Identification of Context in News Reporting

Abstract

Identification of the context in which events take place is crucial to an understanding of such events. If a presidential candidate says something in one political context, it might be interpreted one way, but if said in a different political context, it might be interpreted differently. A candidate who promises a militant women’s organization that he will appoint more women to government positions might be said to be pandering or “caving in” to them. If he makes this promise before a group of relatively sexist male business leaders, he might be said to be courageous. These two contexts are different, and the reporter who reports on two such events will normally report not only what is said, but also say something about the context in which these promises were made.