Contemporary News Reportage - Assignment Example

Contemporary News Reportage Introduction Contemporary news reportage is one of the most powerful media of information in modern-day society. As a matter of fact, it has been influencing the nature of countless cultural, economic and political debates. For this reason, it but natural that the textual context and the ‘truth claim’ of the news reportage has become a widespread of topic of contention among political assemblages, ideological positions, media theorists and media audiences as well as text linguistic examinations. Media audiences maintain an ambiguous stance on this subject and simply rely on the news for the sake of awareness of public issues and current events while considering the journalistic discourse with a considerable amount of scepticism for its probable inaccuracy, commercialisation, sensationalism and prejudice. On the other hand, political assemblages, ideological positions, media theorists and text linguistic examinations on average deem the news as an instrument that evokes social control, as a channel of communication which establishes the systems of rationality which induce social injustice and advocates the interests of numerous economic and political elites (P.R.R. White 2005). Recent studies within the tradition of Register and Genre Theory (Eggins and Martin 1997) made various attempts in order to distinguish between the paradigms of news and reportage taken as two different journalistic genres. In previous studies, researchers find it very challenging to differentiate news and reportage as well as defining each journalistic genre. Moreover, studies discovered a variety of genres with purer structures from news to reportage and, still, some are mixture of both genres. As a general rule, defining genres on the journalistic standpoint are hardly theorised that authors who aim to formulate criteria that would to describe a specific genre are inhibited due to the deficiency of a theoretical basis. News Genre Based on the notion of genre, news is defined as a report of pure factual information, current events and interest that is of great importance to the community; however, it has to be easily understood by the audience. It has to be presented without any expression of personal opinion coming from the reporter or writer (Iedema, Feez, and White 1994). Therefore, three words can be identified as significant in the news genre. These are “important”, “truth” and “human interest” as it is meant to deliver important truth that is of human interest. Reportage Defined The reportage is somewhat caught between literature and journalism. It deals with the realities based on the cultural and social aspects, historical developments as well as current affairs. It explicates events through the context of its causality by means of presenting the materials in a more informative interpretation (Lettre International 2007). Borge (2001) articulated that the reportage requires the presentation of events in an objective approach. The events are described in a rather personal way providing the readers a more perceptive visualisation of the scenes as if watching a movie. It supplemented by excerpts for the purpose of verifying or clarifying the subject. Thus, it becomes expository and somewhat becomes akin to a research. Despite having a judgmental character at times, it is sustained by pertinent data which justifies it and give it a pedagogical status as it takes a stand about the area under discussion. In terms of journalistic concept, Bonini (2009) cited Lage (1979) categorisation of reportage—the research type, the interpretative type and the news journalism type. The research type naturally strays away from one fact in order to showcase some hidden yet significant facts. The interpretative type illustrates a series or set of facts envision from the methodological point of view of certain disciplines which are commonly sociological and economic in nature. Lastly, the news journalism type deals with the exploration of an unconceived human-praxis by means of encapsulating the essence of a phenomenon through literary techniques in composing the recounted events. News and Reportage Compared Bonini (2009) said that according to Lage (1979), the news differentiates itself the reportage because it concentrates on the subjects whereas the latter focuses on matters that update the facts and establish a specific point of view. Unlike the news, the reportage is premeditated and adheres to an editorial line, a focal point or motivation. For instance, an unforeseen fact such as the explosion of a building can only be narrated by the news while it can be efficiently associated by the reportage with terrorism and other possible causes, initially based on observations or speculations which subsequently develop through fast yet meticulous data collection and processing. Furthermore, reportage is an essential aspect of a newspaper. It is different from the news genre in terms of content, scope and depth because it probes on the origins, reasons and effects of the presented facts. It represents a fact or event but, unlike the news, the reportage is supplemented by the judicious observation and intellectual competence of the author. It is augmented by the sensitivity, ingenuity and eloquent description of the author as well. In addition, the reportage can be associated from a simple news complement to an essay. It is intended to disclose facts and events from its historical roots or to explain the contents of a permanent interest. It is not focussed at the exposure of a fact or facts. Instead, it is directed at the investigation of an area under discussion on or after a pre-established perspective (Fairclough 1995; Borge 2001). News and Reportage Combined Instead of two different journalistic genres, the news and reportage appear to serve as a continuum. This explains the reason why it is especially strenuous define them apart. As a result many authors use both genres interchangeably. Bonini (2009) mentioned the theory proposed by Lage (1979) which stated that a fascinating fact first of all generates news and, as a sequence, a variety of reportages transpire in order to deliver this fact. As time passed, the interest in this matter decreased. News reportage presents a significant event in a manner which makes use of the characteristics of the two genres. It initially delivers the factual data about an interesting event and progresses to the further investigation of the possible causes and other pertinent data that would conclude the event (Dijk 2000). The presentation should be done in a way that will catch the attention of the audience and, at the same time, should be easily understood. A fundamental instrument for the science of information dissemination whereby a well informed and noteworthy public discussion may be stimulated and continually sustained is news reporting. An ideal news report should be a factual domain that should be value-free, unbiased, objective and un-arbitrated representation of reality. In an attempt to transcend its own boundaries, it has to deliver a story in a depiction that the audience fails to experience personally. The author has to be able to arouse the imagination consequently inducing a comprehensive, multifaceted and animated image of the subject. Furthermore, it should serve as an advocate of truth and supporter of the rights of the people against the overindulgence of government authorities and formidable vested interests of influential people. Within this context, the news item, as text type, is itself the subject of significant disagreement (P.R.R. White 2005; Goldsmith and O’Regan 2003). These reports are communicated with an exceptionally high level of credibility and integrity. News Reportage on Modern Technology Traditionally, newspaper journalism is but a written report which functions as an avenue for conveying a mystery or unidentified events that occurred in a distance or faraway place. These written reports were later on invaded by photography for the purpose of presenting written journalism in a more realistic manner. As time went by, photography was bestowed with a journalistic value apart from newspaper journalism. Such accreditation ranges from serious photo-reportage to the more sensational approach of photojournalism. Eventually, the progressive developments in information and communication technologies have allowed the elements of television and film production to be perhaps distributed to a great extent than at any given time in the track record of the media (Goldsmith and O’Regan 2003; Lettre International 2007). Craig (2003) expressed that journalistic reporting has been experiencing contemporary developments in connection with the continuous innovations in technology which have inevitably drawn the attention of mass media. From the traditional methods these unrelenting modernisations led to the discovery of digital technology which further developed to the convergence of media technology into multi-media formats. The latest interest now lies on the ubiquity of the electronic communication highway called the Internet which recently became the focal point for deliberations about contemporary transformation in journalism and its potential directions in the future. News Reportage on Contemporary Journalism Contemporary news reportage is set apart from its own journalistic predecessors as the events in the storyline are not chronologically arranged. This type of event-based stories ended in the 19th century. The modern news item presented diachronically, thus it had undergone a drastic transformation in the textual organisational conventions. Moreover, traditional news items consist mainly of announcement, letters, speeches and transcripts of debates leaving the reporter with only the utmost nominal introduction or framing which is, every so often, just a very few words (P.R.R. White 2005). On the other hand, mass media is branded by its standardised patterns, aggressive nature, perpetual pursuit for the up-to-the-minute sensation, and its perception of information as a product or commodity. These characteristics impose stringent restrictions on journalism requiring the latter to isolate facts and events, embellishing it and inducing thrill on it through personification. On a similar note, contemporary journalism reduces the complexity of situations in addition to its backgrounds which often results to a marginal and fractional comprehension of an event. Moreover, it is a strict necessity to use simpler language that is deemed appropriate for the already preoccupied and undiscerning audience. This oftentimes leads to a stereotyped perception of reality (Lettre International 2007). Effects of Contemporary News Reportage Photojournalism was brought to a new level of journalistic evaluation and criticism due to the contributions of John Taylor in his book entitled, “Body Horror”, wherein his photojournalistic depiction of civil wars, natural disasters and human accidents seemed to follow a uniform patterns. Although the significance of the images used in photojournalism, still strongly relies on the accompanying texts, critics began to re-evaluate the nature of photojournalism in relevance to its practice and interpretation. Critics also started to ask whether photojournalism allows the audience to make a distinction between facts from fiction in the context of the photographs. Lastly, there have been reservations about the relation of the words and images (Woodstock, 2000). Aside from the use of photographs in journalism, mass media utilises the television in communicating news reportages among other purposes. Everyday people are bombarded by a tremendous influx of images through the utilisation of the television which activate very powerful human senses as well as consciousness. According to Lester and Cottle (2009), television images have the ability to impart powerful symbols of news events such as a smoking remains may signify obliterated forests, a solo protestor may embody pervasive social anxiety or a chimney billowing with dark smoke may indicate industrial pollution. Unfortunately, this act weakens the human capacity for concentration as manifested in the manifested short attention spans of television audience (Lettre International 2007). Above all, these technological innovations in the news media production refocus critical interest on the creation of the news author or reporter in the realm of these contemporary journalistic contexts as well as the human nature of the reporter considering the impact of advanced media technologies. It should be that, during all these sort of evolutional experience, reporters or authors should withstand the pressures laid upon them and not allow the escalating corporatisation and mechanisation of journalism to have a de-humanising effect their personality. The key to the news media reporting framework and the impacts of modern media technologies whether positive or negative relies on the human reporter. Contemporary news reportage remains to be the creation of contexts or fields of proof as a result of the combination of the professional skills and human integrity of the reporters with the aid of modern technology (Craig 2003). Conclusion As mentioned, contemporary news reportage is considered one of the most powerful channels of information in at present as it seen in its countless influences on the mode of cultural, economic and political debates. Thus, the integrity and credibility of the textual context of the news reportage has triggered further analyses among political assemblages, ideological positions, media theorists and media audiences as well as text linguistic examinations. The news genre is defined as a report of pure factual information, current events and interest that is of great importance to the community; however, it has to be easily understood by the audience while reportage deals with the realities based on the cultural and social aspects, historical developments as well as current affairs and depicts events through the context of its causality by means of presenting the materials in a more informative interpretation. Combining these two genres, news reportage presents a significant event in a manner which makes use of the characteristics of the two genres. It initially delivers the factual data about an interesting event and progresses to the further investigation of the possible causes and other pertinent data that would conclude the event. Although news reportage had undergone tremendous technological innovations and encountered rather drastic evolutions due to the demands of mass media production, the should human aspect of delivering the news items in terms of its accuracy, completeness, credibility and integrity should surface even with the escalating corporatisation and mechanisation of journalism. Hence, as said, the key to the news media reporting framework and the impacts of modern media technologies whether positive or negative relies on the human reporter. References Bonini. A. 2009. The distinction between news and reportage in the Brazilian Journalistic context: a matter of degree (Chap. 10), Genre in a changing world. Borge, T. 2001. Profession: Reporter. The University of Iowa. Craig, G. 2003. New Media technologies and the making of the new global reporter. Transformation Journal, Issue No. 7, September 2003. Dijk, T.A. 2000. New(s) racism: a discourse analytical approach. Ethnic minorities and the media. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Eggins, S. and Martin, J.R. 1997. Genres and registers of discourse. Discourse as Structure and Process. London: Sage. Fairclough, N. 1995. Media Discourse. London. Goldsmith, B. and O’Regan, T. 2003. Cinema Cities, Media Cities: The Contemporary International Studio Complex. Australian Film Commission: Southwood Press. Iedema, R. Feez, S. and White, P.R. 1994. Media Literacy. Disadvantaged Schools Program. Department of School Education: Sydney. Lage, N. 1979. Ideologia e técnica da notícia (3rd ed.). Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil: Insular. Lester, L. and Cottle, S. 2009. Visualising climate change: television news and ecological citizenship. International Journal of Communication, 3. Lettre International 2007. Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage. Berlin. White, P 2005. Telling Media Tales: the news story as rhetoric. Chapter 1 (draft only). University of Birmingham. Woodstock, L. 2000. Body horror: photojournalism, catastrophe and war by John Taylor. Reviewed in Journalism, 1:2, August. Read More