This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kuronen, M.-L. Articles by Vaara, E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Merger Storm Recognizes No Borders: An Analysis of Media Rhetoric on a Business Manoeuvre

Helsinki School of Economics, Finland, marja-liisa.kuronen{at}hkkk.fi

Janne Tienari

Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland, janne.tienari{at}lut.fi

Eero Vaara

Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration and Ecole de Management de Lyon, France, eero.vaara{at}hanken.fi

Despite the central role of the media in contemporary society, studies examining the rhetorical practices of journalists are rare in organization and management research. We know little of the textual micro strategies and techniques through which journalists convey specific messages to their readers. Partially to fill the gap, this paper outlines a methodological framework that combines three perspectives of text analysis and interpretation: critical discourse analysis, systemic functional grammar and rhetorical structure theory. Using this framework, we engage in a close reading of a single media text (a press article) on a recent case of industrial restructuring in the financial services. In our empirical analysis, we focus on key arguments put forward by the journalists’ rhetorical constructions. We maintain that these arguments—which are not frame-breaking but rather tend to confirm existing presuppositions held by the audience—are an essential part of the legitimization and naturalization of specific management ideas and ideologies.

Key Words: discourse • legitimization • media • restructuring • rhetoric

Organization, Vol. 12, No. 2, 247-273 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1350508405051190


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P.-M. Laine and E. Vaara Struggling over subjectivity: A discursive analysis of strategic development in an engineering group Human Relations, January 1, 2007; 60(1): 29 - 58. [Abstract] [PDF]