A Corpus-informed Study of Move Structures and Linguistic Features of Press Release and Corresponding News Reports of Products and Services in the Thai Business Context
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Published:
May 31, 2019
Keywords:
press release genre corpus linguistic communicative purpose
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study adopted the corpus-based, move analysis approach to explore differences in move structure and linguistic feature between press release and corresponding news reports. The corpus comprised of 60 press releases (approximately 50,000 words) of products and services written by Thailand-based companies and 60 corresponding news articles (approximately 40,000 words) collected from local English-language newspapers-namely, The Nation and Bangkok Post. A framework adopted from Catenaccio’s (2008) move analysis of business press release was used to identify and compare move structures between the two sets of data. The findings suggested that, although the news reports follow almost all the same rhetorical structures as those found in the releases, the corpus analysis of linguistic features revealed some significant differences between lexical choices and grammatical patterns that showed some subtly manipulation on the part of the news writers. Research and pedagogical implications of the study were also discussed.
Article Details
How to Cite
Chavanachid, P., & Sripicharn, P. (2019). A Corpus-informed Study of Move Structures and Linguistic Features of Press Release and Corresponding News Reports of Products and Services in the Thai Business Context. Journal of Studies in the English Language, 14(1), 25–92. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsel/article/view/145699
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References
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Baker, P. (2006). Using corpora in discourse analysis. London, UK: A&C Black.
Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Retrieved from https://www.media.uoa.gr/lectures/linguistic_archi ves/mda0405/notes/Bell_Media_and_Language.pdf
Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analysing genre: language use in professional settings. London, UK: Longman.
. (2004). Worlds of written discourse: a genre-based view. Shanghai, China: A&C Black.
. (2005). Generic patterns in promotional discourse. In H. Halmari & T. Virtanen (Eds.), Persuasion across genres: A linguistic approach (pp.213-225). Amsterdam, The Netherland: John Benjamins. Retrieved from https://books.google
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Bollinger, L. (2001). A new scoring method for the press release. Public Relations Quarterly, 46(1), 31–35.
Bond, F. F. (1961). An introduction to journalism: A survey of the forth estate in all its forms. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Bremner, S. (2014). Genres and processes in the PR industry: Behind the scenes with an intern writer. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(3), 259–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488414525398
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Catenaccio, P. (2008). Press releases as a hybrid genre: Addressing the informative/promotional conundrum. Pragmatics, 18(1), 9–31.
Cho, H., & Yoon, H. (2013). A corpus-assisted comparative genre analysis of corporate earnings calls between Korean and native-English speakers. English for Specific Purposes, 32(3), 170–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2013.03.001
Davies, N. (2011). Flat earth news: an award-winning reporter exposes falsehood, distortion and propaganda in the global media. London, UK: Random House.
Davis, A. K., Piger, J. M., & Sedor, L. M. (2012). Beyond the numbers: Measuring the information content of earnings press release language. Contemporary Accounting Research, 29(3), 845–868. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1911- 3846.2011.01130.x
Develotte, C., & Rechniewski, E. (2001). Discourse analysis of newspaper headlines: A methodological framework for research into national representations. The Web Journal of French Media Studies, 4(1). Retrieved from https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01510703/
De Semir, V., Ribas, C., & Revuelta, G. (1998). Press releases of science journal articles and subsequent newspaper stories on the same topic. JAMA, 280(3), 294–295. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.280.3.294
Flowerdew, L. (2005). An integration of corpus-based and genre-based approaches to text analysis in EAP/ESP: Countering criticisms against corpus-based methodologies. English for Specific Purposes, 24(3), 321–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2004.09.002
Garner, B. A. (2000). The Oxford dictionary of American usage and style. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Hong, S. Y. (2008). The relationship between newsworthiness and publication of news releases in the media. Public Relations Review, 34(3), 297–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.03.033
Hough, G. A. (1984). News writing (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved from https://www.abebooks.com/9780395341100/New s-writing-George-Hough-0395341108/plp
Iedema, R., Feez, S., & White, P. R. (1994). Stage two: Media literacy. In A Report for the Write It Right. In Industry Research project. Syndney, Australia: Disadvantaged Schools Program, NSW Department of School Education.
Jacobs, G. (1999a). Preformulating the news: An analysis of the metapragmatics of press releases. Amsterdam, The Nertherland: John Benjamins.
. (1999b). Self-reference in press releases. Journal of Pragmatics, 31(2), 219–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00077-0
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1968). The choice of the passive voice in a communicative task. British Journal of Psychology, 59(1), 7–15.
Kanoksilapatham, B. (2005). Rhetorical structure of biochemistry research articles. English for Specific Purposes, 24(3), 269-292.
Keeble, R., & Reeves, I. (2005). The newspapers handbook. New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=r31_AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=K eeble+The+Newspapers+Handbook&ots=tk7Wn_FLgq&sig=HwX3YxiwoiNchuPq2w3ruTS5OY
LaRocque, P. (2003). Heads you win: An easy guide to better headline and caption writing.
Oak Park, IL: Street Press.
Lassen, I. (2006). Is the press release a genre? A study of form and content. Discourse Studies, 8(4), 503–530. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445606061875
Lee, S. T., & Basnyat, I. (2013). From press release to news: Mapping the framing of the 2009 H1N1 A influenza pandemic. Health Communication, 28(2), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2012.658550
Lewis, J., Williams, A., & Franklin, B. (2008). Four rumours and an explanation: A political economic account of journalists’ changing news gathering and reporting practices. Journalism Practice, 2(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512780701768493
Maat, H. P. (2007). How promotional language in press releases is dealt with by journalists: genre mixing or genre conflict? Journal of Business Communication, 44(1), 59–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943606295780
. (2008). Editing and genre conflict: How newspaper journalists clarify and neutralize press release copy. Pragmatics, 18(1), 87–113.
Maat, H. P., & de Jong, C. (2013). How newspaper journalists reframe product press release information. Journalism, 14(3), 348-371. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884912448914
Maat, H. P., & Marco, M. J. L. (2000). Collocational frameworks in medical research papers: A genre- based study. English for Specific Purposes, 19(1), 63–86.
McCawley, J. D. (1971). Tense and time reference in English. In C. J. Fillmore & D. T. Langedoen (Eds.), Studies in Linguistic Semantics (pp. 96-113). New York, NY: Holt Rinehart & Winston Retrieved from https://philpapers.org/rec/ MCCTAT-8
McLaren, Y., & Gurǎu, C. (2005). Characterising the Genre of the corporate press release. LSP and Professional Communication, 5(1), 10-30. Retrieved from https://ej.lib.cbs.dk/index.php/LSP/article/view/2041
Morton, L. P., & Warren, J. (1992a). News elements and editors’ choices. Public Relations Review, 18(1), 47–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-8111(92)90020-Y
. (1992b). Acceptance characteristics of hometown press releases. Public Relations Review, 18(4), 385–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-8111(92)90030-3
Pearce, M. (2012). The Routledge dictionary of English language studies. London, UK: Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.th/books?id=ydbfCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=th&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad= 0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Prášková, E. (2009). Grammar in newspaper headlines (Bachelor’s thesis). University of Pardubice, Czech Republic.
Reich, Z. (2010). Measuring the impact of PR on published news in increasingly fragmented news environments: A multifaceted approach. Journalism Studies, 11(6), 799–816. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616701003760550
Rutherford, B. A. (2005). Genre analysis of corporate annual report narratives: A corpus linguistics-based approach. Journal of Business Communication, 42(4), 349–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943605279244
Saxena, S. (2006). Headline writing. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Seawnoi, T. (2008). A Comparative study of business news story structures in bangkok post and the nation (Master’s project, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand).
Retrieved from https://thesis.swu.ac.th/swuthesis/Eng(M.A.)/Thanyarat_S.pdf
Sissons, H. (2012). Journalism and public relations: A tale of two discourses. Discourse & Communication, 6(3), 273–294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481312452202
Sleurs, K., Jacobs, G., & Van Waes, L. (2003). Constructing press releases, constructing quotations: A case study. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(2), 192–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00219
Strobbe, I., & Jacobs, G. (2005). E-releases: A view from linguistic pragmatics. Public Relations Review, 31(2), 289–291.
Sumner, P., Vivian-Griffiths, S., Boivin, J., Williams, A., Bott, L., Adams, R.,… & Chambers, C. D. (2016). Exaggerations and caveats in press releases and health-related science news. PLoS ONE, 11(12). https://doi.org/10.1371
/journal.pone.0168217
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Turk, J. V. (1985). Information subsidies and influence. Public Relations Review, 11(3), 10–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(85)80078-3
Upton, T. A., & Connor, U. (2001). Using computerized corpus analysis to investigate the textlinguistic discourse moves of a genre. English for Specific Purposes, 20(4), 313–329.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2013). News as discourse. London, UK: Routledge.
Walters, L. M., & Walters, T. N. (1992). Environment of confidence: Daily newspaper use of press releases. Public Relations Review, 18(1), 31–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-8111(92)90019-U
Weir, A. (2009). Article drop in English headlinese (Master’s disserration, University College London, UK). Retrieved from https://folk.ntnu.no/andrewww/Weir-2009-headlinese.pdf
White, P. (1997). Death, disruption and the moral order: The narrative impulse in mass-media ‘hard news’ reporting. In F. Christie & J. R. Martin (Eds.), Genres and institutions: Social Process in the workplace and school (pp.101-133). London, UK: Cassell.
Wickman, C. (2014). Rhetorical framing in corporate press releases: the case of British petroleum and the gulf oil spill. Environmental Communication, 8(1), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2013.816329
Baker, P. (2006). Using corpora in discourse analysis. London, UK: A&C Black.
Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Retrieved from https://www.media.uoa.gr/lectures/linguistic_archi ves/mda0405/notes/Bell_Media_and_Language.pdf
Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analysing genre: language use in professional settings. London, UK: Longman.
. (2004). Worlds of written discourse: a genre-based view. Shanghai, China: A&C Black.
. (2005). Generic patterns in promotional discourse. In H. Halmari & T. Virtanen (Eds.), Persuasion across genres: A linguistic approach (pp.213-225). Amsterdam, The Netherland: John Benjamins. Retrieved from https://books.google
.co.th/books/about/Persuasion_Across_Genres.ht ml?id=Xj7O3KHzgMC&printsec=frontcover&so
urce=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage& q=Generic%20patterns%20in%20promotional%2 0dis%09course&f=false
Biber, D., Connor, U., & Upton, T. A. (2007). Discourse on the move: Using corpus analysis to describe discourse structure. Amsterdam, The Netherland: John Benjamins.
Bollinger, L. (2001). A new scoring method for the press release. Public Relations Quarterly, 46(1), 31–35.
Bond, F. F. (1961). An introduction to journalism: A survey of the forth estate in all its forms. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Bremner, S. (2014). Genres and processes in the PR industry: Behind the scenes with an intern writer. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(3), 259–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488414525398
Busa, M. G. (2013). Introducing the language of the news: A student’s guide. New York, NY: Routledge.
Catenaccio, P. (2008). Press releases as a hybrid genre: Addressing the informative/promotional conundrum. Pragmatics, 18(1), 9–31.
Cho, H., & Yoon, H. (2013). A corpus-assisted comparative genre analysis of corporate earnings calls between Korean and native-English speakers. English for Specific Purposes, 32(3), 170–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2013.03.001
Davies, N. (2011). Flat earth news: an award-winning reporter exposes falsehood, distortion and propaganda in the global media. London, UK: Random House.
Davis, A. K., Piger, J. M., & Sedor, L. M. (2012). Beyond the numbers: Measuring the information content of earnings press release language. Contemporary Accounting Research, 29(3), 845–868. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1911- 3846.2011.01130.x
Develotte, C., & Rechniewski, E. (2001). Discourse analysis of newspaper headlines: A methodological framework for research into national representations. The Web Journal of French Media Studies, 4(1). Retrieved from https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01510703/
De Semir, V., Ribas, C., & Revuelta, G. (1998). Press releases of science journal articles and subsequent newspaper stories on the same topic. JAMA, 280(3), 294–295. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.280.3.294
Flowerdew, L. (2005). An integration of corpus-based and genre-based approaches to text analysis in EAP/ESP: Countering criticisms against corpus-based methodologies. English for Specific Purposes, 24(3), 321–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2004.09.002
Garner, B. A. (2000). The Oxford dictionary of American usage and style. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Hong, S. Y. (2008). The relationship between newsworthiness and publication of news releases in the media. Public Relations Review, 34(3), 297–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.03.033
Hough, G. A. (1984). News writing (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved from https://www.abebooks.com/9780395341100/New s-writing-George-Hough-0395341108/plp
Iedema, R., Feez, S., & White, P. R. (1994). Stage two: Media literacy. In A Report for the Write It Right. In Industry Research project. Syndney, Australia: Disadvantaged Schools Program, NSW Department of School Education.
Jacobs, G. (1999a). Preformulating the news: An analysis of the metapragmatics of press releases. Amsterdam, The Nertherland: John Benjamins.
. (1999b). Self-reference in press releases. Journal of Pragmatics, 31(2), 219–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00077-0
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1968). The choice of the passive voice in a communicative task. British Journal of Psychology, 59(1), 7–15.
Kanoksilapatham, B. (2005). Rhetorical structure of biochemistry research articles. English for Specific Purposes, 24(3), 269-292.
Keeble, R., & Reeves, I. (2005). The newspapers handbook. New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=r31_AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=K eeble+The+Newspapers+Handbook&ots=tk7Wn_FLgq&sig=HwX3YxiwoiNchuPq2w3ruTS5OY
LaRocque, P. (2003). Heads you win: An easy guide to better headline and caption writing.
Oak Park, IL: Street Press.
Lassen, I. (2006). Is the press release a genre? A study of form and content. Discourse Studies, 8(4), 503–530. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445606061875
Lee, S. T., & Basnyat, I. (2013). From press release to news: Mapping the framing of the 2009 H1N1 A influenza pandemic. Health Communication, 28(2), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2012.658550
Lewis, J., Williams, A., & Franklin, B. (2008). Four rumours and an explanation: A political economic account of journalists’ changing news gathering and reporting practices. Journalism Practice, 2(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512780701768493
Maat, H. P. (2007). How promotional language in press releases is dealt with by journalists: genre mixing or genre conflict? Journal of Business Communication, 44(1), 59–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943606295780
. (2008). Editing and genre conflict: How newspaper journalists clarify and neutralize press release copy. Pragmatics, 18(1), 87–113.
Maat, H. P., & de Jong, C. (2013). How newspaper journalists reframe product press release information. Journalism, 14(3), 348-371. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884912448914
Maat, H. P., & Marco, M. J. L. (2000). Collocational frameworks in medical research papers: A genre- based study. English for Specific Purposes, 19(1), 63–86.
McCawley, J. D. (1971). Tense and time reference in English. In C. J. Fillmore & D. T. Langedoen (Eds.), Studies in Linguistic Semantics (pp. 96-113). New York, NY: Holt Rinehart & Winston Retrieved from https://philpapers.org/rec/ MCCTAT-8
McLaren, Y., & Gurǎu, C. (2005). Characterising the Genre of the corporate press release. LSP and Professional Communication, 5(1), 10-30. Retrieved from https://ej.lib.cbs.dk/index.php/LSP/article/view/2041
Morton, L. P., & Warren, J. (1992a). News elements and editors’ choices. Public Relations Review, 18(1), 47–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-8111(92)90020-Y
. (1992b). Acceptance characteristics of hometown press releases. Public Relations Review, 18(4), 385–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-8111(92)90030-3
Pearce, M. (2012). The Routledge dictionary of English language studies. London, UK: Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.th/books?id=ydbfCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=th&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad= 0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Prášková, E. (2009). Grammar in newspaper headlines (Bachelor’s thesis). University of Pardubice, Czech Republic.
Reich, Z. (2010). Measuring the impact of PR on published news in increasingly fragmented news environments: A multifaceted approach. Journalism Studies, 11(6), 799–816. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616701003760550
Rutherford, B. A. (2005). Genre analysis of corporate annual report narratives: A corpus linguistics-based approach. Journal of Business Communication, 42(4), 349–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943605279244
Saxena, S. (2006). Headline writing. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Seawnoi, T. (2008). A Comparative study of business news story structures in bangkok post and the nation (Master’s project, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand).
Retrieved from https://thesis.swu.ac.th/swuthesis/Eng(M.A.)/Thanyarat_S.pdf
Sissons, H. (2012). Journalism and public relations: A tale of two discourses. Discourse & Communication, 6(3), 273–294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481312452202
Sleurs, K., Jacobs, G., & Van Waes, L. (2003). Constructing press releases, constructing quotations: A case study. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(2), 192–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00219
Strobbe, I., & Jacobs, G. (2005). E-releases: A view from linguistic pragmatics. Public Relations Review, 31(2), 289–291.
Sumner, P., Vivian-Griffiths, S., Boivin, J., Williams, A., Bott, L., Adams, R.,… & Chambers, C. D. (2016). Exaggerations and caveats in press releases and health-related science news. PLoS ONE, 11(12). https://doi.org/10.1371
/journal.pone.0168217
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Turk, J. V. (1985). Information subsidies and influence. Public Relations Review, 11(3), 10–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(85)80078-3
Upton, T. A., & Connor, U. (2001). Using computerized corpus analysis to investigate the textlinguistic discourse moves of a genre. English for Specific Purposes, 20(4), 313–329.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2013). News as discourse. London, UK: Routledge.
Walters, L. M., & Walters, T. N. (1992). Environment of confidence: Daily newspaper use of press releases. Public Relations Review, 18(1), 31–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-8111(92)90019-U
Weir, A. (2009). Article drop in English headlinese (Master’s disserration, University College London, UK). Retrieved from https://folk.ntnu.no/andrewww/Weir-2009-headlinese.pdf
White, P. (1997). Death, disruption and the moral order: The narrative impulse in mass-media ‘hard news’ reporting. In F. Christie & J. R. Martin (Eds.), Genres and institutions: Social Process in the workplace and school (pp.101-133). London, UK: Cassell.
Wickman, C. (2014). Rhetorical framing in corporate press releases: the case of British petroleum and the gulf oil spill. Environmental Communication, 8(1), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2013.816329