ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors discuss the basis of a number of case studies, what can reasonably be inferred about discourses from corpus analysis, with regards to absences. They argue that corpus tools provide an 'armoury' for locating and verifying absence. In a corpus of candidates' campaign speeches, authors can compare the different perspectives, in the different candidates' representations of the world. Further reference corpora were provided by the presidential debates of 2016 and previous presidential debates, all gathered from the excellent American Presidency project website. The 2016 presidential election in America was treated in the press as being most singular, and coverage indicated that expectations were being confounded on a regular basis. The back-and-forth negotiation of meaning seems to be unavoidable at press conferences in order for the journalists to get the exact information they want and for the spokespersons to do a good job in keeping a balance between what they know and what they should say.
