A Comparative Study Of Reported Speech In American And Chinese News Reports

Reported speech used in newspapers is usually seen as the exact and authentic words spoken by the original speakers. Reported speech, however, is by no means a neutral quotation of other’s remarks in that news is ideologically driven and is also determined and controlled by news values. In this respect, reporters’ skillful and adept use of reported speech becomes one of the most effective rhetoric devices for them to merge their own voices and convey their viewpoints and stances, thus leading readers to interpret the given news event from their presetting perspectives and ultimately serving their reporting aims.This thesis, in the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), aims to carry out a comparative study between American New York Times and Chinese Guangming Daily concerning the event of the remarkable2012Noble Literary Laureate Mo Yan. Two important aspects will be researched and compared in this thesis:the analysis of the news sources and that of the reporting modes, aiming to reveal how ideology works in the choice of news sources and of reporting modes and how reporters make use of these two rhetorical devices to influence readers’ perception on the given issue. What can be found is that news reports may tell readers something, but it may also mislead readers since people cannot make sense out of news events without imposing a bias on it. The choice of reporting modes and news source, by no means random or aimless, are intentionally chosen in accordance with the news values and with reporter’s aims. What’s more, the increase of reporters’ control over reported speech does not equal that the more they use direct speech the more objective and neutral the reports seem to be. The reason is that reporters can decide whose voice can be heard on the issue, thus they can express their viewpoints through the mouth of their well-chosen news sources.In conclusion, the ideological differences and the pursuit of newsworthiness can drive the way in which news sources and reporting modes are gathered and presented, which is worth readers’ critical attention especially in Chinese-related reports.