Moral Discrepancy and `Fudging the Issue' in a Radio News Interview

Abstract

During the course of this article I employ the reconsidered model of membership categorization analysis in order to explore the normative, categorial and sequential characteristics of talk within a radio news interview. Furthermore, I explore the categorial and sequential characteristics of a particular form of adjacency and other features of the talk concerning the topic of banning fox hunting. The article explores transcribed materials as a means of illustrating how the alleged practice of providing answers that `fudge the issue' within political radio news interviews is facilitated by questions that introduce a specific moral device. Furthermore, it is argued that issues concerning accountability and the media need to be informed by studies that explore the precise characteristics of situated talk-in-interaction displayed within such settings.