| Description |
The newspaper print media is a common way for people to obtain and utilize information. A vast impact of knowledge is gained by readers of newspapers, creating the question of whether the content of articles from various culturally specific newspapers lS equivalent. This study examined language use in ethnic newspapers for the African-American, American, and Hispanic culture groups. Eight newspapers from three culture groups were selected from a common domain. All newspapers were taken from neighboring areas so that ethnic differences, but not geographic differences, in printed communication could be compared. Sixty-three articles were chosen, twenty-one representing each culture group. Article types were limited to current issue and local news. All articles received blind analyses for structure and social communicative intent. Article structure was analyzed according to two variables, length and grammatical errors present. To determine the specific social intent of communication, each sentence of every article was deemed to convey either emotion, persuasion, description, information, entertainment, or expression of belief. Means and standard deviations were calculated for all areas under examination and compared among the three culture groups using a z statistic. Differences were found in the length of the articles and in the area of social communication. The occurrence of grammatical errors within the articles was similar for the three groups. Hispanic articles were found to be shorter in words and sentences while the African-American articles had tbe fewest paragraphs. African-American articles also used more sentences to persuade and express belief. American articles rarely used sentences expressing emotion, while Hispanic articles were used least to inform. This study determined differences In language use among cultural newspapers. Although subtle, these language differences may influence readers' perspectives of current issues and local news items. |
