The Persuasive Use of Rhetorical Devices in the Reporting of ‘Avian Flu’.s.

Abstract

This article examines the emerging cultural patterns in reporting a pandemic in waiting (avian influenza) as instantiated in the news discourse of the British press, more particularly the crisis that followed the 2005 outbreak. Emphasis is given to the use of rhetorical devices such as metaphors and pragmatic markers. Drawing on the work by Schön and by Lakoff, and following the line of research by some other scholars such as Nerlich, it is claimed that exposure to those linguistic resources can affect readers’ perceptions, actions and value judgements in accordance with the logic displayed by those devices.