By Samuel Byamugisha Kamanzi.
TOPIC: CNN LARRY KING LIVE: INTERVIEW WITH BILL CLINTON BY LARRY KING (SEP 9, 2007 – 21.00 ET).
Anne Okeeffe defines Media Discourse as the “representation of reality in Broadcast and Print Media, which may include Political Interviews, Chat shows, Radio Phone Ins, etc”[1]. She adds that the most appropriate way to investigate Media Discourse is to employ Discourse analysis, Conversation analysis, and Corpus linguistics. She defines Discourse analysis as an examination of how the interaction between the presenter/interviewer and the interviewee/guest, is managed, how pseudo-relationships are established and maintained, and how others are created through out the interaction.
Going by these definitions, I think the most appropriate methodological tools for analysing the Larry King/Bill Clinton interaction on CNN, are Discourse Analysis, and Corpus Linguistics. According to Okeeffe, in Discourse Analysis, attention is paid to the use of Exchange Structures, Pragmatic Markers, Discourse Markers, Hedging, Response Tokens, Vague Language, and the Social Roles of the people involved in the interaction.
Okeeffe again informs us that Corpus Linguistics may involve political interviews between well known Media personalities, and important politicians, or Celebrities. I think this is the case, in this CNN interaction between Larry King, and Bill Clinton. Larry King, the presenter of Larry King Live Program on CNN, is a global household name. This was confirmed by the worldwide attention he attracted when he celebrated 50 years of broadcasting, around the time he hosted Bill Clinton for this interview. His guest, Bill Clinton, is a former President of the United States.
In the first Reading, Okeeffe introduces us to the concept of “Participatory Frame Work model”, in which the audience is seen as playing a big role in Media interactions. Therefore this model involves the interviewer, the interviewee, and the audience. In the case of this interaction between Larry King and Bill Clinton, there is a global audience, as a third participant. In fact I remember watching this particular interaction when I was in Central America.
An examination of the text of this interaction reveals the institutionalised power of CNN, as bestowed on Larry King, the host of the program. This is evident in the way he initiates, directs, and controls the interaction. For example, he is quoted as saying “….we will be back with Clinton. Don’t go away”.
The interaction also reveals a lot of exchange structures such as “Speaker Turns”. It is mostly “Two- part (Initiation – Response). An example is where Larry King opens the program by saying “It is always a great pleasure to welcome….”, and then Bill Clinton replies, “Well first of all….”
Sometimes the interaction assumes a “Three-part” (Initiation- Response-feedback). An example of this exchange structure is when Larry King says “Do you like politicking again…” Clinton replies “I do….”, and, then Larry king adds a feedback by questioning “Yes?” Also when Larry King asks (“Did you get a sense of satisfaction since he was such a critic of yours…..” and Clinton replies, “No” Larry king, adds a feedback by questioning, “No?”
This interview is also characterised by use of pragmatic markers, especially discourse markers, and interjections. Okeeffe describes Discourse markers as “the words or phrases that normally mark boundaries in a conversation”[2]. This is evident especially when Larry King says “George Bush, your friend, has said it pains him more when his son is criticised……”, and Clinton replies, “Oh, that is absolutely right”.
Sometimes the interview is also characterised by the use of “Vague Language to lessen the directness of one’s message”[3] . An example is when Larry King is quoted saying, “And one other thing in that area…..” Response tokens, defined as “Interjections that an addressee makes in response to a speaker’s utterances”[4], are noted when Clinton says “That is absolutely right…” From the Readings, we learn that in Participation Frame work Model, the presenters/interviewers, usually align with the audiences, as opposed to the interviewees/guests, at the beginning, and at the end of the interview[5]. This is evident in this interaction, for example, when Larry King says, (“…..the 42nd President of the USA…. He is with us tonight”. This statement clearly involves the audience in this interaction.
For Corpus linguistics, I will refer to the application of Ducrot´s Theory of Argumentation in this interaction. It says that “every instance of putting forward an argument towards a conclusion is based solely on facts conveyed by an utterance-argument”[6]
In this particular case, Bill Clinton talks about how he feels vindicated by Hiarry Clinton’s doing well in politics, especially the US Senate. He recalls telling her long before they got married that she was a very gifted person, and that she would one day end up in politics. His conclusions are clearly backed by the fact that Hilary Clinton is now a leading Democratic candidate, in the US 2008 Presidential race.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
[1]. Okeeffe Anna (2006),Investigating Media Discourse,Routledge,New York,Pg 1
[2] .Ibid. Pg 8
[3] . Ibid. Pg 7
[4] . Ibid. Pg 9
[5] . Ibid. Pg 30
[6] Ljubljana Zagar Z Igov,”From Reported Speech to Polyphony, From Bakhtin to Docrot (Bakhtin and the Humanities: Proceedings of an International Conference in Ljubljana October 19-21 1995,published by CICERO Begunfe d.o.o
