缓解-爵士乐队
News Language and the Study of
International Reporting
JACK Li iJi
The years 1990 and 1991 again confirmed
the importance of studies in international
reporting. The
annual wire service
rankings of the top 10 stories of 1990 contained
seven international subjects,
including
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the reunification of
Germany, and the surrender of Panama's
Manuel Noriega.' And with war in the
Persian Gulf and revolution in Eastern Europe,
1991 has
seen international reporting
continue to dominate the news.
Recent
years
have
also
seen
great
changes
in
the
practice
of
journalism
around
the
globe.
The
Communist press model was discarded in
several Eastern European nations, including the
Soviet
Union, yet governments proved
unwilling to relinquish state control.^ U.S.
international reporting,
especially
from
the
Middle
East,
has
been
subjected
to
increasing
censorship
from
other
governments as well as the U.S.
military.
Death and danger
have also marked the years. Reporters were
assaulted and
detained in tlae Middle
East. In many nations, especially in Latin
America, reporters have been
kidnapped
and slain by those who sought to silence their
investigations.-
As
international
events
continue
to
shape
the
world
and
journalism,
study
of
international
reporting should assume great
importance in the journalism curriculum.
Students who will never set foot off
U.S. soil will need to know key international
events, how and
why those events are
reported, and the implications of those events for
the practice of journalism
around the
world.
The
purpose
of
this
essay
is
to
present
a
model
outline
for
the
international
reporting
class.
Attempting to
incorporate aspects of instruction in comparative
media systems as well as analyses
of
media, it explores the structure of the course and
the outcome of its instruction. Specifically,
the
approach
was
an
analysis
of
international
reporting,
rather
than
a
skills
course
in
foreign
correspondence. It
applied concepts from philosophy, political
science, and rhetoric to focus on
the
language of international news and the reporting
process by which a very few global events are
selected and crafted into the symbolic
form of the news report.
The goal was increased understanding of
international news. News language
was
defined
as
journalistic
conventions
and
canon
—
traditional
practices
and
policies
—
that
structure and shape
news reports for both print and broadcast media.
Jack Lude is assistant
professor of journalism at Lehigh University.
Journalism
EDUCATOR 66
These conventions include the focus and
reliance upon events, summary leads, inverted
pyramid
construction,
broadcast
stand-ups,
use
of
interviews
and
official
sources,
the
dominance
of
political leaders as sources, and the
very conception of the news report. Often taken
for granted,
these
conventions,
and
the
ways
they
are
used
in
global
settings,
are
integral
to
understanding
international
reporting.^
This
approach
—
although
a
difficult
philosophical
leap
for
many
students
—
was
rewarded with deepened insights into the promise
and problems of international
reporting.
Course objectives
Despite
their
importance,
international
communication
or
reporting
classes
have
received
little
attention
in
previous
research.
Several
scholars,
however,
have
attempted
to
incorporate
international
dimensions into the journalism curriculum.' Along
similar lines, interesting research
applies insights from anthropology to
develop intercultural dimensions in the
curriculum.
Of course, the
global component of a program can be given most
depth and attention in a course
solely
devoted to international journalism. One means of
bringing this component to programs is
through coursework devoted to foreign
correspondence. As the literature suggests,
however,
not many programs have the
resources for such a specific course. Rather, as
reflected in important
texts,
the
global
component
of
journalism
programs
is
often
conceived
as
a
survey
of
global
media systems and an analysis of issues
facing the field.
For
example,
John
Merrill's
Global
Journalism:
Survey
of
International
Communication
begins
with
four
chapters
that
provide
background
and
analysis
of
media
philosophy,
news
fiow,
the
media systems approach, and current
controversies in global communication. The book's
second
part offers a comprehensive
rundown of media systems in six world regions.'
Likewise,
L.
John
Martin
and
Anju
Grover
Chaudhary,
authors
of
Comparative
Mass
Media
Systems, first provide an overview
chapter on the goals and roles of media systems.
They then
discussed essential issues,
such as the nature of news, the use of media as
vehicles for education
and
entertainment,
press
freedom
and
media
economics
—
each
from
the
perspective
of
the
Western, Gommunist and
Third Worlds.
The
approach
applied
here
incorporated
aspects
of
the
survey
course
as
well
as
foreign
correspondence.
The
emphasis,
however,
was
on
analysis
and
understanding
of
the
practice
of
journalism
on
a
global
scale.
International
reporting
thus
was
approached
in
two
ways.
It
embraced
the practice of journalism in individual countries
around the world, including a study
of
comparative
media
systems.
But
it
also
allowed
analysis
of
the
conventions
underlying
U.S.
foreign correspondence.
Again,
this
approach
to
international
reporting
promoted
study
of
the
language
of
news
and
stressed
that the language of international news encourages
particular events to be reported and in
a particular way.
From
the
outset,
students
applied
the
thoughts
of
James
Garey
to
critical
study
of
international
reporting:
criticism,
Garey
wrote,
essentially
the
criticism
of
language,
it
is
a
vital
response
on the part of the public to the language the
press uses to describe events and to the
events that accepted standards of
journalistic language allow to be
described.
Study of news
language
The course was designed for 15
to 20 journalism and non-journalism
majors of junior standing
and above, meeting for the usual 50
minutes, three days a week, over a 15-week
semester. Because
of the large amount
of material, organization and pacing were
essential. The semester was divided
into two parts; each part had two
required texts.
To
study
the
language
of
international
reporting,
students
needed
to
gain
sensitivity
to
and
understanding of news
conventions. Basic questions were addressed: What
gets reported and why?
How is it
reported and how could it have been reported? Two
texts provided a framework: Daniel
J.
Boorstin's
The
Image:
A
Guide
to
Pseudo
Events
in
America
and
Murray
Edelman's
Constructing the Political
Spectacle.'
Almost 30
years
ago, in The Image,
Boorstin provided
insights into news
conventions that still
ring true today.
His analyses of pseudo-events, the manufacture and
meaning of celebrity, and the
process
of
image
making
add
greatly
to
understanding
reporting,
particularly
international
reporting.
In
his first chapter, for example, Boorstin discusses
pressures that transformed news gathering to
news making. He traces the rise of many
news conventions, including pseudo-events,
interviews,
presidential
press
conferences,
press
releases,
news
leaks,
and
other
staples
of
reporting.
Such
conventions seek to satisfy
the modem era's
the world, how much of it is
new, and surprising, and important,
Another of Boorstin's important
insights is the creation of celebrity. A
celebrity, Boorstin says, is a
human
pseudoevent,
heroes, Boorstin argues,
and the molding and marketing of celebrity has
become an essential part
of the
political process.
For
four
weeks,
students
updated
Boorstin's
analysis
and
applied
his
insights
to
international
reporting. For
example, examples of broadcast and prestige press
coverage of modem international
news
fixtures, such as summits, conferences, treaty
signings, and arms talks were broken down
and
analyzed
from
Boorstin's
perspective
on
pseudo-events.
His
discussion
of
how
news
conferences
Boorstin's
insights
into
how
political
celebrities
can
be
created
by
news
language
were
exemplified by U.S.
reporting of Mikhail Gorbachev. Clippings from
early U.S. press coverage of
Gorbachev
in newsmagazines were compared to later clippings
to reveal the path of his varied
celebrity
—
from
media-slick ideologue to far-sighted
diplomat to Nobel Peace Prize winner to
neo-Stalinist reactionary. Coverage of
other international political celebrities, such as
George Bush,
Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel
and others, was discussed.
In the three weeks following, students
read Edelman's little book that adds to Boorstin's
insights
with a sophisticated analysis
of political language and the reporting process.
Edelman's chapter on
the construction
and uses of political leaders, for example, was a
perfect complement to
Boorstin's
discussion
on
the
creation
of
celebrity.
reporting
of
the
political
spectacle
systematically
reinforces
the
assumption
that
leaders
are
critical
to
the
course
of
governmental