The Second Persona in Political Commentary
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52610/rhs.v20i71/72.72Keywords:
political journalism, political commentary, genre analysis, second personaAbstract
This article critiques political commentary as the genre is currently practiced in Danish public debate. In a reading of 90 political commentaries published in national newspapers during the parliamentary election in 2011, the second persona of the genre is investigated in accordance with the three analytical steps originally suggested by Edwin Black: First, an analysis of the substantive claims and stylistic tokens is conducted in order to depict the genre’s second persona. Next, this depiction is compared and contrasted with different models of democracy and their understanding of citizens’ roles, and it is argued that the discursive audience construction in Danish political commentary reflects an understanding of the citizen’s role in a competitive democracy. Finally, the discursive audience construction is evaluated and its consequences are discussed on the basis of two studies that examine a real audience’s reaction to the audience construction. The article can be a starting point for comparative analysis across Scandinavia and contribute to more general discussions of the role of mass media in a democracy.
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