ABSTRACT
Much public discourse is concerned with economic issues, from growth to debt to taxation, and media plays a key part in how audiences think of these issues. Broadcast media are especially influential for these discourses, presiding over the ideas and views that are articulated and perpetuated. In this chapter we will apply critical discourse analysis (CDA) to deconstruct and decipher radio broadcasts on economic issues. The chapter is organised into two key parts: the first looks at broadcast media and the radio genre, giving context to the use of the CDA methodology in that setting; the second offers a practical application of CDA using a step-by-step research process. We demonstrate how language is used in the construction of economic “realities” and draw on our experience of deconstructing broadcasts to offer useful and practical insights to the researcher.
