Registering the Impact of Words in Spoken Political and Journalistic Texts

Abstract

Words in spoken political and journalistic texts may inspire, infuriate or even become mottos. Often, the entire spoken interaction may be forgotten, yet individual words may remain associated with the Speaker and/or the group represented by the Speaker or even the individual word or words themselves obtain a dynamic of their own, outshining the original Speaker. In the current-state-of affairs, connected with the impact of international news networks and social media, the impact of words in spoken political and journalistic texts is directly linked to its impact to a diverse international audience. The impact or controversy of a word and related topic may be registered by the reaction it generates. Special focus is placed in the registration and evaluation of words and their related topics in spoken political and journalistic discussions and interviews. Although as text types, spoken political and journalistic texts pose challenges for their evaluation, processing and translation, the presented approaches allow the registration of complex and implied information, indications of Speakers attitude and intentions and can contribute to evaluating the behaviour of Speakers-Participants. This registration also allows the identification of words generating positive, negative or diverse reactions, their relation to Cognitive Bias and their impact to a national and international audience within a context of international news networks and social media.