Naming process of a new institution in media publicity in the light of speakers' roles, positions and arguments
Keywords:
discourse, institution, medialization, name, positionAbstract
In this article, we study the naming process of a new institution in media publicity. The
starting point of the study is the fusion of three Finnish universities of the city of Tampere
– University of Tampere, Tampere University of Technology and Tampere University of
Applied Sciences – during 2016–2017. Our empirical material consists of texts gathered
from traditional news media and social media.
In the naming negotiation, statements are expressed both from roles given by media and from
self-selected positions. Roles and positions are to be seen through the selection of topics, the
speakers’ definitions and lexical choices. The negotiation for the name runs from standpoints
of institution, language, branding, localness, and carnivalistic laughter. Especially in the
traditional news media, people and institutions discuss about names from roles given by
media, whereas the self-selected positions are more obvious on the social media platforms.
Media’s interest in the university name affects the outcome of the name negotiation and the
final name choice.
