“Witnessing” and the Contextualization of Lay Voices in Political Audience Participation Talk Shows
| Author: | Scheerer, Jana |
| Abstract: | |
| In Political Audience Participation Talk Shows, “witnessing” (Hutchby 2001) is an important communicative resource for the participating lay people. However, it can also work to confine lay people to the role of the “affected citizen”, depriving them of a genuine political voice. Several studies have described how different voices are presented and contextualized in TV Debates (Livingstone/Lunt 1984, Hutchby 2001, Simon-Vandenbergen 2007). The present study extends the scope to German Political Talk Shows and especially focuses on the interaction between lay people and politicians. It is grounded in conversation analysis in that context and participation roles are understood as communicative constructions that are negotiated locally. An analysis of four German Political Audience Participation Talk Shows that were broadcasted during the 2009 campaigns suggests that there is a structural preference for pure witnessing stories without political implications in these shows that, however, can be overcome by participants. This is accomplished by the participating lay people to different extends; depending on their contextualization of their statements and the moderator's and politician's reactions. |
|
