The eristic of newsworthiness in the representation of Barnevernet controversy: A case study of the Norwegian Child Welfare Service

• Main Author: Klaudia Szyma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Polskie Towarzystwo Retoryczne/ Polish Rhetoric Society 2018-03-01
• Series: Res Rhetorica
• Online Access: http://resrhetorica.com/index.php/RR/article/view/256

This study offers a critical evaluation of news values by four selected contemporary media outlets: BBC News, The Federalist, OneEurope and Dagbladet. The material covers the controversy around the Norwegian Child Welfare Service with cases of children being taken away from their families, thus it involves cultural and legal aspects of the issue. The analytic categories are based on news value research guidelines that were introduced in the study by Johan Galtung and Mari H. Ruge (1965). In parallel, the philosophical reference is construed through the works by Artur Schopenhauer and Anton Powell. This, in turn, allows evaluating the language that construes newsworthiness from an eristic perspective. The study demonstrates how the eristic application of news values may influence the fair presentation of an issue, at least when a case is presented as involving a controversy. The focus is on the eristic tools of news value enhancement which lead to channeling consumers’ attention in a desirable manner.