The Linguistics of Newswriting: (11 AILA Applied Linguistics Series)

The Linguistics of Newswriting focuses on text production in journalistic media as both a socially relevant field of language use and as a strategic field of applied linguistics. The book discusses and paves the way for scientific projects in the emerg­ing field of linguistics of newswriting. From empirical micro and theoretical macro perspectives, strategies and practices of research development and knowledge transformation are discussed. Thus, the book is addressed to researchers, teachers and coaches interested in the linguistics of professional writing in general and news­writing in particular. Together with the training materials provided on the internet www.news-writing.net, the book will also be useful to anyone who wants to become a more “discerning consumer" (Perry, 2005) or a more reflective producer of language in the media.

Table of Contents:
1. Acknowledgements; 2. Preface; 3. The parts of the book; 4. A. Challenge: Providing added value by applying linguistics; 5. A1. Situating newswriting as a socially relevant application field; 6. A2. Applying linguistics in a socially relevant professional setting; 7. A3. Adding value through knowledge transformation; 8. A4. Summary and conclusion; 9. B. Procedure: Adding value by re-contextualizing problems; 10. B1. Overcoming disciplinary boundaries; 11. B2. Contextualizing newswriting as the object of study; 12. B3. Triangulating newswriting research methods; 13. B4. Summary and conclusion; 14. C. Solution: Identifying the medialinguistic mindset; 15. C1. Investigating language environments in newswriting; 16. C2. Investigating language functions in newswriting; 17. C3. Investigating language structures in newswriting; 18. C4. Summary and conclusion; 19. D. Consequence: Shaping the mindset in knowledge transformation projects; 20. D1. Reflecting journalists' perspectives on newswriting; 21. D2. Learning from experienced writers; 22. D3. Sharing knowledge with experts in the newsrooms; 23. D4. Raising awareness across stakeholders' realities; 24. D5. Understanding emergence in complex dynamic settings; 25. D6. Summary and conclusion; 26. E. Dissemination: Fostering knowledge transformation through open databases; 27. E1. Processing ecological data from and for humans and computers; 28. E2. Layering corpora of media text production; 29. E3. Stimulating transformation discourse; 30. E4. Summary and conclusion; 31. List of key terms; 32. List of excerpts; 33. List of figures; 34. List of boxes; 35. List of references

Review :
Perrin's work is ground-breaking, addressing attested gaps in the field of language and news media, notably in terms of production and process, which are difficult to investigate with existing linguistic tools. Perrin leads with a fresh perspective, well-conceived and tested methods, and thoughtful case studies -- opening up the field again. The Linguistics of Newswriting has a broad reach and at the same time nails down the details. A virtuoso accomplishment. The depth and breadth of the research seems unprecedented in my reading of the literature on literate activity in any domain. For the past two decades or so, Daniel Perrin has been one of the leading figures in a small but increasingly influential network or researchers who call for the systematic language oriented study of news production processes: no analysis of media discourse, it is argued can be complete without a thorough consideration of the contextual dynamics in which it has emerged. Perrin’s Linguistics of Newswriting is now the first book-length introduction to this field. It is both deeply theoretical and overwhelmingly empirical. The book’s scope is ambitious, from the “ins” of gaining access to the “outs” of feeding back to the practitioners interested in how the news or any other form of professional discourse is made. (On a personal note, Perrin’s book is so elegantly written, sharply focused and innovatively structured that he has single-handedly reconciled me with the monograph genre.) [...] The Linguistics of Newswriting should be considered a groundbreaking project, one that will inspire future research efforts in the field of newswriting, and beyond.