Evasion in Arabic News Interviews
Alfahad, Abdulrahman . 2008
In the recent years, news interviews have attracted several researchers to study issues that are related to this expanding field. Many scholars have stated that both interviewers and interviewees should adhere to the turn-taking system of the news interviews. Interviewers therefore are expected to ask questions whilst interviewees should limit themselves to answer these questions. It has been observed however that many interviewees attempt to evade the answers by various ways. These ways of evasion have been characterized and described by several researchers in the English news interviews, while the topic has not been examined in Arabic.
Through several Arabic news interviews, the data will display the features of evasion and the ways used to avoid giving answers. Interviewees might deflect the topic and veer away from the agenda established by the interviewer's question by several ways, such as attacking the interviewer, asking a question instead of answering or shifting the topic overtly and covertly.
Press conferences that host high ranking officials have not been a common practice in Saudi Arabia.