Abstract
Abstract Newspaper editorials are acknowledged as having a significant role to play in shaping public opinion on social and political issues. In studies of their persuasive power, the language of these texts is always the focus to some extent. Across a spectrum of methodological approaches, relatively few studies take a dynamic perspective to consider the interaction of linguistic choices in the construction of rhetorical strategies in the flow of meaning in texts. This study draws on Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) theory in its analysis and interpretation of the dynamic construction of recurring rhetorical strategies in a set of 11 editorials culled from The Australian, a politically conservative broadsheet newspaper in Australia. We explore how choices in interpersonal and ideational meaning collaborate and interact dynamically in these data to consistently disaffiliate a putative readership with one of the two major political parties. We identify in particular the critical interaction of realis and irrealis meanings in the configuration of this strategy. The analyses provide a complementary means to explore the discourse of persuasion within the field of news media.
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