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KOREAN AIR LINES 007: OFFICIAL AND ALTERNATIVE REALITIES, THEIR LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES, AND RHETORICAL IMPLICATIONS
Abstract
This dissertation explores the interdependent relationships of the United States government, media, and American public with regard to the stories and "realities" generated by the downing of Korean Airlines 007. The study primarily involves a rhetorically oriented content analysis of the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, the Congressional Record, and the ABC Evening News, and is conducted from a rhetorical/organizational perspective which is developed in Chapter Two. Basically this dissertation asks, "What is the nature of the various 'realities' generated by the downing of Korean Air Lines 007, and what rhetorical implications stem from them?" The following conclusions are reached: (1) The rhetoric of President Ronald Reagan and the House of Representatives suggests that both were operating under at least one false assumption in the last months of 1983. Differences between the President's conception of 007 and the House's are few. The President offered a fairly uncomplicated and axiomatic view of the downing. The act was bad, the Soviets worse, the victims innocent, the purpose "inexplicable," and the responses clear. The majority of Representatives corroborated this view. (2) ABC news presented two realities of the downing of 007, and these realities were based on two superpowers speaking with certitude about things which they could not be certain. Reporters called little into question. ABC's reports contained the gaps and inconsistences inherent in both the U.S. and U.S.S.R.'s version of events but these gaps and inconsistencies were never resolved. (3) The language of the President and House of Representatives indicated lack of restraint and deliberation. It also precluded dissent from the "official" version. (4) The President was able to use 007 to muster support for his arms programs. (5) Because of financial concerns and timidity arising from them, the "Fourth Estate" does not always function as it should. What is required in contemporary American society is an active "Fifth Estate," consisting of critical consumers of symbolic goods; the public needs to play more active a role in the forces that shape the future.
Subject Area
Communication
Recommended Citation
SMITH, DONALD CHARLES, "KOREAN AIR LINES 007: OFFICIAL AND ALTERNATIVE REALITIES, THEIR LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES, AND RHETORICAL IMPLICATIONS" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8727110.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8727110