Characterizing Argumentative Blogging on Politics
A Pragma-Dialectical Analysis of the Strategic maneuvering in
Political Blog Posts
Esmeralda V. Bon
rMA thesis Rhetoric, Argumentation and Philosophy
Universiteit van Amsterdam
August 17, 2015
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content
Page(s)
SECTION 1: DETAILS FOR ACCESSING THE DIGITALLY STORED MATERIAL…….2
SECTION 2: THE FULL VERSIONS OF THE EXAMPLES (A – J)……….3 – 12
SECTION 3: THE ONLINE POLITICAL NEWSPAPER COLUMN
CRITERIA……….………..……….……..…..13
SECTION 4: THE POLITICAL BLOG CRITERIA……….………..14
SECTION 5: EXAMPLES OF HOSTING DOMAIN GUIDELINES………..……….….15 – 16
SECTION 6: THE RECONSTRUCTED CASES FROM THE GUARDIAN ……...….17 – 24
SECTION 7: THE RECONSTRUCTED CASES FROM THE TELEGRAPH………….25 – 29
SECTION 8: THE RECONSTRUCTED CASES FROM ‘STUMBLING
AND MUMBLING’ ……….………....30 – 39
SECTION 9: THE RECONSTRUCTED CASES FROM ‘RAEDWALD’……….…....…40 – 44
SECTION 10: THE HYPERLINKING FUNCTIONS IN THE ONLINE POLITICAL
NEWSPAPER COLUMN………...……….………...45
SECTION 11. THE HYPERLINKING FUNCTIONS IN THE POLITICAL BLOG..………46
2
Section 1: Details for accessing the digitally stored material
The online political newspaper columns and the political blog posts selected for analysis have
been stored in a digitally accessible on line folder, which can be retrieved from the following
link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/41rj19obyrnh1by/AABHScf8pNzhx6kfkoR32ZLAa?dl=0
.
These files should be available for observation and download. In case there are any issues
with accessing the following files, please contact
esmeralda.bon@student.uva.nl
.
Available files:
1.
The Selected Newspaper Columns from ‘The Guardian’
2.
The Selected Newspaper Columns from ‘The Telegraph’
3.
The Selected Left-Wing Political Blog Posts (Stumbling and Mumbling)
4.
The Selected Right-Wing Political Blog Posts (Raedwald)
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Section 2: The Full Versions of the Examples (A – J)
A. STUMBLING AND MUMBLING: FAIRNESS AND THE MAJORITY
March 21, 2014
FAIRNESS AND THE MAJORITY
1Richard Murphy touches on an issue which, though neglected, divides political activists from many
observers, and social democrats from Marxists. He says: "[when] it comes to fairness majority
opinions matter."
Now, this is true in the sense that a society whose policies and institutions violate the majority's
perceptions of fairness will be an unstable one - as nation-builders often discover.
Where it is doubtful, though, is whether majority opinion decides what's fair.
There's a long tradition in ethical thinking, from the book of Exodus - "Thou shalt not follow a
multitude to do evil" - to Amartya Sen (pdf) and some interpretations of intersectionality which doubts
the ability of the majority to decide what's fair.
Most of us would accept these doubts in the context of other societies. We don't think the repression of
women and gays is fair in Saudi Arabia, nor that it was fair in the past, merely because most people in
Saudi Arabia or in early 20th century England thought them so. The statement: "slavery was fair once"
would strike most of us as absurd, or at least as requiring a lot of justifying.
But why should we suspend such doubts in today's Britain? Most people - to take one example - agree
with the statement: "it is fair that foreigners should be excluded from much of the UK labour market."
But a few decades ago, most would have agreed with the statement: "it is fair that women should be
excluded from much of the labour market." What, morally speaking, is the difference? Could it be that
we see one merely because Peter Singer's "expanding circle" of concern has expanded to include
women but hasn't yet expanded to include foreigners?
Let's face it, the standard of public "debate" about moral questions is not high; most claims about
morality are mere emotivist spasms or expressions of narcissistic self-righteousness.
I suspect - though this might be the confirmation bias! - that recent thinking has deepened scepticism
about the ability of the majority to perceive what's fair. Cognitive biases such as the just
world fallacy, stereotype threat,
adaptive preferences
and anchoring effect
help
to
provide
popular support for inequality; John Jost calls this system justification (pdf).
It's in this context that there's a difference between Richard and me. He says:
On the welfare cap I have no doubt the majority will consider what is being proposed to be
profoundly unfair if they realise just who is affected.
1 Blog post to be retrieved at:
http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2014/03/fairness-and-the-majority.html
4
But I don't much care what the majority thinks; the cap is either fair or not, regardless of what the
majority think.
This difference reflects two differences between us. One is that Richard's a social democrat and I'm a
Marxist. Whereas social democrats try to work within the confines of what the public considers "fair",
and try to tweak those perceptions, we Marxists fear that this is a forlorn task because the power of
ideology warps those perceptions.
The other is that Richard is an activist and I'm an observer. And in a democracy, success as an activist
is determined by what the majority think - by whether you win elections; how often do we see
politicians cite opinion polls as if they decided matters?
And this is what bothers me. Public opinion might decide what is a successful political strategy, but it
is more questionable whether it should decide what is a morally right one. One of my fears about
Labour politics is that this distinction is often ignored.
B. STUMBLING AND MUMBLING: FAIRNESS AND THE MAJORITY
February 28, 2014
EQUALITY: THE RON ATKINSON EFFECT
2Igor Toronyi-Lalic points out that the proportion of workers in the City who are from ethnic minorities
is five times that in the arts, and says:
The evil scumbags who work in the City appear to be doing a better job at being modern and liberal
than the state-subsidised art world.
Why? One reason, as Simon says, is a selection effect; Indians tend to study numerate subjects, which
disposes them to enter finance rather than the arts.
But there's another reason - the Ron Atkinson effect. In the 70s, pro football was overwhelmingly
white. Then BFR selected the "three degrees" - Batson, Regis and Cunningham - which paved the way
for an influx of black players into top sides.
BFR did not do this because he had advanced, liberal opinions; we later learned that he didn't. He did
it because players of the calibre of Regis and Cunningham were so good they improved his team
greatly.W hen racism met the desire to win games, racism lost.
This illustrates a point made by Gary Becker back in 1957. He pointed out that competition was the
enemy of discrimination and monopoly its friend. A company that refused to hire blacks or women
even if they were good workers would lose out to firms that did hire them. And subsequent research
has proved him right. For example, studies have found that when US banks became exposed to more
competition in the 80s and 90s, gender (pdf) and racial (pdf) pay gaps narrowed.
This helps explain the difference between the arts and banking. Granted, banks as an industry
are massively (pdf) subsidized. But within the bubble there's competition between banks. And in many
2 Blog post to be retrieved at:
http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2014/02/equality-the-ron-atkinson-effect.html
5
banking jobs, there's a clear measure of performance; does the guy make money or not? Competition
and the ease of measuring performance combine to make banks want to hire the best person they can,
regardless of colour.
By contrast, there's less competition between arts groups and less clarity of measuring performance*.
This gives arts companies more room to prefer the second-rate white guy - a breed of whom the world
has never had a shortage - over the better black.
Now, you might think all I've said here is standard pro-market stuff. But there's an implication for the
left. We don't achieve equality merely by having politically correct liberals in positions of power
(especially if such"liberals" are merely self-righteous hypocritical little pricks). We achieve it by
having the right institutions and mechanisms. Structure matters more than agency.
* I'm talking matters of degree here; it is possible for duffers with political skills to do OK in banking,
but it's probably tougher.
C. RAEDWALD: TTIP – NOT SEXY, JUST VERY IMPORTANT
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
TTIP - Not sexy, just very important
3This post is about an unsexy, very boring but very important transatlantic trade deal. I previously
posted how the deal was being done in secret between the US and the EU, a deal that would benefit
only the big corporates and harm the interests of ordinary consumers, small firms and the Mittelstand;
Everything related to the talks is being kept highly classified. Even though the deal will affect the
futures and interests of 500 million EU citizens, member states agreed to keep them in the dark about
TTIP negotiations. All papers, documents, emails and negotiating minutes have been marked secret.
Only the senior-most party members in the European Parliament's International Trade Committee are
allowed to see documentation relating to the negotiations and they are forbidden from discussing what
they see. Not even the negotiating mandate, upon which the talks are based, has been made public. In
addition, the US has forbidden the EU from passing along American position papers, even to members
of the European Council and European Parliament -- despite the fact that these same papers have been
shared with 600 industrial lobbyists in the US.
Today George Monbiot writes in the Guardian about TTIP with exceptional lucidity;
Nothing threatens democracy as much as corporate power. Nowhere do corporations operate with
greater freedom than between nations, for here there is no competition. With the exception of the
European parliament, there is no transnational democracy, anywhere. All other supranational bodies –
the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations, trade organisations and the rest
– work on the principle of photocopy democracy (presumed consent is transferred, copy by copy,
to ever-greyer and more remote institutions) or no democracy at all. When everything has been
globalised except our consent, corporations fill the void. In a system that governments have shown no
3
Blog post to be retrieved at:
6
interest in reforming, global power is often scarcely distinguishable from corporate power. It is
exercised through backroom deals between bureaucrats and lobbyists.
Of course this blog and Mr Monbiot suffer from the same inherent disadvantage; the Peter and the
Wolf syndrome. Our polemic against sundry wrongs, injustices and neglected matters has been so long
and so vocal (though radically different in focus and in many cases opposed in position) that when
something really serious comes along, it gets lost in the White Noise. Se well done all at Ford, Nissan,
General Motors, Monsanto, Renault, Thyssen, Nokia, Siemens, BP, Lafarge, Wal-Mart, Apple,
Chevron, Erikson, Alcatel and General Electric and the rest; you win.
D. STUMBLING AND MUMBLING: UKIP’s STRANGE “LIBERTARIANISM”
March 07, 2014
UKIP'S STRANGE "LIBERTARIANISM"
4Ukip councillor Donna Edmunds has said that shop-owners should be free to refuse to serve women or
gays: "I'm a libertarian so I don't think the state should have a role in who business owners serve."
As an expression of ultra-libertarianism this might just about be defensible in itself. But it runs into a
problem. If you think people should be free to choose whom they sell to, shouldn't they also be free to
choose to sell their labour to whichever willing buyer wants it?
But Ukip wants to deny them this right. It wants tough immigration controls. Not only are these curbs
on the rights of sellers, but they also infringe the rights of business owners which Ms Edmunds is so
keen to assert: if businesses should be free to refuse to serve gays, shouldn't they also be free to hire
whomever they want? We have a very selective form of libertarianism here.
In itself, of course, this is no biggie. Most of us believe that some liberties should be restricted. But it's
difficult to see the grounds for selection in Ms Edmunds' case. It's hard to believe they are
consequentialist ones. We know that immigration has economic benefits, so you have to impute large
cultural costs to it to want it restricted. This is a tenable position in itself - albeit not one I share. But
there are surely also cultural costs in permitting business owners to refuse to serve gays; doing so
fosters a homophobic atmosphere. It's hard to see a reason for liberty in the one case but not the other.
It would be easy to dismiss Ms Edmunds as the kind of fruitloop we could find in all parties.
But there's something else. Nigel Farage has defended the right of a "comedian" to tell racist "jokes."
Again, in itself such a view is tenable. But again, we run into the problem: why be so libertarian in
defending racists and so anti-libertarian about immigration?
What we're seeing in both cases is what I've called asymmetric libertarianism. It's libertarianism for
bigots but not for foreigners. There's a word for this. It begins with R.
On this, I'm with Peter Risdon: fuck Ukip.
4 Blog post to be retrieved at:
http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2014/03/ukips-strange-libertarianism.html
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E. STUMBLING AND MUMBLING: CREDIT CONTROLS & THE CRISIS
March 14, 2014
CREDIT CONTROLS & THE CRISIS
5Richard Murphy says that the Bank of England's statement (pdf) that banks create money by lending
means there is a case for credit controls. I fear he's being a little hasty.
It is of course true that banks create money by lending; I'm surprised that anyoneshould
be surprised by the Bank's statement of the obvious*. But that is not the only way in which banks
affect the money stock. They also do so by issuing shares or bonds. If they issue shares, the money
stock falls and if they buy shares it rises; this process is measured by net non-deposit liabilities in table
A3.2 here.
And here's the thing. The problem we had in the run-up to the crisis was not simply that banks were
creating loans and therefore money. It's that this money creation was not matched by issues of capital.
The ratio of banks' total assets (mostly loans) to their equity rose. This suited bankers because the
higher the ratio of assets to equity, the higher is return on equity in good times and so bank bosses can
claim higher salaries; Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig are good on this.
It was this high asset-to-equity ratio that got banks into trouble. RBS and Northern Rock didn't fail
because lots of their loans turned bad. RBS failed because it didn't have a sufficient equity cushion to
absorb losses at ABN Amro. And Northern Rockfailed because it had funded loans by borrowing in
wholesale markets, and those markets seized up in 2007.
Quantitative credit controls wouldn't have prevented all this. At a time when banks wanted to leverage
up, such controls might instead have caused them to buy back equity. This would have left them
vulnerable to losses on bad takeovers or to a loss of interbank liquidity.
Instead, what we needed was better prudential regulation (or public ownership!) to ensure banks had
an adequate equity base; quantitative credit limits, in themselves, do not achieve this.
I stress this point for a reason. I fear that we're in danger of misdescribing the financial crisis. It was
not so much a macroeconomic failure, caused by high debt, as an organizational failure; bad
management led to over-extended balance sheets, and shareholders failed to stop this. In this sense, the
crisis was a failure of hierarchical capitalism and not something that could have been prevented
through better macroeconomic management.
In saying I don't mean to deny that there might be a case for quantitative credit controls. If there is
such a case, it lies in stories of adverse selection and asymmetric information; high interest rates mean
that only reckless or confident borrowers apply for loans. In such a world, quantitative limits might be
superior to interest rates.
However, such limits don't follow automatically from the Bank's description of the money creation
process, and they aren't sufficient in themselves to prevent banking crises.
5 Blog post to be retrieved at:
http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2014/03/credit-controls-the-crisis.html
8
* Maybe because I've tended to regard textbooks as a help in passing economics exams rather than as
a means of understanding the economy.
F. STUMBLING AND MUMBLING: ARGUING AGAINST IMMIGRATION
March 12, 2014
ARGUING AGAINST IMMIGRATION
6James Brokenshire's recent speech on immigration has been widely decried as one of the worst ever.
This poses a question: is it possible to make an intelligent case against immigration? Here's how I
would try.
The economic evidence tells us that immigration is good for theeconomy. But economics also tells us
something else - that this doesn't much matter. As Andrew Clark says, "the rising trend in GDP per
capita is certainly not matched by an analogous movement in average happiness". Whether the
Easterlin paradox is really true or only roughly so needn't detain us. What matters is that the welfare
gain from economic growth is small.
What does affect well-being, though, is friendship (pdf). Happiness research tells us that this is great
for well-being. However, for whatever reason, inter-ethnic friendships are rare, both in the UKand US.
I suspect a similar thing is true for nationality; how many of you count Romanians or Bulgarians as
friends? This suggests that mass migration might increase social isolation - which matters more for
well-being than money.
This point widens. There's some evidence that, at least in unequal (pdf) nations and poor
(pdf) communities, immigration can reduce social capital. As Ben says, there might be a link between
immigration and the UK's increasingly atomized society.
You might reply that the solution to this is for immigration to occur against a background of greater
equality. If more of us were comfortable, there'd be less suspicion of immigrants.
But immigration might, ultimately, erode demand for redistributive policies. One reason for this is that
the act of migrating is an individualistic one, and parents might transmit such an individualistic
mindset to their children, which would create a culture hostile to collectivism and redistribution. Is it
really just a coincidence that the one developed nation founded upon immigration just happens to be
the one that historically has lacked a major socialist party or tradition?
Another reason is more unpleasant. It's that ethnic diversity reducesdemand for egalitarian policies;
people are happier to fund welfare states if the money is helping their "own kind." "Racial cleavages
seem to serve as a barrier to redistribution throughout the world" concludes one study (pdf).
All this shouldn't merely worry lefties. It's quite plausible that decent welfare states are good for the
wider economy, because they help smooth out macroeconomic fluctuations and so reduce business
uncertainty. This could - in the long-run - mitigate the economic benefits of migration.
6 Blog post to be retrieved at:
http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2014/03/arguning-against-immigration.html
9
Now, I'm not sure I subscribe to the above. I've raised issues about the relevance of happiness
research; the trade-off between liberty and social capital; the distinction between changes and steady
states; and the role (if any) that dirty preferences should play in politics.
But my opinion doesn't matter. My point is that it is possible to make a reasonable argument against
immigration which doesn't degenerate into economic illiteracy, racism or sneers at "metropolitan
elites." Which kind of makes me wonder why it's so rarely heard.
G. STUMBLING AND MUMBLING: THE POWER OF THE 1%
March 10, 2014
THE POWER OF THE 1%
7Simon asks why there's so little outrage about the high incomes of the top 1%. Let me deepen this
question.
I suspect that one reason is that people don't see top incomes as affecting them; they don't look at Euan
Sutherland's pay and think "that's coming out of my pocket".
But this lack of reaction is contestable. It's quite possible that we would be better off if the top 1%
were less well-paid.
Simple maths tells us that if the income share of the top 1% could be reduced from its current 12.9%
to 9.9 per cent - its level in 1992 - then the incomes of the 99% would rise 3.4%, equivalent to a gain
of £72 per month for someone on £25,000 a year.
Of course, this calculation only makes sense if we assume such redistribution could occur without
reducing aggregate incomes. But such an assumption is at least plausible. The idea that massive pay
for the 1% has improved economic performance is - to say the least - dubious. For example, in the last
20 years - a time of a rising share for the top 1% - real GDP growth has averaged 2.3% a year. That's
indistinguishable from the 2.2% seen in the previous 20 years - a period which encompassed two oil
shocks, three recessions, poisonous industrial relations, high inflation and macroeconomic
mismanagement - and less than we had in the more egalitarian 50s and 60s.
What's more, there are reasons to suppose that the disease of which high top pay is a symptom - the
managerialist ideology which empowers CEOs to enrich themselves - is bad for the economy:
- It encourages short-termism, as managers try to deliver financial results to justify their high pay at
the expense of long-term investment and research.
- CEOs who think of themselves as heroic leaders can become emboldened to take reckless decisions,
especially if they refuse to countenance criticism and so, in Ken Boulding's phrase (pdf), end up
"operating in purely imaginary worlds.“ FredGoodwin's disastrous takeover of ABN Amro wasn't an
idiosyncratic failure, but rather the result of the cult of narcissistic bosses.
7 Blog post to be retrieved at:
http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2014/03/the-power-of-the-1.html
10
- Leader-dominated organizations can demotivate junior staff who look to the top for guidance rather
than solve problems themselves. This problem can be exacerbated because staff in top-down
organizations are often insufficiently well supervised and thus prone to skiving and thieving. There's
reasonable evidencethat organizations which empower workers (pdf) are more productive than those
that don't.
It's a reasonable hypothesis, then, that the power of the 1% is bad for the economy.
However, in popular discourse, this hypothesis is not so much explictly rejected as not even
considered, whereas the idea that immigration is bad for the economy is widely accepted even though
it's wrong.
What can explain this? Simon blames the media. But I'm not sure this is the whole story.
For one thing, there has been cross-party support for the 1%. New Labour rarely saw a boss it
didn't cringe towards, and social democrats main gripe with power has long tended to be not that it is
too concentrated but that it just happens to be in the wrong hands. And for another, we shouldn't write
off false consciousness: cognitive biases can indeed help to sustain inequality.
Whatever the cause, the fact is that the lack of outrage about CEO rip-offs is itself evidence of the
great power they have - the power to keep some debates off the agenda. As Steven Lukes wrote:
Is it not the supreme and most insidious use of power to prevent people, to whatever degree, from
having grievances by shaping their perceptions, cognitions and preferences in such a way that they
accept their role in the existing order of things, either because they can see or imagine no alternative to
it, or because they see it as natural and unchangeable? (Power: A Radical View, p28)
H. READWALD: UKRAINE NEEDS ELECTIONS
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Ukraine needs elections
8Sergei Lavrov must be tempted, when faced with the 'acting Prime Minister' and 'acting President' of
the Ukrainian revolutionaries hand in hand with a trio of EU commissioners to ask them all 'Who
chose you?'. Lenin's question to Kerensky could not be more apt than for the self-selected
representatives of the Maidan and those unelected EU officials.
What Ukraine needs more than anything is democracy. It's not a process recognised as desirable by
Brussels, which views voters and elections as an inconvenient irrelevance on its zealous march to
European Federalism. Far better to leave things to the unelected experts from Belgium and
Luxembourg. And Cathy Ashton. If there really is a real groundswell of opinion in the Crimea in
favour of secession, which I doubt, then of ourse they should have a referendum; they could use the
Scots question as a model. And all of Ukraine should have the chance now to vote for a new President
and new representatives in Parliament as a matter of great urgency.
11
However, what the EU and the US are trying to do is to secure deals with the temporary
revolutionaries in Kiev that will bind any legitimate government that follows; Von Rompuy's sparse
cowlick thatch is blowing all-ways as he runs about on his little legs with an EU Association
agreement, a biro and €10bn in Euroslave loans looking for someone to sign.
For the West to steamroller over Ukrainian democratic outcomes in order to secure whet they see as a
territorial victory will only postpone any settlement of the contentious issues dividing the country.
Ukraine's future lies as a non-aligned bridge between east and west, democratic and inclusive, her
territorial integrity supported by both NATO and the Russian Federation.
I. RAEDWALD: BENT COPPERS
Friday, 7 March 2014
Bent Coppers
9One of the unalterable truths of life is that some coppers are bent. Another is that bureaucracies will
tend towards secrecy, hiding things, anti-democracy and unlawful behaviour. The larger and more
complex the organisation, and the less the organisation is subject to public oversight and control, the
greater the chances of both bent coppers and bent commanders.
Conversely, small police forces subject to a high degree of local oversight and scrutiny will have few
places for bent coppers and police bosses nowhere to hide their maladministration.
Which is why it's hard to explain why ACPO are pushing so hard for mergers to create ever larger,
more complex and remote police forces in which low level corruption will flourish and commanders
are able to hide, deceive and obfuscate unlawful and improper behaviour unless they are actually
trying to promote such things.
J. RAEDWALD: POST-1964 POLICING IN RUINS
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Post-1964 Policing in ruins
10The condemnation on Radio 4's 'PM' by Lord MacDonald, a former DPP, of the Commissioner's TV
statement was coruscating. Hogan-Howe was 'complacent', public faith in the police had been
completely eroded and they no longer commended the respect and consent necessary to function; as a
body they had lied, cheated, deceived and wriggled away from proper blame so often that they could
no longer continue to function without fundamental change - a Royal Commission was needed.
And indeed the Lawrence abuse has capped Plebgate, the beating to death of a drunk paper seller and
9
Blog post to be retrieved at: http://raedwald.blogspot.nl/2014/03/bent-coppers.html
12
the centuries of unjust jail time served by the victims of 'fitting-up'. The police can only work with
public consent, and they've lost it. Even the experience of middle-class middle-England over the past
years has turned it to consider Plod to be just another crim but in uniform; for the past year, millions of
rail passengers headed for London Bridge have passed the abbreviation ACAB in four-foot letters
painted on a gable wall. The rail people are in no hurry to remove it.
Hogan-Howe's weasel words can't hide the reality that the 1964 Police Act sent UK policing in a
completely wrong direction by increasing the size of police forces, reducing local public
accountability and substituting greater control by the Home Office. There is a place for nationally or
regionally organised police specialisms - terrorism, financial crime, arts and antiques, but the police
cannot use this as an excuse for large merged forces. More than 99% of all police work is local
plod-level call outs to disturbances, drunkeness, petty thefts and motoring offences for which there are no
economies of scale and which need no specialist equipment or unique expertise to manage. Many
consider the shadowy ACPO organisation itself to be inherently criminal, and indeed when that
organisation challenged the powers of the Home Secretary it had its wings clipped. But not,
unfortunately, its neck wrung.
Once the police have lost public confidence they have lost their place in our society. If that point has
not quite been reached, it's not far from it. Hogan-Howe's banal sticking-plaster words are not what's
needed - only an admission by the Home Office that it can no longer effectively police Britain will
secure the change needed.
13
Section 3: The Online political newspaper column Criteria
11
Can be uncovered by personal description of the columnist and checking background information, among others.
Design
The column adheres to the general format (short, published, personal)
Design
It is/is not a rubric
Participants &
interaction
There is just one newspaper columnist, not a diverse group of writers
Aim
The columnist has a political aim?
11Topic
The columnist reflects on matters of a political nature
Argumentation
The columnist engages in politics himself, at least by advancing his own
argumentation and/or standpoint.
Argumentation
The columnist is consistent in his political affiliation and perspective
Quality
The column is influential: does the columnist have social capital?
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Section 4: The Political Blog Criteria
Design
The blog adheres to a general blog-format of a webpage on which posts
are published in a chronological order, stacked upon each other.
Design
The ‘blog’ does not look like a website.
Participants &
interaction
There is just one blogger and not a blogger with staff or an institution or group as
blogger(s) (or an editorial board with a chief editor).
Participants &
interaction
The blogger publishes his posts, making them available to a public/audience.
Aim
The blogger has a political aim.
Topic
The blogger reflects on matters of a political nature.
Argumentation
The blogger engages in politics himself: he advances his own argumentation
and/or standpoint.
Argumentation
The blogger is consistent in his political affiliation and perspective.
Quality
The political blogger is influential: he has social capital.
15
Section 5: Examples of Hosting Domain Guidelines
www.blogger.com
Content
policies
16
www.wordpress.com
Terms of
service
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Section 6: The Reconstructed Cases from The Guardian
The reconstructions of the selected political newspaper columns from The Guardian can be
found below.
The Guardian political columns
# Columnist, date, column title.
topic type of dis. reconstruction
argumentation
medium-specific techniques used
1 P. Toynbee 21-03 Older people vote – that's why George Osborne's budget is for them Pensioners are given money (/extra financial benefits from the budget) by Osborne (a conservative MP) because they vote Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Implicit antagonist: Osborne 1. Osborne should take care of children first instead of the elderly
1.1 they need (financial) help 1.2 the elderly are generally better off. 1. Osborne is being corrupt
1.1 he gives the budget to the elderly because they vote
Multiple and subordinate
Linking to:
1. a column by J. Freedland
2. article reporting an analysis/study by the social research institute Ipsos Mori 3. an article in The Guardian 4. a charity/foundation
5. an article in The Guardian, economics section 6. an article in The Guardian
7. a Wikipedia entry of the figure referred to 8/9. information about inequality provided by an organization called ‘Inequality Briefing’ 10. entry in the virtual museum list of infamous residents ‘Peter Rachman’ (explanation) 11. commentary in The Guardian, by Russell Brand
Linking is used for referring to concordant opinions (1), to supporting findings/research (2-3), to organizations for providing
information/linking (4), to support claims (5-6), to provide encyclopaedic information (7;10), to link to supporting insights for the argumentation (8-9), to reference to the discordant opinion of a colleague (10). 2 J. Freedland 19-03 Budget 2014: fluffy little delights unleashed to soften up older voters The budget to be implemented, by Osborne, which favours the electoral group (= the comfortable elderly) whose votes the Tories need most Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Implicit antagonist: Osborne 1. The budget proposed by Osborne will benefit the elderly 1.1 reason 1 1.2 reason 2 1. This budget arises from Osborne’s electoral strategy 1.1 it will bring the Tories support 1.1.1 it will lead to more votes of the comfortable elderly
Subordinate argumentatoin
Linking to:
1. The Guardian articles on George Osborne 2. Overview of factors behind voting published by the Social Research Institute Ipsos Mori 3. Overview of data on the polling of voting behaviour (for lib. vs con., f.i.) provided by the University of Manchester
4. an article from The Spectator
5. A BBC news article on current unemployment Linking is used for providing information on the political figure referred to (1), to supporting statistical research (presented as a fact) (2-5).
3 P. Toynbee 18-03 The budget: look out for even more of The budget proposed by Osborne doesn’t mean anything: it is a sham, it is bogus. Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected antagonist: 1. Osborne’s budget is a sham 1.1 it is a phoney war entirely about politics – it deceives 1.1.1a the better off gain either way
Linking to:
1. The Guardian article 2. The Telegraph article
3. Political commentary by a minister in The
Guardian
4. a blog post with an analysis clarifying what the effects of a policy are
18
George Osborne's sham pledges
Osborne 1.1.1b those who need it don’t receive it
Coordinative argumentation
Linking is used when the opinion or observation by another is used as an argument in
coordinative argumentation (1-2), to provide information on a quoted current affair (3) and to support claims (4). 4 D. Orr 14-03 There is a lot more to British democracy than Westminster – or there should be The conservatives hunger for/holding on to power, which is the ‘real democratic deficit’ Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected antagonists: the conservatives ; the government 1. The government is making itself irrelevant 1.1 the conservatives are obsessed with holding onto power 1.1.1 they object to devolving the power upwards or downwards – when they please 1.1.2 they are unengaged in the local and European political debate
Linking to:
1. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on the Conservatives
2. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on David Cameron
3. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on Michael Gove
4. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on Boris Johnson
5. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on Local Government
6. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on Europe 7. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on Shale gas and Fracking
8. A comment piece by an MP in The Guardian, to show the actual context in which said Husky was hugged - to support the humoristic comment made 9. A science article by the BBC to provide information on the consequences of fracking, not directly relevant to the argumentation
10. a news article in The Guardian
Linking is used to provide information (1-7; 9), to clarify (8), to support a sub-standpoint (10). 5 P. Toynbee 14-03 This is no time to 'hug a banker'. Labour must take on the boardroom As reported in the media, the bonus pays of the top banks are out of proportion but Osborne is doing nothing to stop it, trying to prevent the EU from implementing extra transparency. Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected antagonist: Osborne? 1. Labour & Ed Milliband should take on the disproportionate bankers’ bonuses 1.1 by this they will respond to the public’s fury, which is desirable 1.1’ In principle, if by taking on these disproportionate bankers’ bonuses Labour and Ed Milliband respond to the public’s fury, which is desirable, then they should take on the disproportionate bankers’ bonuses Pragmatic argumentation Linking to:
1. an editorial by The Guardian
2. an article asking the exact question, Toynbee showing where she has the question from 3. a news article provided by The Guardian, clarifying Toynbee’s description
4. Encyclopaedic article about the co-operative party
5. A Business article from The Guardian 6. News article in the London Evening Standard 7. A Business article from The Guardian 8. An independent think-tank’s website presenting findings
9. A ‘Society’ news article from The Guardian 10. An IMF report
11. news article on business provided by a website dedicated to business and entrepreneurship news
12. An obituary of the mentioned figure provided by The Guardian
13. An article provided by the Online Comment Website The New Statesman
Linking is used to provide information and thus situate the article and its argumentation (1-8;10-12), supporting claims (9) 6 G. Younge 14-03 Tony Benn knew the rules but An in memoriam of Tony Benn and his political life/contributio n to politics
Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience No expected antagonist 1. Tony Benn encouraged us 1.1 By sticking to his principles 1.1.1 He kept an actively socialist agenda Linking to:
1. a news article on Benn’s death by The
Guardian
2. A youtube-video of the interview referred to Linking is used to provide information and thus situate the article (and less so its argumentative,
19
would not play the game
1.1.1.1 He advocated for the weak against the strong, the poor against the rich and labour against capital
Subordinate argumentation
for this blog post is only partially argumentative) (1-2).
7 P. Toynbee 11-03 MPs, support the care bill and it will come back to bite you
Clause 119, tacked on to the care bill, will raise opposition (in debate) among politicians and needs reflection since it enables the cannibalization of another hospital’s services Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected/imp licit antagonist: Jeremy Hunt 1. The MPs should not accept the care bill
1.1 it would come back to bite them 1.1.1 this would lead to the
cannibalization of hospital services 1.1.1.1 it would lead to the closing down of hospitals without the opportunity to protest 1.1.1.1’ this would be undesirable Subordinate and (negative) pragmatic argumentation Linking to:
1. government website providing the status of the Care Bill
2. guidelines for trust administrators 3. a news article in the section ‘hospitals’ provided by The Guardian
4. a news article in the section ‘Professional: Healthcare professionals network’ provided by
The Guardian
5. a charity organization by experts focusing on identifying problems with healthcare
6. the final report by an inquiry, on trusts and those monitoring, resulting from the Statement of the House of Commons in 2010
Linking is used to provide information and situate the article (1-6).
8 G. Younge 09-03 The CIA has brought darkness to America by fighting in the shadows By being allowed to break the rules abroad, the CIA is now also breaking the rules on domestic soil. Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience
1. The CIA has brought darkness to America by fighting secretively
1.1 The CIA is also not openly
addressing issues in America itself 1.2 The CIA is spying on Americans and breaking the rules itself
Subordinate argumentation
Linking to:
1. Dallas Morning News news article 2. own news article in The Guardian, special news report, after 9/11
3. own opinion piece in The Guardian on the US’ approach to terrorism
4. A New York Times article narrating on what Obama’s said about the CIA
5. a report by the Red Cross on the treatment of the prisoners of the war
6. a description of the book and writer mentioned 7. own opinion piece in The Guardian on the treatment of the prisoners and the topic of Abu Ghraib
8. own opinion piece in The Guardian on Obama’s use of drones in the Iraq war 9. Independent journalists’ news report on national Security and Defense
10. blog post from The Nation, a magazine and society concerned with the representation of political news
11. a news article from Politico, a political journalism organization
12. a news article from The Guardian on US politics and, more specifically, US national security
13. a news article from The Washington Post in which Cheney’s words are cited
Linking is used to provide information and situate the article (1-6;9-13): to provide back-up; support lent for claims with other opinion pieces (7-8)
9 P. Toynbee Wales has a lot to offer when it
Non-mixed dis. with the
1. Cameron
wrongfully considers
Linking to:
20
07-03 Here's some lessons in real job creation from much-maligned Wales comes to combatting unemployment. It is unjustly considered to be weaker than England but doing quite well when it comes to fighting unemployment. primary audience Expected antagonists: David CameronWales its weakest link 1.1 His comparisons are bogus 1.1.1 He omits important truths 1.1.2 You can’t compare England and Wales 1.2 Wales has had (more) success combatting unemployment
Multiple argumentation
2. survey, poll results described by BBC 3. opinion piece MP in The Spectator 4. a study published in MedCare in the 80s 5. information from the Welsh government page on skills and training
6. company website
7. profile of political figure provided by the Guardian
8. news article with figures on programme’s success
9. information on contracting youth for employment (government website)
10. news article on lack of success programme (the Guardian)
Used for situating the story, showing that it reflects on current affairs and supporting the standpoint taken, in particular in relation to 1.2. Images are used.
10 J. Freedland 07-03 As the Ukraine debate rages, both sides are getting it wrong
One should not regard the situation in Crimea and its comparison to that of invading Iraq as dichotomous. One may, in fact, oppose both invasions. Reality is more complex. Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected antagonists: f.i. those claiming that people are hypocritical by opposing the invasion of Crimea based on the grounds of the invasion of Iraq
1. One can condemn both the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the supposedly anti-sematic rulers of Crimea at the same time 1.1 nothing is black or white, necessarily right or wrong 1.1.1 reality is always stubbornly and maddenly complex 1.1.1.1 the Jewish population of Crimea receives help from the government immediately 1.1.1.2 it is hard to believe that the Crimean government consists of Moscow-Jewish mafia
Linking to:
1. Statement by anti-war organization 2. News article by CNN
3. The Guardian world news article on Russia 4. Article on the Business Insider, commentary on the Crimea issue by Jon Stewart
5. A New Republic article (NR is a magazine on politics and culture)
6. The Guardian column by Seumas Milne 7. USA today news (article)
8. The Nation article (magazine) 9. The Times of Israel article 10. Haaretz news report
11. The New York Review of Books, English language magazine article
12. The Daily Beast, World News article (news and commentary)
13. The Global Jewish News Source – News article
14. Another one of his columns (Freedland’s) Used for situating the story, supporting the subordinate arguments and serving an illustrative function. 11 J. Freedland 04-03 No 10's Ukraine gaffe shows City profits come before principled diplomacy The government will not take action against Russia because of the financial interests involved. Of course, the government puts finances before punishing those who break the rules.
Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected antagonist: ?
1. Clearly City profits come before ‘principled’ democracy. 1.1 This is what history shows 1.2 Most of the financial institutions are in London 1.3 The papers snapshotted by the photographer show this Subordinate and coordinative argumentation Linking to:
1. A Mail Online news article
2. A The Guardian world news, Russia, news article
3. The Guardian, Foreign Policy news article 4. The Guardian, Executive Pay and Bonuses, news article
5. an article on Defense, by the Russian News and Information Agency
Used for situating the story and supporting the standpoint, by supporting the argumentation. Images are used.
12 D. Orr The BBC’s
new
Non-mixed dis. with the
1. The lack of women on TV shows
Linking to:
21
28-02 A lack of women on TV panel shows may not be the worst injustice, but it matters requirement set for shows that the panel includes at least one female member. primary audience and mixed disagreement with Marmionshould be dealt with 1.1 it reflects a greater issue: that of women having to present themselves and represent women in a patriarchal society 1.1.’ this need is undesirable 1. The BBC should work on having female dominated talk-shows
1.1 this will combat the patriarchal overrepresentation 1.1’ this would be desirable Pragmatic and subordinate argumentation
BBC, taken from The Guardian
2. a news article reflecting on a comedian’s opinion on this new measure of the BBC, taken from The Guardian
3. article on the same comedian’s opinion taken from a comedy news website called Chortle 4. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on Gender
5. A The Guardian, the book blog, blog post on the reluctance of LBR to answer calls for more female contributions
6. an interview/statement of a relevant figure as posted on an external website, in the blog 7. article from Spiked!, an online current affairs magazine
Linking used for providing information and situating the article (its kairos and content) (1-7)
13 J. Freedland 28-02 This generational smugness about paedophilia is wrong
About past and present attitudes towards paedophilia and the PIE political party of the past.
Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience No other, expected antagonist 1. This generation’s smugness about paedophilia is wrong 1.1 the word is wrong 1.2 predominant thoughts change with the era
1.3 politics and political circumstances change over time
Subordinate argumentation
Linking to:
1. own opinion piece in The Guardian on the historical political view of eugenetics 2. a news article on Harman taking responsibility, taken from The Guardian 3. a news article on links between PIE and NCCL , taken from The Guardian
4 youtube video of Savile being inappropriate with young girl
5. youtube music clip of mentioned old song 6. lyrics of the clip above
7. text box on webpage with some of the The Mail overly sexist, inappropriate statements of young girls bodies, asking for an apology Linking used for providing information and situating the article (1-2), backing up/illustrating (3-7) 14 M. Kettle 26-02 Angela Merkel has Britain's future in her hands About the meeting between Cameron and Merkel and the possibility of giving the British people a more positive view of Europe and membership of the EU. Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience No other, expected antagonist 1. Angela Merkel has Britain’s future in her hand
1.1 she could make a huge and positive difference to Britain’s debate on Europe
1.1.1 She is visiting Britain
1.1.2 She is the only admired European politician of her age
Subordinate and coordinative argumentation
Linking to:
1. A The Guardian opinion piece 2. A youtube music clip of Frère Jacques 3. An image of the painting mentioned 4. A The Guardian politics news article 5. A Bloomberg news article on Merkel and Cameron
Linking is used for providing information and situating the article (1-5)
15 G. Younge 23-02 Younge criticizes Obama’s presidency, Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience 1. there is little point to Obama’s presidency Linking to:
1. interview with the mentioned author 2. own opinion piece in The Guardian 3. own opinion piece in The Guardian
22
What the hell is Barack Obama's presidency for? questioning its purpose and arguing that Obama really has not delivered the transformations and changes he predicted he’d bring. Other expected antagonists: supporters of Obama and his presidency 1.1 Obama’s presence in power lacks purpose 1.1.1 he is not delivering 1.1.1.1 widening gap between rich and poor 1.1.1.2 remote prospects for immigration reform 1.1.1.3 bankers made away with the loot 1.1.1.4 Gitmo is still open 1.1.1.5 health insurance is a failure 1.1.2 he drifts in policy and principles Subordinate argumentation
4. Obama’s speech at Mandela’s funeral, video provided by CNN
5. own opinion piece in The Guardian on the American elections
6. Huffington Post news article about, and embedding, an interview with Obama
7. Huffington Post news article about the growing inequality between social classes in America
8. The New York Times news article about the widening of the wealth gap among races
9. Bloomberg news article about the shrinking of the US budget deficit
10. The Guardian news article with statistics on the US and unemployment
11. The Washington Post wonkblog post
12. The Guardian’s sub-website with articles on the Newtown shooting
13. Own news report in The Guardian on reactions on the American elections
Linking used to provide (extra) information/sources (2;4;6-13), to back up sub-claims with more argumentation (1;3;5) 16 J. Freedland 21-02 Food banks or dignity: is that the choice we offer the hungry? The number of food banks in England has risen to meet the growing poverty of British citizens who are unable to work. The rights/governm ent do not take any action nor help out.
Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected antagonists: conservatives actively in favour of getting rid of welfare dependency 1. more or better help should be offered to the poor Britons
1.1 they are not mere ‘scroungers’ 1.2 they have no choice but to either go to the food bank or give up their dignity
Multiple argumentation
Linking to:
1. news article from the Independent Catholic
News website
2. news article in The Guardian covering the statements by ‘UK’s most senior catholic’ 3. news article in The Mirror covering the reactions of bishops on Cameron’s welfare reforms
4. the website of Hackney (London)’s food bank 5. a news article from The Guardian on the stance of Christian conservatives towards the budget cuts on welfare
6. link to BBC article on how people living in poverty tend to come from families in which at least one person has a job
7. opinion piece published in The Mirror on the users of the food bank
8. governmental report on the fraudulent use of the benefit system (statistics)
9. blog posts by a bishop on the welfare, lack of help for the poor
10. A The Telegraph news article in the ‘religion’ section
Linking used to provide sources (2-3;5-10), to provide extra information (1;4)
17 J. Freedland 18-02 Why it's a good time to be a dictator like Kim Jong-un Freedland reflects on the lack of ability of governments/th e world to counteract the crimes/torture that the Korean
Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience No expected antagonist 1. It is a good time to be a dictator 1.1 nothing is done to stop Kim Jong-un 1.2 nothing can be done to stop Kim Jong-un
1. Action should be
Linking to:
1. A news article in The Guardian on a UN inquiry on North-Korea
2. A news article in The Guardian on human rights violations in North-Korea, covering information from the UN dossier
3. A news article in The Guardian on human rights violations in North-Korea, covering information from the UN dossier
23
government and dictator subject their people to.
taken against Kim Jong-un 1.1 he might be stopped torturing/killing his people 1.1’ this consequence would be desirable Multiple and pragmatic argumentation
4. own opinion piece on the Syria report 5. a news article in The Guardian published in the ministry of defense section
Linking is used to provide extra information (1;3-4), to provide sources (2;5) 18 D. Orr 14-02 These storms could be a catalyst for just the kind of major works Britain needs The floods cannot be stopped with local effort. It is a national problem that needs to be addressed nationally. Hopefully infrastructural improvements will be made as a result of the floods. Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected antagonist: private companies dealing with issues like floods?
1. The floods could stimulate infrastructural improvements
1.1 it has become clear that private companies and local efforts cannot solve this problem
1. Infrastructural problems should be solved on the national level
1.1 the problems may be solved on the national level, and not by private companies or local efforts
1.1’and solving this problem would be desirable
Subordinate and pragmatic argumentation
There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is just text. 19 P. Toynbee 11-02 This treatment would save children's lives – so why won't the government allow it? Toynbee comments on the lack of response by the government to accept mitochondrial replacement, which was already accepted by the British public. Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience No expected antagonist 1. Mitochondrial replacement should be backed by the UK government 1.1it is already backed by the British public
1.2 it will save lives 1.2’ and saving lives would be desirable
Multiple and pragmatic argumentation
Linking to:
1. An opinion piece by another in The Guardian on misleading talk about mitochondrial
replacement
2. A website of the Foundation mentioned 3. A news article from The Mail online on the three-parent embryo
4. A news article available on the website of the Council of Bioethics
5. A Wikipedia entry on the term ‘germline’ Linking is used for providing extra information (1-3;5), to provide sources (4) 20 G. Younge 09-02 Coca-Cola's Super Bowl ad showed that some Americans still can't take diversity Younge writes about the reaction of American conservatives to the America The Beautiful rendition in the Coca Cola commercial shown during the Superbowl. Non-mixed dis. with the primary audience Expected antagonists: the American conservatives who are against diversity 1. Conservative America still cannot take diversity 1.1 they were outraged as a reaction to the Coca Cola commercial shown at the superbowl 1.2 they howl at tokens of diversity 1.3 they are challenged by changes: … 1. Diversity lies at the foundation of America 1.1 America The Beautiful was sung by a Lesbian
Linking to:
1. A news article from the New York Times on the Superbowl ratings
2. The music clip of the mentioned Coca Cola song
3. A New York Daily News article on the reactions to Coca Cola’s Superbowl commercial 4. An opinion piece by another in The Guardian stating that Liberals should be upset about the commercial
5. Own news article in The Guardian about the mentioned figure ‘Angela Davis’
6. A news article from The New York Times providing statistics of the adherents to certain religious groups
7. An article with statistics from The Economist, providing the prediction that China will take over the US economy
8. A news article from The New York Times about the minority-majority dynamics
24
Socialist 1.2 Biracial marriages have always been happening 1.3 ….. 1.4 ….. Multiple argumentationthe rise of atheists
10. An opinion piece in The Washington Post which Younge feels expresses right-wing ‘anxieties’.
11. A blog post from a blogger for The
Washington Post about the author behind
America The Beautiful
Linking used for providing sources (1;3;5-10), for giving extra information (2;10-11), providing evidence for sub-claim/standpoint (4)
25
Section 7: The Reconstructed Cases from The Telegraph
The reconstructions of the selected political newspaper columns from The Telegraph can be
found below.
The Telegraph political columns
# Columnist,
date, column title
topic type of dis. reconstruction argumentation medium-specific
techniques used
1 S. Cameron
20-03
A happiness index makes for sound economics (2 sub-sections which are rather informative accounts (or reports)) The budget and Lord O’Donnell’s preposition to use the happiness index in policy making for saving costs. Non-mixed disagreement with the reader as the primary audience Possible disagreement with opponents of the proposed approach
1. mental wellbeing should be taken into account in policy making with the happiness index
1.1 it would save public spending by focusing it on what is necessary
1.1.1 saving public spending/money would be desirable
Pragmatic argumentation
No linking is used. There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is just text. 2 P. Oborne 19-03 A triumph for Mr Osborne, and a triumph for the Coalition, too The budget announcement by Osborne was a success and it is likely that the conservatives may gain power, because it helps them stand strong for the elections
Non-mixed disagreement with the reader as the primary audience. Possible disagreement with the Labour supporters and, perhaps, liberal democrats
1. the budget announcement by Osborne went well 1.1 he has improved in his pronouncement of the budget
1.1.1 he admitted to his mistakes 1.1.2 better delivery
1.1.3 better content 1.1.4…
1. The conservatives/Tories may stand a chance to win the next elections
1.1 they are fighting on ground that couldn’t suit them better
1.2 labour was in shambles yesterday 1.3 ….
Multiple argumentation
No linking has been used, but in the middle of the column’s text a youtube video has been embedded. This video shows Ed Milliband’s
performance which, he claims, was ‘in shambles’. Thus it serves to highlight, or prove, an argument made by the columnist. 3 M. Riddell 18-03 Osborne must show he is on the side of those who suffer Mostly an analysis of the political status quo, stating that Osborne needs to work on his empathy and reputation as the man for the weak/for those who suffer, because otherwise the liberal democrats and labour might benefit/win.
Non-mixed
disagreement with the reader as the primary audience.
Expected antagonists: adherents of the mentioned political parties.
1. Osborne should adjust his reputation to show himself as fighting for the poor
1.1 otherwise he will struggle and Labour and the Liberal Democrats will gain (his) voters
1.1’ not struggling and keeping the voters would be desirable
Pragmatic argumentation
No linking is used. There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is just text. 4 J. Daley 15-03 The Tories’ crime against democracy This concerns the budget and the
conservatives not helping out the social class that deserves it most: the
A non-mixed disagreement with the reader as the primary audience Expected antagonists: those in favour of
1. Cameron and Osborne should not penalize a large section of voters for the conservatives 1.1 this would have no political payback – they might only lose voters
1.1’ this would be undesirable
1.2 abandoning those voters from the working, working class is a crime against democracy 1.2.1because they are the most conscientious,
No linking is used. There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is just text.
26
working, working class
providing those with the lowest income with tax reductions, instead of the working, working class.
socially responsible members who are also actively engaged in the community 1.2.2 it doesn’t make any sense social philosophically
1.2.3 they are now without political organization: they are political orphans
Multiple and pragmatic argumentation
5 M. d’Ancona 15-03 Tony Benn’s battles still rage across British politics An in memoriam of Benn with argumentation highlighting that the battles fought in the past are still raging on today.
Non-mixed difference of opinion with the reader as the primary audience Possible disagreement with other political analysts/historian
1. Benn’s battles are still being fought
1.1 (description of current political affairs, negotiations and decisions)
Subordinate argumentation
No linking is used. There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is just text. 6 C. Booker 15-03 Ed Miliband puts Cameron on the spot over EU
Booker discusses the action by Milliband which he regards as putting both Cameron and the Lib Dems on the spot on the idea of a referendum for asking the people about continuing UK’s membership in the EU. Mostly informative account with predictions and argumentation Non-mixed difference of opinion with the reader as the primary audience Possible disagreement with Cameron on Booker claiming he speaks ‘rubbish’
1. Milliband has cunningly promised a referendum, to his benefit
1.1 with this he has put both Cameron and the Lib Dems on the spot
1.2 by tying EU issues together, he will ‘get it both ways’, he will not be negatively impacted in any way
1. The idea that the UK needs to stay in the EU for the single market economy is rubbish 1.1 it can just become a member of the European Free Trade Area
Multiple and subordinate argumentation
No linking is used. There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is just text. 7 C. Booker 13-03 BBC puzzles viewers on energy Booker responds to a show aired on the BBC which argued in favour of a new approach offered by KiWi, a company, without acknowledging that this company is also a major player in not environmentally-friendly energy Non-mixed difference of opinion with the reader as the primary audience Expected disagreement with the BBC (and the creators/presente rs of the show mentioned) 1. The BBC is biased
1.1 it is selective in the material it broadcasts
1,1’ being selective like this is being biased 1.1.1 it only broadcasts propaganda and not the complete story
1.1.1.1 no mention is made of the fact that KiWi Power is also a big shareholder in non-environmentally friendly energy
Subordinate argumentation, argumentation based on a symptomatic relation
No linking is used. There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is just text. 8 S. Cameron 12-03 Margaret Hodge may be hunting her quarry too hard
Reporting on Hodge’s work, expressing agreement with her approach to take on the outsourcing of public services and increasing the transparency thereof + report on Lord Donnell’s views on the possibility for a vote of no confidence by Cameron’s MPs
+ an anecdote on a discussion about Crimea’s referendum Non-mixed difference of opinion with the reader as the primary audience 1. Mrs. Hodge is right 1.1 there should be greater openness about the outsourcing of public services
1.1.1 this would make things easier for everyone
1.1.1’ and this would be desirable
Pragmatic and subordinate argumentation
No linking is used. There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is just text. 9 P. Oborne 12-03 Oborne reflects on Milliband’s recent performance, Non-mixed difference of opinion with the
1. Ed Milliband has made a huge mistake
1.1 now the Tories have a better
No linking is used. There is a link for posting comments and an image, but the text itself is
