Information Technology Reference
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We also see several studies cited, this time without quotation, to suggest the
general trend in remote access technology:
Such remote-access technology could be critical over the next few years,
when around 1 billion mobile phones are projected to be in use, several
studies say.
By citing both corporate authorities and business analysis, journalistic pieces
like this one anchor their credibility in external authorities. Indeed, quotations
and citations were the defining characteristics of the other journalistic pieces
generally. While quotation occurred on average only 0.07 times per 100 words
in the tech reviews, they occurred more than ten times as often (0.84 times
per 100 words) in the other journalistic pieces. Furthermore, while only 29% of
the tech reviews contained quotations, 86% of the other journalistic pieces did.
Citations, though more frequent than quotations in tech reviews, were still more
characteristics of the other journalistic pieces: In reviews, citations occurred
an average of 0.23 times per 100 words; in the other journalistic pieces they
occurred four times more often (0.97 per 100 words). Furthermore, 100% of the
other journalistic pieces contained at least one citation, whereas only 71% of the
tech reviews did.
Common authorities also appear frequently in the other journalistic pieces.
In Fig. 4, we see examples through references to strategic investment, partner-
ship, and vice-president. Each of these points to commonly accepted standards,
entities or qualities that journalists expect their readers to look to as authori-
tative. They are twice as common in other journalistic pieces as in tech reviews
(.81 per 100 words in other journalistic pieces versus .45 in tech reviews).
The other journalistic pieces were also characterized by two other rhetorical
features: They used examples and reference past events. In the text shown in
Fig. 4, we can see these features in evidence. DocuScope picks out two examples:
The PalmPilot's success is the most visible sign of a new market. . . Chris
Shipley, editor of the trend-watching DemoLetter in San Francisco, ex-
pects to see home Internet servers that wirelessly control a range of
appliances, allowing you to, for instance, regulate your alarm system
from your browser at work.
In addition, new technologies are embedded within one another through past
tense: “microprocessors sold last year . . . . embedded processors. . . . An esti-
mated 14.5 million Tamagotchi virtual pets. . . devices connected wirelessly . . . .”
As the example in Fig. 4 also shows, these features are frequently associated with
expert citation.
Journalistic pieces like these are driven by events; they report news in the
tech sector, usually based, as we have seen, on the citation and quotation of a
corporate spokesperson or business analyst. Some look toward the future; others
look toward the past; but all look at the business of technology rather than the
technology itself.
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