Temporal Perspectives in the Practical-Textual Handling of a European Public Problem

Abstract

This article is concerned with the way in which media routinely achieve their task of reporting on an issue that may last for several months. The present study is based on the first months of the coverage by a British newspaper, The Guardian, of an emergent crisis between Austria and the rest of the EU governments as a result of the entry of the far right into Austrian government. The analysis focuses on the way the time dimension is practically used in the media text, with a view to rendering intelligible whatever happens under the auspices of a common system of relevances and interest.