Attitude and subjectivity in Italian and British hard news reporting: the construction of a culture-specific reporter voice

The critical linguistic analysis of authorial stance in English news reporting has long been concerned with uncovering the ideological bias embedded in the seemingly objective and neutral representation of people and events. Interest has recently shifted towards the nature of the authorial voice itself and the extent to which this semblance of objectivity is also typical in non-English reporting (e.g. Thomson et al., 2008). This article explores to what extent the most impersonal ‘reporter voice’, as identified by Martin and White (2005) in English hard-news reported in the press, is present in Italian reporting. The ‘appraisal’ categories developed by Martin and White are used, discussed and adapted for this purpose. Attention is thereby also given to significant expressive resources that may not be retrievable from English material alone. Similarities and differences in reporting styles are discussed and reference is made to the social and cultural variables that may underlie them.