Examines the language style of news and the factors that influence it, with data drawn from extensive research on radio news in Auckland, New Zealand. Study of newscasters' language style shows that newscasters will alter their style of speech depending upon who they think is listening. (PD)

Presents theory of "audience design" which assumes that speakers design their style of talk for their audience, and examines how speakers do this. Also examines the effects on style shift of nonpersonal factors (such as topic and setting) and of referees (the class of persons with whom the speaker identifies). (SED)

Referee design offers a rich field for social and cultural analysis. The preponderance of foreign-dialect advertisements in New Zealand (NZ) broadcasting is discussed and concluded to reflect a small nation's focus on the prestige of other culturally powerful nations and the comparative lack of NZ linguistic diversity. (24 references) (LB)

A social dialect survey of a New Zealand community documented a change in progress in the pronunciation of the vowels in words such as "air" and "ear." The data support a tentative interpretation that a shift to the variant with the closer onset for AIR words was initiated by middle-aged Pakeha women. (38 references) (Author/LB)

Reviews recent research on the use of language in the mass media, focusing on the work of Teun van Dijk, A. Bell, Roger Fowler, and Norman Fairclough, as well as research on broadcast interviews, talk shows, and advertising. An annotated bibliography discusses 16 important works in the field. (58 references) (MDM)