Reporting of Political Speech

Abstract

A news report on some event will normally consist of two things: descriptions of events—what has happened, is happening, or may happen—and descriptions of talk—what people have said (or, sometimes, what people haven’t said) in connection with what has happened, is happening, or may happen. Very commonly, especially in political reporting, what has been said about an event can be more important than the event itself. The killing of an American military officer in East Germany by a Soviet soldier may be a personal tragedy for his family and friends, but what the leaders of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. said and did not say about this killing was of more importance politically than the actual killing.