Collen Sabao

This is a book project seeking to examine the discourse linguistic notion/question of ‘objectivity’ in ‘controversial’ ‘hard news’ reporting in Zimbabwean newspapers cross-linguistically from an Appraisal linguistic theoretic perspective. ‘Objectivity’ is examined here by comparing the textuality of Zimbabwean printed news reports in English, Shona and Ndebele during the period January 2010 to December 2013, providing detailed comparative accounts of generic structures (cognitive and rhetorical) of ‘hard news’ reports in Zimbabwean newspapers cross-linguistically. The investigation focuses on ‘controversial’ news reports and the research period represents an interesting epoch in the country’s political and economic landscapes. It examines how media texts occurring in these Zimbabwean journalistic cultures distinguish (or otherwise) between the objective and the subjective, the factual and opinion and how Appraisal analytical resources of invoked and inscribed evaluation manifest comparatively in these media and how Appraisal Theory provides alternative linguistic non-journalistic theoretic ways of theorising ‘objectivity’ in news texts.