Discursive news values analysis: the case of Liz Truss’ representation in the British press

Abstract This paper focuses on the news representation of Liz Truss by the British press, starting from the identification of news values. In addition, our analysis investigates the portrayal of Truss as a gendered social actor. The data were retrieved online through the resource LexisNexis – using the keyword “Truss” in headlines and lead paragraphs in both British broadsheets and tabloids – during three crucial days: 10 July 2022, the day Truss announced her candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party and as Prime Minister, 5 September 2022, when she became leader of the Conservative Party and consequently the new Prime Minister, and 20 October 2022, the day she announced her resignation as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister. These data were analysed combining Bednarek’s and Caple’s Discursive News Values Analysis (DNVA) and Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA). Our findings identify the most frequent news values employed by British national newspapers in Truss’ portrayal during the selected timespans and highlight the connection between those values and her gendered representation.