ITS NOT JUST ME WHOS SAYING THIS - THE DEPLOYMENT OF CITED OTHERS IN TELEVISED POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Research in persuasive communication has provided a taxonomy of source characteristics which are thought to add to the efficacy of a communi cator's persuasive attempt. However, it is argued that much research h as neglected an adequate description of the way in which communicators do not purely position themselves as the sole author of their utteran ces but often cite other sources as corroborators or endorsers of thei r message. The current research explores these issues through an analy sis of extracts drawn from a range of televised political discourse br oadcast in the UK and USA. From the present analysis it is argued that politicians deploy cited others whom they construct as offering apoli tical, expert and counter-interest warrants for their claims. However, far from being fixed 'psychological objects', it is argued that such source characteristics are 'to-be-constructed' resources, accomplished to suit the immediate argumentative context.