The birth of news discourse: changes in news language in British newspapers, 1880-1930

This article examines some changes in news style in British newspapers betw een about 1880 and 1930 and proposes that they provide evidence of the emer gence of a coherent and :self-sufficient discourse of the news. It argues t hat changes in the ways in which the news has represented the world are as important as technological or economic changes to the development of the 20 th-century news form, and that it is therefore important to look closely at issues of language. It suggests that three main developments in news texts occurred: the wide range of voices and styles of the Victorian press becam e subsumed under a single universal news voice; the status of the news text changed from being a collection of raw information to being a form of know ledge in itself; and the news developed independence from the conventions o f public discourse.