The relative frequency of application of variable rules in a station's news
language correlates only with the social composition of the station's audience
(Bell, 1982a). Variable editing rules thus function to shift the style of the
input text closer to the style which the station deems suitable for its kind of
audience. This shows how a number of divergent styles can be derived from
a single text. The same set of international news analysed here was received
and edited by two internal news agencies and six different radio stations in Auckland.