ῌ῎῍

Modality and point of view in

media discourse

Noriko Iwamoto

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Key words : commitment ; style ; perspective ; interpersonal

function
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῎῍

+. Introduction
This paper examines some spoken and printed media texts in
journalism and characterizes their major stylistic and linguistic
features. A special focus is placed upon the aspect of modality as
related to point of view. Modality expresses the mode within
which the propositional content of a sentence is presented ῌas
certain, reliable, or obligatory῍ and it functions to regulate
interpersonal relations. Point of view indicates a particular way of
conceptualizing and refers to worldview. In relation to, or as a
part of, modal functions, the following issues are considered :
point of view, deontic and epistemic modality, evaluative
adjectives and adverbs, and verba sentiendi.

The paper consists of a theoretical part and an application part. In

the theoretical part, first the term “modality” is defined ; this is
followed by a discussion of the relationship between modality and
point of view, using the model proposed by Simpson ῌ+33-῍.
Several patterns of points of view adopted in the narrative will be
introduced. In the application part of the paper, I will apply this
theoretical model, originally developed as a tool for analyzing
fictional stories, to the analysis of some texts from media
discourse, including a political speech and newspaper texts, to
demonstrate that the distinctive patterns of modality and point of
view are adopted in media discourse, too.
ῌ῎῍

,. Modality : Basic Concepts

Modality is a broad expression of a speaker’s attitude toward the
situation or event described by a sentence or in regard to the
proposition expressed by the sentence. It is an important
linguistic tool for realizing the interpersonal function and
expressing social roles between the speaker/writer and the
hearer/reader ῌHalliday +33. ; Halliday and Hasan +323῍. Modality
can be both epistemic and deontic ῌPalmer +313, +320, +33*, ,**+,
,**-῍+῍ Epistemic modality indicates the means by which
speakers/writers express judgment on the truth of the
propositions they utter/write. Deontic modality is concerned with
the criterion by which speakers/writers decide which future
events are necessary, possible, desirable, etc. Most modal
expressions can be used in both ways. For example, there are
ambiguities in the interpretations of the sentence, “Peter must
have a bath every day.” ῌSee Halliday +31* and +310, for details῍.

There are degrees of certainty, probability, or obligation in modal

operators respectively. They are called values, and these can be
classified into high, median, and low values, as shown in the
following table of modal operators.

Table +. Values in modality

High value must, should, ought to, need to, has to, is to
Median value will, would, shall
Low value may, might, can, could

ῌHalliday +33. : -0, ; Tatsuki ,**0 : 10῍

 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῍῍

There are various other ways of expressing modality, or

expressing different degrees of the speaker or writer’s
commitment to the proposition, than through auxiliary verbs ;
adverbs ῌe. g., supposedly, possibly῍, adjectives ῌe. g., probable,
likely῍, nouns ῌe. g., likelihood, possibility῍, and verbs ῌe. g., wish,
reckon, regret῍ can also be used. Table , schematizes the
relationships between modal systems and the non-linguistic
concepts that each of the modal systems realizes.

The terms boulomaic modality and perception modality in Table

, are used as follows. Boulomaic modality, as a subcategory of
deontic modality, expresses the desire or wish of the speaker, as
in I wish..., I hope..., I regret.... Perception modality is a supplement
to epistemic modality, and expresses the degree of commitment to
the validity of a proposition, based on some reference to human
perception ῌPerkins +32-, cited in Simpson +33- : /*῍. An example
of perception modality is, It is obvious that they don’t like each
other, Apparently she’s planning to marry him.

Table ,. The relationship between the modal system and

non-linguistic concepts

Modal system Non-linguistic concepts represented

Deontic ῌῌῌῌῌ῍ Obligation, duty, and commitment
Boulomaic ῌῌῌῌῌ῍ Desire
Epistemic ῌῌῌῌῌ῍ Knowledge, belief, and cognition
Perception ῌῌῌῌῌ῍ Perception

ῌSimpson +33- : /+῍

ῌ῍῎

A difference in the degree or value of certainty, probability, or

perceptual commitment leads to a different attitudinal stance on
that part of speaker or writer. Let us next turn to the problem of
point of view in relation to modality.

-. Modality and point of view

This section discusses the relationship between modality and
point of view. The basic concept of point of view is introduced,
and this is followed by a discussion of internal and external
points of view. The argument is then developed to present several
different modes of points of view.

-. +. Point of view as an indicator of an authorial attitude

In the simplest sense, point of view indicates a speaker’s or
writer’s particular style of conceptualizing a worldview. No text
or fiction can be totally objective or value-free ῌcf. Fowler +311 :
10῍. It is the writer’s point of view, “angle of vision,” “angle of
telling,” perspective, or authorial interest that determines the
essence of a story’s style and that provides the story with its
particular “feel” and “coloῌu῍r” ῌSimpson +33- : /῍. The studies of
point of view were originally developed as a tool for analyzing
narratives or fictional stories ῌcf. Uspensky +31- ; Genette +32-῍.
The theoretical model of point of view, nevertheless, may have
wider applications in other fields as well. In this study I use the
model in an analysis of spoken and printed media discourse. Two
basic concepts are of particular importance : internal point of view
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῍῎

and external point of view.

-. ,. Internal and external points of view

Internal focalization represents that the story is mediated by the
first-person narrator’s view, and often represents a subjective,
fixed point of view, since the source of the narration is the center
of consciousness of a narrator or a certain character. This viewing
stance is characterized by the use of first-person pronouns ῌI, we῍
and verba sentiendi. Verba sentiendi are words that express
feelings, thoughts, and perceptions, e. g., feel, suffer, or think.,῍
External focalization suggests an objective, neutral, and
panchronic stance outside the consciousness of participants
involved in the story, from which the events and characters are
described ῌSimpson +33- : -3῍.

-. -. The model of modality and point of view propounded by

Simpson
Modality and point of view have a close relationship. Simpson
systematized the relationship between these two topics by
developing Fowler’s original model of point of view. According to
Simpson ῌ+33- : .0῍, “much of the ‘feel’ of a text is attributable to
the type of point of view or authorial interests it exhibits.”
Figure + is a slightly simplified and revised model of point of
view realized by modality, as developed by Simpson.

Category A stories represent stories written with an internal point

῍῎ῌ

ῌ Positive

Category A
ῌ Negative
Internal point of

῍
Neutral

Positive
ῌ

Narratorial mode ῌ Negative

ῌ
῍
Category B Neutral
External point of view Positive
ῌ
῍
Reflector mode ῌ Negative

῍
Neutral
Figure +. A model of point of view
ῌcf. Simpson +33- : /0῍

of view and category B stories indicate stories written with an

external point of view. Simpson ῌ+33-῍ uses the terms
“homodiegetic” and “heterodiegetic” instead, with slightly
different connotations from “internal point of view” and “external
point of view,” respectively. Category A stories, Category B
narratorial mode stories, and Category B reflector mode stories
ῌexplained below῍ are subdivided further on the basis of three
patterns of modality : “positive, negative, and neutral shadings.”
These produce a total of 3 types of stories. The technical terms
are taken from Simpson ῌ+33-῍ and the explanation of each
category follows. The term “shading” is used here as equivalent to
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῍ῌ

“mode” ῌi.e., a particular style῍.

Positive shading stories are stories in which deontic and

boulomaic modalities of high values are abundantly used,
supplemented by verba sentiendi ῌsee section -.,῍. Hence, the
general flow of discourse of this type is binding, obligatory,
assertive, and strong. Negative shading stories are characterized
by the use of weaker epistemic and perception modalities of low
values, and by words denoting alienation and uncertainty ; this
creates weaker connotations in discourse as opposed to positive
shading stories. Finally, neutral shading stories are stories
without modality or modal judgment ; use of verba sentiendi and
evaluative adverbs and adjectives is suppressed ; the story is
mostly told through “categorical assertions” ῌi.e., “something is or
is not”῍ ῌLyons +311 : 10-, 2*3῍. Categorical assertions are
“epistemically non-modal” assertions or propositions ῌSimpson
+33- : .3῍ and express the strongest degree of a speaker’s
commitment to the factuality of the proposition. For example, “it
is snowing” is epistemically stronger than the modalized “it must
be snowing” ῌLyons, +311 : 2*2ῌ2*3῍. As a result, the style of
neutral shading stories exhibits an uncommitted and detached
connotation. Table - summarizes some distinctive features of each
of these three shadings : positive, negative, and neutral ; it is
followed by explanations of each of the shading patterns.
 ῌ῎῍

Table -. Characteristics of each of the three shading patterns

Shading type Prominent features

deontic, boulomaic systems forefronted ; verba sentiendi
Positive shading
found
epistemic and perception systems foregrounded ; generalized
Negative shading “words of estrangement” ῌwords expressing uncertainty
and alienation, e.g., maybe, perhaps, etc.῍ supplemented
Unmodalized categorical assertions dominant ; few verba
Neutral shading
sentiendi and evaluative adjectives and adverbs

ῌSimpson +33- : 1/῍

Category A : Positive shading

Category A positive stories are characterized by the rich use of
the high values of deontic and boulomaic modalities of obligation,
desire, duties, and opinions ῌwe must..., I want...῍ and evaluative
adjectives and adverbs ῌe. g., happily, terrible, meaningfully῍, and
verba sentiendi. By contrast, the use of epistemic and perception
systems are rare ῌperhaps, maybe, evidently, might have been῍. In
other words, the use of “words of estrangement,” or the more
alienating forms of epistemic and perception modality ῌi. e.,
low-value modality῍, are suppressed ῌSimpson, +33- : /0ῌ/2῍.

Category A : Negative shading

Category A stories with negative shading are characterized by the
use of weaker epistemic and perception modalities than are found
in Category A stories with positive shading. This type of point of
view presents the following linguistic features : epistemic modal
auxiliaries, modal adverbs, and modal lexical verbs such as I
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῎῍

wonder, I think, I suppose ; perception adverbs such as evidently,

perhaps, apparently ; human perception verbs such as it looked like
ῌas if῍, it seemed, it appears. Because this type of point of view is
internal, “the estrangement devices from within a participating
character’s consciousness” signify his/her uncertainty about
events or characters in the story ῌSimpson +33- : /2῍ or cynicism
toward them.

Category A : Neutral shading

A third Category A story is the one with neutral shading. The
criteria for identifying such a story is the absence of narratorial
modality, which means that the narrator/reporter holds back
subjective evaluation or opinions on events or characters in the
story, and tells the story only through “categorical assertions”
that are non-modal propositions in an epistemic sense ῌSimpson
+33- : .3῍. There are few uses of verba sentiendi and evaluative
adverbs and adjectives. So the style of neutral shading stories in
Category A exhibits the “flat, unreflective, cool…and detached”
narration of first person pronouns ῌSimpson +33- : 0,, 1/῍.

Category B stories
Category B stories are first of all subdivided into two modes :
narratorial and reflector. The former implies a viewing position
“outside the consciousness of any of the characters,” while the
latter indicates a position that is “mediated through the
consciousness of a particular character” ῌSimpson +33- : 0,῍. The
ῌ῎῍

term “reflector” was adopted by Simpson ῌSimpson +33- : //῍ to

identify a character whose perspective is expressed in a text. The
two Category B modes occur in three shadings : positive, negative,
and neutral, producing a total of six types of Category B stories.

Category B : Narratorial mode, positive shading

This type has a lot in common with its Category A counterpart : it
has prominent deontic and boulomaic modalities of high values
and evaluative adjectives and adverbs. The difference from its
Category A counterpart lies in externality ; the narration is in a
third-person voice that adopts a position outside the
consciousness of any of the characters in the story.

Category B : Narratorial mode, negative shading

This type of narration is documented by “words of estrangement”
and the absence of detailed description of the thought of
characters. This narration type has a lot in common with
Category A negative stories in that epistemic and perception
modal systems are given prominence and a sense of alienation is
conveyed with the use of low-value modality. In addition, there
are words of estrangement to distance the reader with an external
perspective or a modalizer for negative shading ῌFowler +311 : 3-ῌ
3/ ; Weber +323 : 31 ; Simpson +33- : .,῍. Maynard calls them
“quotative explanation markers.” These markers include, for
example, “it may be that...,” “it is said that...,” or “it is supposed to
be that...” These “quotative explanation” markers express varying
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῎῍

degrees of uncertainty or commitment on the writer’s part

regarding the proposition to be made ῌMaynard +33- : ,/+῍.

Category B : Narratorial mode, neutral shading

This narratorial mode is the most impersonal, as a narrator uses
little or no modalized language ; there are few verba sentiendi or
evaluative adjectives and adverbs. It lacks direct description and
analysis of the thought and feelings of characters. This
corresponds to objective ῌneutral, uninvolved῍ focalization as
opposed to subjective or involved focalization ῌRimmon-Kennan
+32- : 2*῍. This narratorial mode is supposed to be the ideal
journalistic style “in terms of its factuality and objective
approach” to the events and characters that journalists are trying
to describe ῌSimpson +33- : 02῍.

Category B : Reflector mode

Unlike Category A stories and Category B stories in the
narratorial mode, this type of narration is not directly related to
this study. Hence only a brief explanation is given here. Each of
the three shadings of Category B reflector mode has much in
common with its counterpart in the Category B narratorial mode
and Category A stories when it comes to the use of modal
expressions. The main difference is clearly that, in Category B
reflector mode, the story is narrated in the third person through
the consciousness of a reflector ῌSimpson +33- : 03 ; see the
reference for more details῍.
 ῌ῎῍

Transitions of perspective
Having explained these types of modes of point of view, I may
need to point out that there are cases in which intracategory
transpositions or crosscategory transitions of point of view take
place within a text ῌSimpson +33- : 10ῌ2-῍. The former suggests a
conversion of mode, for instance, from neutral through negative
or positive. -῍ The latter implies a moving of perspective from an
external to an internal mode or vice versa, such as a shift from
Category A positive to Category B narratorial, positive shading.
This can happen because, for instance, the positive modal shading
that typifies a Category A positive mode will also be the main
characteristic of its equivalent Category B narratorial ῌand
reflector῍ positive modes. In the same way, Category A negative
mode has estranging modal features in common with Category B
narratorial and reflector counterparts. These crosscategorical
similarities of the same shading are recognized, at least as far as
modal patterns are concerned. Likewise, Category A neutral mode
exhibits the flat and cool connotations that are held in common
with its Category B narratorial and reflector counterparts. For
these reasons, crosscategory transitions can take place. Actually,
it would be incorrect to assume that a single text always consists
of a single mode of telling throughout. The main aim of this
study is rather to show that “a particular mode may dominate a
text, contributing perhaps to the special ‘feel’ of the text”
ῌSimpson +33- : 2*῍.
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῎῍

.. Application : The use of modal structures in media discourse

The theoretical model and tools presented so far ῌmodality in
relation to point of view and style῍ will next be applied to actual
media texts. It may be helpful to explain briefly the types of texts
that are going to be used in relation to the issues of modality and
point of view. Because newspaper genre is supposed to present
itself as being neutral and objective, it is generally easy to find
texts written in Category B narratorial mode. Among them, the
most abundant will be those texts written in Category B
narratorial mode with neutral shading. These reports intend to
inform readers about events from as objective a perspective as
possible. News reports written in the Category B narratorial mode
with positive shading inform readers about actions that affect the
readers, for example, when governmental decisions are made to
obligate certain personnel to do something, or in commentaries in
which certain directions or policies are suggested. Category B
narratorial mode with negative shading is adopted when the news
writer or participants in the news story have uncertainty about
the content of the reports. Category A texts, which suggest an
internal perspective, may appear in commentary sections in
newspapers or magazines. Outside printed media texts, Category
A mode with positive shading is particularly used in political
speeches or in election campaigns when the speaker is voicing
strong opinions on the course of the nation. A complete Category
A mode with neutral shading is rather difficult to find in
ῌ῍῍

journalistic discourse because subjectivity easily enters into the

construction of personal reports. They may be partially found in
witnesses’ reports or ῌjob῍ training reports, for example.
Category A mode with negative shading may also be found in
commentary sections of newspapers, for example, when the writer
is uncertain or cynical about the propositional content of the
report. For the sake of showing typical and relatively easily
recognizable examples, this study will present an example of
Category A mode with positive shading in the form of an excerpt
from a speech by President Bush concerning his policy in Iraq,
and two examples of Category B narratorial mode῎one positive,
one negative῎found in newspaper reports. Let us now look at
these examples.

Sample text of Category A : Positive shading

The following is a portion of the transcript of President George
W. Bush’s televised speech “Address to the Nation” broadcast on
January +*, ,**1. The speech exhibits various characteristics of
discourse written/spoken with an internal point of view of
positive shading. In this speech the president sought to justify
America’s continued military presence in Iraq and called for
people’s support for his policy. The parts relevant to the analysis
are underlined.

ῌText +῍
…The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῍῎

peopleῌand it is unacceptable to me. Our troops in Iraq

have fought bravely
bravely. They have done everything we have
asked them to do….

It is clear that we need to change our strategy in Iraq. So

my national security team, military commanders, and
diplomats conducted a comprehensive review….

On September the ++ th, ,**+, we saw what a refuge for

extremists on the other side of the world could bring to the
streets of our own cities. For the safety of our people,
America must succeed in Iraq.…

We will use America’s full diplomatic resources to rally

support for Iraq from nations throughout the Middle East.
Countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf
States need to understand that an American defeat in Iraq
would create a new sanctuary for extremists and a strategic
threat to their survival. These nations have a stake in a
successful Iraq that is at peace with its neighbors, and they
must step up their support for Iraq’s unity government….

The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is

more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological
struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in
freedom and moderation. On the other side are extremists
῍῎ῌ

who kill the innocent

innocent, and have declared their intention to
destroy our way of life. In the long run, the most realistic
way to protect the American people is to provide a hopeful
alternative to the hateful ideology of the enemy, by
advancing liberty across a troubled region. It is in the
interests of the United States to stand with the brave men
and women who are risking their lives to claim their
freedom, and to help them as they work to raise up just and
hopeful societies across the Middle East….

Let me be clear : The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are

without conscience, and they will make the year ahead
bloody and violent.
violent Even if our new strategy works exactly
as planned, deadly acts of violence will continue ῎and we
must expect more Iraqi and American casualties. The
question is whether our new strategy will bring us closer to
success. I believe that it will….
ῌGeorge W. Bush, “President’s Address to the Nation῎The
Liberty,” January +*, ,**1῍.῍

In the above example, the point of view implied in the wording is

an internal point of view of positive shading rallying the nation
to feel an obligation of commitment to the president’s policy.
Here, modality, as a manifestation of the interpersonal function of
language, is used as a linguistic device to direct and regulate the
behavior of the people. There are uses of first-person pronouns ῌe.
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῍ῌ

g., I and we, my national security team῍, and high-value deontic

modals indicating necessity and obligation such as must and need
to. The expression our enemy suggests the practice of
dichotomizing us versus them, which also confirms the presence of
an internal, subjective perspective. Evaluative adjectives or
adverbs are abundantly employed, such as brave, bravely, innocent,
bloody and violent, successful, realistic, clear, decisive, deadly,
hopeful, and hateful. Among these terms, those with a positive
connotation are used to refer to us, while those with a negative
connotation are employed in reference to them, which
ideologically enhance the dichotomizing effect between us and
them. In addition, verba sentiendi such as believe, expect, and
understand are found. These all are characteristic traits of
discourse written/spoken with an internal point of view of
positive shading. The use of these linguistic patterns adds to the
whole discourse a positive and powerful connotation.

Sample text of Category B : Narratorial mode, positive shading

Next we will see a sample text written in Category B narratorial
mode ῌan external perspective῍. Unlike Category A texts,
Category B texts are written from a position outside the
consciousness of any of the participants in the story, hence a
sense of externality is created. Below is an example of a text
written in the Category B narratorial mode with a positive
shading. As for the use of deontic modality intending to regulate
the conduct of readers, this text type has much in common with
ῌ῎῍

discourse narrated with Category A positive shading. The

difference lies in an externality characterized by the use of
objective reference instead of first-person pronouns. The following
is a portion of an article on the front page of a newspaper that
reports the government’s new policy obliging doctors to give
blood transfusions to patients under +/ years of age regardless of
parental religious beliefs.

ῌText ,῍
“UNDER +/s MUST BE GIVEN TRANSFUSIONS DESPITE
BELIEFS”

A committee comprised of the country’s five medical

societies has compiled a draft guideline that stipulates
doctors should perform a blood transfusion during surgery
on patients under +/ years of age even if their parents are
Jehovah’s Witnesses and refuse it because of a Biblical
injunction, it was learned Saturday.

The joint committee started discussing the refusal of blood

transfusions by Jehovah’s Witnesses in response to requests
from doctors who have said they are troubled about
prioritizing either religious freedom or respect for life.

The committee judged that refusing a blood donation for

children under +/ who are considered to be immature in
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῎῍

terms of their self-determination capabilities constitutes an

abuse of parental rights….

To deal with the refusal of blood transfusions by Jehovah’s

Witnesses, a similar guideline compiled in +332 by the Japan
Society of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy῎then
known as the Japan Society of Blood Transfusion῎
stipulates that doctors should respect a patient’s wishes if
he or she is +2 or older. If a patient is aged under +,,
however, it said doctors should prioritize saving lives,
including performing a blood transfusion during surgery,
even if the child’s parents are against the transfusion….

In the case of patients aged from +/ to +1, the draft

guideline said that a blood transfusion should not be
performed if both the patient and their parents reject it.
ῌThe Daily Yomiuri, June ,., ,**1῍

The point of view adopted here is external with positive shading.

Unlike Text +, this text is written from a perspective detached
from those involved in the story, and so the event is seen from a
more objective viewpoint. The text contains deontic modal
auxiliaries, must and should, which impose obligation or
injunction on doctors, directing them how to deal with this
controversial problem. Here, high-value modality of obligation is
used. Also, modality functions to regulate the interpersonal
ῌ῎῍

function, by commanding doctors in this case. The fact that the

headline “Under +/s must be given transfusions despite beliefs” is
in quotation marks, to indicate someone else’s words, may also
confirm the external tone of this discourse. There is no use of
evaluative or emotive adjectives and adverbs, as were abundantly
found in Text +. There are objective references to the names of
the groups involved ῌi.e., through third-person narration῍ instead
of subjective references ῌsuch as we or them῍.

Sample text of Category B : Narratorial mode, negative shading

Now we turn to a sample text written in Category B narratorial
mode ῌan external perspective῍ of negative shading. This type of
mode is characterized by the use of a weaker modality and
externality, which is recognized by the adoption of objective
references ῌas opposed to the use of we/them/enemy῍ and
third-person telling instead of first-person telling. The following is
a portion of an article on the front page of a newspaper that
reports Christopher Hill, the assistant secretary of state for East
Asian and Pacific affairs, commenting on the negotiation process
regarding North Korea’s nuclear disarmament.

ῌText -῍
HILL : N. KOREA REACTOR MAY SHUT IN - WKS

North Korea could shut down its plutonium-producing

reactor within three weeks, a top U. S. nuclear envoy said
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῎῍

Saturday, after paying a rare visit to the reclusive country.

Christopher Hill, the chief U. S. negotiator at the six-party

talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs, also told reporters
in Tokyo that the next round of negotiations could begin in
early July, before a full shutdown of the Yongbyon reactor.

Hill said the reactor would be shut down after North Korea
and the International Atomic Energy Agency agree on how
to monitor the process.

“We do expect this to be soon, probably within three weeks

…though I don’t want to be pinned down on precisely the
date,” Hill said after briefing his Japanese counterpart,
Kenichiro Sasae, on the outcome of his two-day surprise
trip to Pyongyang.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency

described the talks as “comprehensive and productive” on
Saturday.

The trip, the first by a high-ranking U. S. official since

October ,**,, came amid growing optimism that North
Korea might finally be ready to take concrete steps toward
fulfilling a promise to dismantle its nuclear programs.
ῌ῎῍

Hill cautioned that shutting down the reactor was just a

first step.

“Shutting down the reactor won’t solve all our problems,

but in order to solve our problems we need to make this
beginning,” he said. “We really think this is the time to pick
up the pace.”
ῌThe Daily Yomiuri, June ,., ,**1῍

The point of view adopted in the discourse is external with

negative shading. There is no use of deontic modals such as must
or should to give a strong sense of commitment, as in Text + in
particular. Instead, there is a use of such weaker epistemic modal
auxiliaries as may or might and a word of estrangement, probably,
which distances the reader, with the use of an external
perspective. This is because of uncertainty or commitment on the
part of Mr. Hill and the reporter as to the proposition to be made.
The relative reliability of information concerning North Korea
and its policy is generally shaky. For these stylistic effects, some
level of objectification of the propositional content is realized. The
use of quoted speeches also supports the idea of the presence of
an external point of view. However, in the final paragraph of this
text, an intracategory transposition, or a shift from negative to
positive shading, takes place. This may be recognized by the
presence of need to denoting obligation as in Hill’s quoted words,
“we need to make this beginning…” At this point appears an
 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῎῍

evaluative adverb really and the first person pronoun we, in “We
really think this is the time to pick up the pace,” which are
characteristic of an external, positive-shading discourse.

/. Conclusions
This paper was aimed at investigating the subject of modality as
related to point of view. Modality is interpreted fairly broadly
here as a speaker’s means of expressing an attitude toward the
propositional content of the utterance he or she makes. Point of
view expresses a particular way of conceiving and representing
the world. This study is intended to show that a certain mode and
perspective may govern a text, in such a way that they give a
particular “feel” or “color” to the text. To demonstrate that the
distinctive patterns of modality and point of view are adopted in
media discourse to give a certain tone to the text, three texts were
presented as illustrations, one from a political speech and two
from newspaper articles. President Bush’s speech concerning his
policy toward Iraq, as an example of a political speech, is based
on Category A positive-shading narration. The speech uses
frequent high-value deontic modality and emotive terms with
first-person narration, to express an assertive attitude to regulate
the course of the nation. It is confirmed that modality, as a
realizer of the interpersonal function of language, may be used as
a linguistic tool to direct and control the behavior of the people.
The newspaper article concerning the government’s new policy
legalizing blood transfusions for children under +/, written from a
 ῌ῎῍

Category B narratorial, positive shading, also uses frequent

high-value deontic modality, but with almost none of the emotive
kind of terms used in the president’s speech. The text is written
from an external point of view based on third-person narration,
with the use of quotation mark for reported speeches. Hence,
despite the modal similarity ῌpositive shading῍ with the
president’s speech, its connotations differ. The final example, a
newspaper article on Mr. Hill’s report of negotiations regarding
North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, is written in Category B
narratorial, negative shading, and contains quite different
discoursal and modal patterns from the first two examples. In this
article, lower-value epistemic and perception systems are
forefronted, to which are added words of estrangement. It conveys
a lower degree of certainty and commitment on the writer’s part
in regard to the propositional content. There is, however, an
intracategorical shift of point of view῎from negative to positive
shading῎in the latter portion of the text, as corroborated by the
use of deontic modality when Mr. Hill wants to express his policy
from that point of time onward. It seems safe to conclude, then,
that modality, point of view, and the “feel” of a text are closely
related, as shown by the above analysis of these illustrative texts.

Notes

+῍ These two terms are distinguished by other terms such as epistemic/root ῌHofmann

+313῍, modalization/modulation ῌHalliday +31*῍, epistemic/cognitive ῌOta +31,῍, and

 Modality and point of view in media discourse ῌ῍῍

secondary/primary ῌClose +31/῍.

,῍ These are mental process verbs in transitivity, to use Halliday’s terms ῌHalliday

+33.῍.

-῍ Simpson argues that the intracategorical mode shift from neutral through negative

or positive is easier to execute than the move from positive or negative through

neutral shadings ῌsee Simpson +33- : 13 for details῍.

.῍ The script of the speech is drawn from the White House’s homepage : http : ῎῎ www.

whitehouse.gov῎news῎releases῎,**1῎*+῎,**1*++*-1.html.

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