh. The concession marker suiran
‘although’ was also used. Together with danshi, they signaled a concessive-contrastive relationship. In this regard, information negative about the DPP was suppressed, while information positive about it was upheld. On the contrary, CTi News first presented the scene that the heavyweights had a joint conference, but, with the use of danshi, disputed their sincerity by underscoring the fact that Hsieh and Su sat far apart.
CTi News continued to report that the heavyweights looked friendly and pleasant on the stage. Yet it questioned how they could dissolve their grudges within such a short time, as in (8a), and described that they embraced different thoughts, as in (8b).
The use of the contrastive marker dan not only disturbed the onstage harmony among the heavyweights, but also amplified the skeptical voice of CTi News. That is, it speculated that the heavyweights were unable to forgo their grudges and that they were not of one mind. The uses of dan served the political stance of CTi News by challenging the DPP solidarity.
(8) a. 呂蘇游謝同台上演大和解，但初選種下的心結怎麼會是一天兩天就能 化解？
Lu, Su, Yu, Hsieh tongtai shangyan da hejie, dan chuxuan zhongxia de xinjie
zeme hui shi yi tian liang tian jiou neng huajie.
‘Lu, Su, Yu and Hsieh together acted a scene of reconciliation on the same stage, but how could they dissolve their grudges within one day or two?’
b. 台面上發言權你讓我我讓你，一團和氣，但呂蘇游謝排排坐，卻是各 有所思。
Taimian shang fayanquan ni rang wo wo rang ni, yituanheqi, dan Lu, Su, Yu, Hsieh paipaizuo, que shi geyousuosi.
‘On the stage they politely declined the right to speak, looking friendly and pleasant. Yet Lu, Su, Yu and Hsieh sat side by side, but they embraced different thoughts in minds.’
(CTi News, May 7, 2007) Similar to CTi News, ETTV News withheld information positive about the DPP and conveyed information negative about it. It was reported that Yu kept expressing his gratitude to his supporters, but he still had some opinions about the primary system. The use of the contrastive marker danshi discounted Yu’s appreciation while putting emphasis on his dissatisfaction.
(9) 游錫堃則是感謝再感謝，但是他對初選制度還是有意見。
Yu Shyi-kun ze shi ganxie zai ganxie, danshi ta dui chuxuan zhidu haishi youyijian.
‘Yu Shyi-kun kept expressing his gratitude, but he still had some opinions about the primary system.’
(ETTV News, May 7, 2007) Last, in the reports about the torch relay, ETTV News, SET News, and CTi News all used the contrastive marker danshi to pinpoint the route that the torch would come from Taiwan to China-ruled Hong Kong. The emphatic feature of contrastive marker made prominent the DPP government’s concern of being belittled.
(10) a. 經過越南的胡志明市，再到台灣這一部份，台灣沒有問題。但是呢，
如果台灣直接到港澳再進大陸，那麼剛才我們知道這是台灣方面是拒絕 的。
Jingguo Vietnam de Ho Chi Minh City, zaidao Taiwan zhe yi bufen, Taiwan shi meiyou wenti. Danshi ne, ruguo Taiwan zhijie dao Hong Kong, Macao zai jin dalu, name gangcai women zhidao zhe shi Taiwan fangmian shi jujue de.
‘Through Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam into Taiwan, this part is alright with Taiwan. But, if the following route is from Taiwan to Hong Kong, Macao and then to Mainland China, then we just knew that Taiwan rejected it.’
(ETTV News, April 26, 2007) b. 台北是聖火傳遞的第 21 個城市，但是接著聖火轉進香港、澳門，一 路進海南，回到大陸各城市。
Taipei shi shenghuo chuandi de di 21 ge chengshi, danshi jiezhe shenghuo zhuan jin Hong Kong, Macao, yi lu jin Hainan, huidao dalu ge chengshi.
‘Taipei is the 21st city on the torch route. But then the torch was transited to Hong Kong, to Macao, and all the way to Hainan, coming back to the cities in Mainland China.
(SET News, April 26, 2007) c. 聖火從越南的胡志明市傳遞到台北再到香港。雖然是第三國進，但是 下一站卻是到了香港。
Shenghuo cong Vietnam de Ho Chi Minh City chuandi dao Taipei zai dao Hong Kong. Suiran shi di san guo jin, danshi xia yi zhan que shi dao le Hong Kong.
‘The torch is passed from Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam, to Taipei and then to Hong Kong. The torch enters from the third country, but its next stop is
Hong Kong.’
(CTi News, April 26, 2007) On the other hand, when it came to the possible influences of Taiwan’s rejection of the torch, ETTV News, FTV News, and CTi News all mentioned one point that the rejection was unprecedented in history. Yet, CTi News stood out in that it specifically used the contrastive marker danshi to strengthen the historical evaluation, as shown in (11). The contrast was highlighted between causes like wars in the past and the dissatisfying torch route at issue; between outcomes like suspensions and boycotts of the Olympics in the past and the turndown of the torch at issue. The emphasis seemed to suggest that the Taiwan government was narrow-minded. Therefore, for CTi News, the use of the contrastive marker danshi is to convey information negative about the DPP.
(11) 在歷史上我們來看看是只有因為戰爭，或者是冷戰等因素造成奧運停 辦，或者是抵制參加，但是到現在真的還從來沒有一個國家針對聖火的 傳遞路線加以拒絕。
Zai lishi shang women laikankan shi zhiyou yinwei zhanzheng, huozhe shi lengzhan deng yinsu zaocheng aoyun tingban, huozhe shi dizhi canjia, danshi dao xianzai zhende hai conglai meiyou yige guojia zhendui shenghuo de chuandi luxian jiayi jujue.
‘In history, we see that only factors like war or cold war have led to the suspensions or boycotts of the Olympics, but until now there has never been a country which specifically refuses the torch relay route.’
(CTi News, April 26, 2007) So far in this section, it has been noticed that the contrastive marker danshi denotes a denial of preceding utterance and an affirmation of following statement.
Hence, it makes possible for news stations to suppress information positive about
them or negative about us while at the same time expressing information that is positive about us or negative about them.
In addition to the contrastive marker danshi, the adverb que ‘but/yet’ also denotes adversative relations between propositions. Yet, unlike danshi, que does not refute its preceding utterance (Li 2001, Liu 2000, Wang 2007). It simply signals and highlights the contrast. In the news about Ma’s trial, FTV News used the adverb que twice to highlight Ma’s inconsistency. The first que contrasted Ma’s performances outside and inside the courthouse. Outside the courthouse, Ma menggong ‘severely attacked’ the prosecutor, but when asked by the judge, he zhishuo ‘merely said’ that he was induced by the prosecutor. The second que highlighted Ma’s contradictory replies.
At first he said that he was induced by the prosecutor, but on second thought, he gaikou ‘corrected himself’ that the statements were made based on his will. The self-contradictory behaviors of Ma presented in FTV News can be viewed as a means to tarnish Ma’s image and to sabotage the KMT.
(12) 馬英九在庭外猛批檢察官，可是在庭內法官問到馬英九到底在偵訊時有
(12) 馬英九在庭外猛批檢察官，可是在庭內法官問到馬英九到底在偵訊時有