The usage of positive, negative comparatives and superlatives is dependent on the

match)

In both countries the average usage of positive adjectives in their comparative / superlative forms are the highest on the day before the matches. The usage on the day after the matches is also higher than on the match days themselves. The usage of comparatives / superlatives with a negative connotation on the other hand cannot be assigned to the publishing points so easily. The frequency of negative comparatives / superlatives changes between the articles from Germany and the articles from the UK.

While in the UK no negative comparative or superlative is used on the day before, they are the highest on the day after the match. In comparison to that the comparatives with negative propositions and referring to the competing teams are decreasing from the day before to the day after the match. In Germany on the other hand, there is no clear tendency visible. While the comparatives and superlatives with a positive predicate connected to the competing teams stay consistent during the three days the negative ones are changing. On the day of the match, the amount is the highest, while on the day after it is the lowest.

These tendencies are persistent in both countries. Therefore it can be concluded that the point of publication is a relevant factor for the usage of comparatives and superlatives. This is in line with Kroppach’s (in Stocker, 2009) explanations that superlatives are especially used to emotionalize the reporting and through that keeping the attention of the audience. The heavy use of comparatives and superlatives before the match is an indication that sports journalists try to gain or keep the audience entertained and loyal to their reporting. In addition, according to Kroppach (in Stocker, 2009) this can be used by journalists to strengthen nationalist

tendencies.

6.4 Summary

From the discussion of the research findings in connection with different theories and previous research the sub research question and hypotheses have been answered and discussed.

There are different ways how nationalist positionings are represented within articles. It needs to be noted that there are differences between the usage of representations of nationality in the UK and Germany. In Germany and the UK the headline and its proposition play an important part to lay the tone of the coverage. The frequency and the proposition of headlines and associated pictures are portraying the home teams in a more positive way.

78 You can say that journalists base the nationalist positioning of their articles on their own nationality. This aspect has before been analyzed by van Dijk (1991) and is supported through the studies by Stocker (2009). Also it needs to be noted, that the textual output published on internet is no different to other media platforms. The construction of difference can be interpreted as a substantiation of the nationalist positioning of the journalist. However, there are two approaches to it, (a) the other nationality is used for differentiation and (b) the own nationality is represented more frequently to substantiate the nationalist positioning of the journalist.

One tendency that has been observed is the fact that in general quotations by sources from the competing teams are underrepresented. This means that most of the opinions represented in the articles are by representatives of the “home” team. Sports journalists have a special kind of relationship to their sources in comparison to other genres in journalism. Similar to the approach of sports journalism is for example war journalism that not so much focuses on being unbiased or objective (Gavin, 2007; Alghasi, 2011). In both genres of journalism it is more important that the nationalist positioning of the “home” group is strengthened. This connection has been drawn by various researchers before (Beck & Bosshart, 2003b; Schlegel, 2007; Schmalenbach, 2009; Stocker, 2009).

Linguistic tools can be understood as a method for constructing difference and developing nationalist positionings. In addition, it is often used in a more subtle way to put the nationalist positionings into the reality that is created by the journalists. The usage of pronouns is an essential part of making a difference between an outer and an inner group (van Dijk, 1991; Eide, 2011). However, it needs to be noted that their usage differs from country to country. Even though van Dijk (1991) concluded that parts of the press in the UK and in Germany have a similar approach regarding displaying nationalist positionings. The empirical study shows that while pronouns are mainly used in the UK, in Germany it is the comparatives / superlatives that have a stronger role in constructing difference.

The usage of pronouns in the UK is more intensive than it is in Germany. Especially the usage of “they/them/their” referring to the competing teams is more intense. This is an indication that the othering process as suggested by Eide (2011) in form of an “us-versus-them” approach occurs in the UK on a regular basis. In Germany the proposition of the headline is continued through the usage of more comparatives / superlatives with positive propositions. Here the “us-versus-them” approach applies the usage of adjectives to represent the difference between identities, as it has been proposed by van Dijk (1991).

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