Ricerc@Sapienza

This article presents preliminary findings of a research project aimed at investigating textual outcomes in the press of Hillary Clinton’s first congressional hearing on the Benghazi attacks on September 23rd, 2013. The analysis focuses on the way in which journalists of two main U.S. newspapers use congressional hearing material, and centres specifically on the strategies that are deployed to incorporate the hearing either to endorse/criticise

The construction of ethos-based self-representation in public discourse is particularly evident when it comes to politicians and corporate leaders who, in their public prominent role, may need to convince their audience they behave and have behaved ethically. This seems to be even more evident in case of suspicion of wrongdoing, which is typically the reason why investigative congressional hearings are conducted. The hearings can give researchers the possibility to discover whom the Congress is listening to, who the players are and how they position themselves in a debate.

Congressional hearings are ofen the most requested government documents in US libraries. However, among the genres that have been traditionally of interest to political discourse analysts – e.g. political speeches, political interviews, policy documents – hearings have not been of much scrutiny on the part of discourse scholars, an attitude somehow contrasting with the lay public’s interest. Cinzia Giglionitakes the opportunity to gain a unique view into the actors, the interested parties, the issues, from a linguistic and rhetorical perspective.