Politeness and Gender in BBC world News

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the application of the politeness principle in Broadcast media interviews by male/female interviewers and interviewees. It explores the politeness strategies and sub-strategies (of Brown and Levinson, 1987) which are used by either sex, in order to determine which sex is more polite than the other. It analyses programmes in which the presenters conduct interviews with politicians or members of a political party about the main political issues of the day as well as other guests discussing non political topics or softer' items, including interviews on 'light-hearted' topics. The data gathered through the recording of TV broadcast interviews are analyzed by means of a set of frameworks based mostly on Brown Livingston, Holmes and Harris.