Views in the news PDF

Preview

Summary

Introduzione Freedom of the press Is the guarantee that organization will not be or coerced the state interference in their publication of the stories, editorials, photos (ecc) that they see fit. It is difficult to be truly free (especially for companies). If the same conglomerate has business inter...

Description

Introduzione Freedom of the press Is the guarantee that news-gathering organization will not be hindered*, or coerced by the state interference in their publication of the stories, editorials, photos (ecc) that they see fit. It is difficult to be truly free (especially for privately-owned companies). If the same conglomerate has business interests in the other areas it would be very difficult for the paper to report on those areas objectively. hindered* - ostacolato Media management In Britain the mirror group newspaper & news corp (Murdoch) own large numbers of paper and magazines; in Italy too the major paper are all part of consortiums; because today it is almost impossible for a newspaper to survive independently. The paper will not take a stand against its own interest and stories may avoid certain issues and promote other. Making a profit is the principal aim of any business.        

columnist: someone who writes regular articles that appear on the same page usually expressing opinion. copy editor: the person who corrects or edits a reporter’s copy and writes headlines. correspondent: a reported based in a different location. editor: the person who decides what news will be included and excluded, and decide the layout of the paper. editor in chief: the person responsible for the content, publication standards and ethical conduct in the process of news gathering and presentation. newsmaker: a person directly involved in the news story as a protagonist. source: a person who supplies information (may also be a survey, a report…). newsworker: one of the people involved in overseeing, writing or editing news.

Advertising Almost the 20-40% of total page is advertising, and tabloids had more than broadsheets. News reporting occupies only the first pages, so is more space is devoted to advertising that to news reporting. Full pages advertising is usually on the left hand page, half page ads are usually at the bottom of the right hand page, and column-wide ads are found on the outer edges of the paper. Quality and popular press British and Aussie newspaper are divided into the quality and popular press, based on their content. Quality press in Britain had a larger format (although this is now changing). These papers are called broadsheets and usually include more home and overseas news, political and economic news. (Ex Telegraph, times, Independent, Guardian). Popular press are known as tabloid (gutter press, redtops) as they are smaller in size. They tend to concentrate on local news and personal perspectives, stories with “juicy” events involving celebrities. The political influence should not be underestimated. The language is much more colloquial and the readership is generally working class. (Ex Sun, daily mirror, star).

Unit 1 – what is news? What is in the paper A newspaper is a paper full of news. Every banal event occurring anywhere in the world can be considered news since it is an account of a recent event. The events reported reveal a complex and artificial set of criteria. These processes if selection are guided by ideas and beliefs. Newsworthiness Galtung, Ruge and Bell investigated the factors which make a story newsworthy or interesting. There are factors known as news values which are being used to predict the amount of interest of a story by the readership. So the editor makes a choice of content based on this. A high level of newsworthiness means being:           

Timely, the story must ideally happen over the past 24h (recent). Negative, negative implications (wars, disasters, crime) are more newsworthy than positive. Novel , an event unexpected, unusual is more newsworthy than a predictable one. Celebrated, celebrities and VIPs make better news than unknown people. Geographically close, events taking place nearby are more newsworthy than a similar in a distant place. Culturally close, people sharing the same values and habits of the reader make the events more meaningful even if at geographic distant place. Attributable, news that can be attributed to respect and authoritative sources Factual, stories with facticity and include supporting evidence are more newsworthy than conjecture. Numerical, bigger numbers make bigger news. Personal, events presented in more familiar and personal terms become more newsworthy. News are often focused on the experiences of individuals involved. Relevant, tells of the implications and effects on the readership’s own lives.

Gatekeeping Selecting which stories to include and which to exclude is what we call gatekeeping. The gatekeeper is who has to decide which event is newsworthy and how it has to be presented or constructed. A single incident can be blown out* of proportion. Many readers do not question the press, nor are they aware of the implications of news selection. Blown out* - Banalizzato Types of news Bell identified 4 categories of written news text:    

Hard news, recent stories about events, conflicts or problems just occurred (crime, disasters, protests). Is usually an account of what happened, why, attempts to resolve the situation and how the reader will be affected; Soft news, stories aimed ( che puntano a ) more at informing or satisfying curiosity. It is focused on people, places and issues (questione, tema, problema) that affect the readers’ lives. A soft news story is usually timeless; Special interest news (travel, sports, art); Headlines, subheadings, captions ecc..

Stabilizing and destabilizing events

Events which have high newsworthiness are those which tend to have a positive or negative impact on the aspects of the readers’ lives (emphasizing the negative effects on the physical, socioeconomic or political order). Most news stories are about individuals while issues and problems tended to be backgrounded.

Unit 2 – The structure of newspaper stories Background In the 19th century stories were chronological, recounting events from beginning to the end. The story started with the crisis event, moved through the consequences and concluded with reference to how the situation was resolved. This temporal organization has changed as news reporting methods has been being modified. The style of writing is now based very much on the headline and lead. In fact news stories do not finish with a conclusion, as events rarely seen to be concluded, indeed the advent of online has also meant that stories can be updated constantly. The audience and the angle Newspaper construct an implied readership (numero di lettori implicito). This is an homogenous group which has an important role. Defined its readership, the newspaper can orient itself in relation to the news in a way which is coherent and appeals to the beliefs of that group. The news story can be written, keeping in mind the presumed beliefs and interests of a group. Defining their ideal readers allows newspapers to identify and develop a particular angle on the event. The angle is the emphasis or approach to an event which helps make the purpose of the resulting story clear. This angle becomes the basis for the nucleus of the story structure. The nuclear structure The structure of news stories which evolved from the chronological structure, is based on a nucleus and radiating satellites. The satellites (single paragraphs) are not usually linked to each other but are self contained; each is linked instead (invece) to the nucleus. News stories appear to constantly shift (per spostare) focus which follows an angle. The nuclear structure makes it possible to cut paragraphs/satellites or change their order. This has obvious practical implications for editing procedures. 



The nucleus, the headline and lead which make up the nucleus are the basis for how the story will develop (si svilupperà). Similar information may be found in the body of the story; the repetition is common. The nucleus and the body of the story have very different roles. The event does not begin at the beginning, but at the point considered to be of the greatest impact of intensity. Often the lead give also the consequences before it reveals the events which led to them. It should also give some or all the 5w’s. the wrap up stems directly from the nucleus, it is not a conclusion in the narrative sense but it serves to give a sense of resolution by putting the events into a wider context, listing similar events or quoting experts. (not all the stories may have a wrap-up) The satellites, generated by the nucleus, they appear to be randomly organized. They may: - reformulate the information given in the nucleus (elaboration); -add information to it (extension); - give causes and conditions enhancement).

The satellites of hard news stories are based on the 5w’s (who?, did what?, when?, where?, and why?) which are essential to a new story. A well-written story answers also to the question so what?, which refers to the significance of the story for the implied readership (what impact does it

have on their lives?). A new story may contain a wealth of information, it usually has a main idea which can be identified in the lead. The nuclear structure of news stories allows the important or more interesting factors of the event to be foregrounded. These factors are underlined in the angle and echoed in the wrap-up.

Parts of the paper              

Body copy, the main part (la parte principale) of an article; Banner, a headline in large print which runs across the entire with of the first page; Byline, the name of the writer printed at the top of a story; Caption, a title accompanying a picture; Credit line, a line giving the source of a picture; Dateline, the line at the beginning of a story giving the place and the date; Ear, either top corner of the front page; Filler, short news items used to fill spaces in the news columns; Flag, the newspaper’s name and logo at the top of the first page; Gutter, the margin and fold in the middle of the paper, between facing pages (pagine affiancate); Jumpline, the line which indicates the page number where a story continues; Kicker, a short headline under the main headline; Layout, the organization of all elements of a news paper page; Masthead, information giving the title, ownership, management, subscription, price and other non-news feature.

Unit 3 – What the headline say Headlines The large font size of the headline attract the attention and underline the urgency or the importance of a story. At least one of the W’s is mentioned to entice (per invogliare) the reader to go on to read. It is also the newspaper’s opportunity to establish its angle and stance. It summaries the most salient aspects in terms of newsworthiness, which are then developed in the lead, and in the story satellites. They are written by the editor or the subeditor, not the reporter. The lead The opening sentence, or lead, of a story overlaps the headline to some extent (misura). It’s usually bolder (più audace) and larger than the rest of the story and it elaborates further (maggiori) the W’s mentioned in the headline, adding in particular when? And where? The lead may be preceded by a by-line (names the reporter of the source of the story and sometimes a location). The distinctive language of headlines Lead very often presume a high level of cultural or background knowledge. The specialized vocabulary of headlines tends to be unusual, sensational and brief with extensive use of rhetorical devices such as metaphor, metonymy, and alliteration. Attention-seeking strategies Bell, Morley ad Mardh analyzed the distinctive characteristics of newspaper headlines, have identified the typical linguistic features as:

   

The omission of words; The use of short, loaded words; Nominalization (frequent use of complex noun phrases in the subject position); The use of gimmicks puns.

Omission Headlines abbreviate by omitting certain words, is the source of one of the greatest difficulties in understanding headlines. The words omitted are usually function words which do not carry intrinsic meaning:     

Articles (the, an, a); Relative pronouns (who, which); Determiners (some, this); Verbs and auxiliaries (is, are, were, have); Titles (mrs, lord, sir).

Content words which are necessary to express meaning are not eliminated. Loaded words Many words used headlines are not found elsewhere in the language. They have evolved because of their brevity and colour (ex. Crocodile as croc; disease as killer bug). They are also more economical because they occupy less space. Words like as are preferred to the longer at the same time as, when, while... Headlines use sensational and emotionally charged lexis, with connotations that go beyond the literal meaning. Noun phrases Where modifiers add further information to the noun, including descriptive detail. The noun (headword) is the last word in the chain (ex. Russia backs Kyoto pact, PM defeats Iraq troops pull out call). Nominalization is another technique of headlines; it permits a noun to be used instead if the verb. In this way the verb can become the headword and be described further by adding an adjective (ex passenger panic, Jailed Iraqi abused soldier). The flexibility of English makes this possible, it can be accompanied by modifiers describing the noun. Gimmicks The resulting plays on words, or puns, have a double sense, as the writer implies a second meaning, which is linked to the context of the article. They include:       Verbs

Homophones: spoken forms have the same pronunciation but the written forms are different; Homonyms: words with more than one meaning; Intertextuality: familiar phrases which are already known to the reader, coming from movies, books and songs. Metaphor: a comparison established between 2 apparently unrelated subjects; Alliteration: repetition of sounds; Rhyme: words which rhyme.

The headlines tend not to use finite verbs auxiliary verbs or adverbs, and they do not usually say when an event happened; it is the lead which will anchor the story in time with a generic reference. The verbs in headlines normally appear in one of the following forms.     

Present simple: timeless tense, the most often found, is used where a past tense might be expected. Past participle: is used to signal the passive form. The auxiliary verb is usually in the present tense. It may be also a device for foregrounding the effects of an event, or what happened. The infinitive: is used to refer to the future and its preferred to the predictive will because it occupies less space. The future can also be referred to by means of mitigating tenses (modal verbs and the conditional). These are less commons and used to disguised conjecture and to moderate commitment to the truth of the statement. Other tenses which appear are normally in the form of quotes, reflecting spoken language.

Unit 4 – Evaluation Different ways of saying the same thing The reporter build his/her point of view into the text. Every utterance* is the result of a series of more or less conscious choices. There is no single way of speaking or writing. Utterance* - Espressione Evaluative language Can be found in the words which lead (per guidare, condurre) to positive and negative views of people, seek to align (cerca di allineare) the readership with the newspaper’s stance (la presa di posizione del giornale). It express the writer’s point of view and can be defined as the indication that something is good or bad. Any utterance which conveys a negative or positive assessment is evaluative.   

Explicit evaluation, Its most linear way to invoke evaluation is by using words which clearly indicate the writer’s position. Implicit evaluation, it may be less direct by lexical choices which may reveal a particular stance on the part of the newspaper. Tokens of evaluation, it lies not in single words but in entire stretches of language which at first appear to be factual and impartial. This depends much on the readership being primed to be able to pick up this opinion (Ex. The crowd smashed several windows and chanted “death to Britain”).

The power of language does not lie in explicit charges but in implicit evaluation. It is much easier for the reader to resist the reporter’s point of view if it is clear. It is more difficult when the opinion or ideology is concealed.

Denotative and connotative meaning Perlocutionary force is that effect that the word choice has on the reader; it is how language can persuade the reader by dint of word choice.

It could be said that every word has 2 meanings. The literal, neutral meaning of a world is known as the denotative meaning. The associations or emotional loadings linked to a word which colour the literal meaning in various ways are known as connotative meanings. A group of words can share a denotative meaning, yet have different connotative meanings (Ex. The word kill can’t be considered favourable and it shares a denotative meaning with murder, assassinate, slay, snuff… reflecting the degree of negativity). Loaded language It has the same basic strategy of the figures of speech, they are evaluative devices where the language can assume a particular meaning without saying it. This form evaluative language includes euphemism, dysphemism and doublespeak and is closely connected to connotative meaning. 

 



Euphemism and dysphemism A reporter whishing to dilute unpleasant ideas may resort to this; making something sound better than it really is with euphemism; or making something sound worse than it really is, by using harsh words with dysphemism. Euphemism may become corrupted as the negative connotation start to overtake the neutral ones and they lose their euphemistic value, with the aim of being politically correct, avoiding offensive terminology. Doublespeak The deliberate use of euphemism is also know like this; the message is softened by confusing and concealing the truth. Hyperbole It refers to exaggeration which distorts the facts by making ideas and events appear much bigger or important than they are if considered objectively. It can be used when a story is made to appear more interesting than it really is. Presupposition An assumption is embedded* within a statement with the result that the truth of the assumption is taken for granted. The presuppositions must be assumed by both the reporter and reader for them to work. They can be triggered by a lexical device or grammatical Embedded* - Incorporati feature.

Figures of speech The report may use them to present what may be assumed to be shared values. Metonymy, metaphor and simile are effective in the construction of opinion and as indicators of reporter stance. 

 

Metonymy When a single characteristic or attribute is used to identify a more complex entity, or when something is referred to in terms of its parts, one word or term is substitutes for another which is associated with it. Locations are very often used to refer to political power. Metaphor Is a figure of speech where a quality, recognized as belonging to a particular area of the lexis, is used to apply to another more unusual area. Simile Are a comparison between 2 different entities (metaphors treat the 2 entities as identical)?

Unit 5 – Who does what to whom: participants and processes. Participants and processes Sentences and clauses can be broken down into the participants in the action, and state or action itself. The examination of how participants, processes and circumstances interact, in other words “who does what to whom” is known as the study of transitivity. A clause consist of:

  

Processes, actions, states, events (normally recognized as verbs); Participants, the people and things involved in processes. The clause may also have: Circumstances, words answering the questions where?, When?, how far?...

Participants They are the people or entities which are involved in the story. The experiencer of a state or feeling, or the sayer of something. How a person is presented as a partic...