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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1145

Part of General Paper Session (Other abstracts in this session)

“Inside the Brussels bubble” – A linguistic-ethnographic study into the effect of multilingualism on foreign news coverage about Belgium

Authors: Van Praet, Ellen (1,2); Astrid, Vandendaele (2)
Submitted by: Van Praet, Ellen (Ghent University College, Belgium)

Brussels is home to roughly 900 foreign correspondents, a close-knit network of journalists whose coverage typically combines key EU events, EU stories with a national angle (Lecheler 2008) and Brussels-based international organizations (e.g., NATO). At best, covering Belgium is 50 percent of their job. 

Foreign correspondents’ unilateral selection of sources, stereotypical angles and persistent reference frameworks are said to distort reality, with all the consequences that this entails for the image of Belgians abroad. Is information at risk of becoming lost as a result of complicated language issues? Are foreign correspondents aware of the possible traps Belgium’s divided media landscape presents? Is it actually the case that many foreign correspondents solely rely on francophone sources? And is there a noticeable difference in perspective?

To answer these questions, the paper zooms in on one specific news item which was picked up in the foreign written press in 2010, i.e. the fall of the federal government Leterme II and the attendant conflict surrounding the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. In essence, this event relates to a continued conflict between language communities (flemish and francophone politicians).  The paper seeks to illustrate how French and Dutch foreign correspondents report on this news item from very different angles and relates this conclusion to (i) the level of the correspondent’s integration and (ii) the correspondent’s command of languages.

The research presented in the paper forms part of a three-year research project (2009-2012) on the representation of Belgium in the foreign press.  The initial corpus comprised the printed (non-digital) output of foreign correspondents in Brussels, writing for broadsheets from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010. In addition, 13 foreign correspondents were interviewed between January and April 2011, along with six leading figures in the news production process. 

From a methodological angle, the case study shows the added value of integrating text analysis and ethnographic interviews.  Moreover, it illustrates how sensitive issues related to language contact, language conflict and multilingualism are translated (or not) in foreign media.

References:

Carvalho, A. (2008). "Media(ted) discourse and society." Journalism studies 9(2): 161-177.

Cotter, C. (2010). News talk: investigating the language of journalism. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Lecheler, S. (2008). EU membership and the press: An analysis of the Brussels correspondents from the new member states. Journalism, 9(4), 443-464 

Martin, J. R. and P. R. R. White (2005). The language of evaluation: appraisal in English. Basingstoke and New York, Palgrave Macmillan.