1、News Language and the Study of International ReportingJACK Li iJiThe 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 Iraqs invasion of Kuwait, the

2、 reunification of Germany, and the surrender of Panamas 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

3、 Communist press model was discarded in several Eastern European nations, including the SovietUnion, 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

4、 as the U.S. military.Death and danger have also marked the years. Reporters were assaulted anddetained 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

5、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

6、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 o

7、f 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 ver

8、y few global events areselected and crafted into the symbolic form of the news report.The goal was increased understanding of international news. News languagewas defined as journalistic conventions and canontraditional practices and policies that structure and shape news reports for both print and

9、broadcast media.Jack Lude is assistant professor of journalism at Lehigh University.Journalism EDUCATOR 66These 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 politica

10、l 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 wit

11、h deepened insights into the promise and problems of international reporting.Course objectivesDespite their importance, international communication or reporting classes have received little attention in previous research. Several scholars, however, have attempted to incorporate international dimensi

12、ons into the journalism curriculum. Along similar lines, interesting researchapplies 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 journal

13、ism. 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

14、often conceived as a survey of global media systems and an analysis of issues facing the field.For example, John Merrills Global Journalism: Survey of International Communication begins with four chapters that provide background and analysis of media philosophy, news fiow, the media systems approach

15、, and current controversies in global communication. The books secondpart 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 me

16、dia systems. They then discussed essential issues, such as the nature of news, the use of media as vehicles for educationand 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 sur

17、vey 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

18、a studyof 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 r

19、eported and in a particular way.From the outset, students applied the thoughts of James Garey to critical study of international reporting: Press criticism, Garey wrote, is essentially the criticism of language, it is a vital response on the part of the public to the language the press uses to descr

20、ibe events and to theevents that accepted standards of journalistic language allow to be described.*Study of news languageThe 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 semest

21、er. 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 questio

22、ns 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. Boorstins The Image: A Guide to Pseudo Events in America and Murray Edelmans Constructing the Political Spectacle.Almost 30 years ago, in The Image, Boorsti

23、n provided insights into news conventions that still ring true today. His analyses of pseudo-events, the manufacture and meaning of celebrity, and theprocess of image making add greatly to understanding reporting, particularly international reporting.In his first chapter, for example, Boorstin discu

24、sses 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 eras extravagant expe

25、ctations about what happens in the world, how much of it is new, and surprising, and important, Boorstin says.Another of Boorstins important insights is the creation of celebrity. A celebrity, Boorstin says, is a human pseudoevent, a person who is known for his wellknownness. Celebrities have replac

26、edheroes, Boorstin argues, and the molding and marketing of celebrity has become an essential part of the political process.For four weeks, students updated Boorstins analysis and applied his insights to international reporting. For example, examples of broadcast and prestige press coverage of modem

27、 international news fixtures, such as summits, conferences, treaty signings, and arms talks were broken downand analyzed from Boorstins perspective on pseudo-events. His discussion of how news conferences produce news was supported by televised reports on the Gulf War press briefings.Boorstins insig

28、hts 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 variedcelebrity from media-slick ideologue to

29、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 Edelmans little book that adds to Boorstins insig

30、hts with a sophisticated analysis of political language and the reporting process. Edelmans chapter on the construction and uses of political leaders, for example, was a perfect complement toBoorstins discussion on the creation of celebrity. Everyday reporting of the political spectacle systematical

31、ly reinforces the assumption that leaders are critical to the course of governmental action, Edelman notes. The media, he says, thrive upon heroes, villains, contests for votes,legislative and judicial victories and defeats, and especially upon the evocation of leaders with whom people can identify

32、or whom they can blame for their discontents. Edelman also probes a dark side of international reporting. He provides insights into the process by which global enemies can unify political consensusa process in which reporting is essential.Citing and extending Boorstins work, Edelman affirms the inte

33、gral role of news language in constructing such political spectacles. He writes: It is language about political events, not the events in any other sense, that people experience; even developments that are close by take their meaning from the language that depicts them. So political language is poli

34、tical reality.*The class compared Edelmans and Boorstins views on political leaders and again reviewed the newsmagazine coverage of Mikhail Gorbachev. The class applied Edelmans thoughts on political enemies to international news by studying news clippings and television stories offigures such as Kh

35、omeini, Noriega, Hussein and others.To finish this section, students pondered the words of George Orwell: Political language and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appe

36、arance of solidity to pure wind. Students considered the role of news in maintaining and shaping such language.Global journalismIn the second part of the semester, the students then considered the global survey perspective, focusing on international reporting in other countries. Using Merrills or Ma

37、rtin and Ghaudharys book, the class devoted four weeks to surveying and comparing media systems, with emphasis on the reporting process and news language. The raw materials from which the news is fashioned are events that may or may not be readily accessible to all, Martin and Ghaudhary note. The ac

38、ts in themselves are not news. They become news when they have been processed by a reporter and editor, much as air and water are not commodities that can be traded commercially until they have been bottled and marketed.Much time was devoted to current problems in international journalism discussed

39、by the texts. For example, Merrill offers a chapter that traces the continuing struggle over news flow. Students extended the discussion to the emerging role of GNN as a conduit for telediplomacy and examined updated information on the new world information order and U.S. relations with UNESGO. Like

40、wise, the Martin and Ghaudhary text provides three excellent chapters on the conception and practice of international press freedom. Students updated these chapters with discussionsof the current status of glasnost and continuing threats to press freedom in Ghina, Latin America, and other regions.Se

41、eking to counter the vertigo that can result from a somewhat breathless survey of world media systems, the class also spent four weeks focussing on media in one particular countrythe Soviet Union. Using Ellen Mickiewiczs Split Signals: Television and Politics in the Soviet Union,the class confronted

42、 news canon and convention in a very different press system.Mickiewicz analyzes international news on Soviet television, Moscow reporters in Washington, the image of Americans on Soviet television, sources for Soviet newspeople in America and other topics. Using Mickiewiczs analysis and insights fro

43、m area scholars, the class contrasted U.S. and Soviet news values.Beyond the booksEvery attempt was made to make the subject of international reporting come alive. Throughout the course, readings and discussions were supplemented by outside material. Videotapes that described U.S. network news produ

44、ction were valuable. Students were introduced to beisictechnical conventions, such as stand-ups, camera angles, lighting, and the like, which help structure local, national and international news broadcasts.Movies and television programs that dealt with international reporting were alsohelpful. For

45、example, clips from Warren Beattys Reds, which chronicled the lives of correspondents Jack Reed and Louise Bryant as they covered the Russian Revolution, gave the class some fun and flavor. News programs on Mideast hostages led to discussion of the story of Terry Anderson, the Associated Press chief

46、 Middle East correspondent, who had been held captive since being kidnapped at gunpoint on March 16,1985, and recently released.Guest speakers were essential to personalize material. Area scholars familiar with particular international media systems were encouraged to bring and analyze specific exam

47、ples of news reporting. Important insights were provided by former foreign correspondents. Fortunately, thecourse has been taught near metropolitan papers whose staffs contain a number of reporters with international experience. Their visits were planned for late in the semester so students ask more

48、 sophisticated questions. Most reporters have been intrigued by the discussions because international news conventions and canon were topics they had not often confronted. Glasses without access to correspondents might find that video profiles of prominent journalists can personalize reporting for s

49、tudents.Reporting researchProjects, papers and exams were designed to have students apply their insights to cases of international reporting. The first analysis was based upon Boorstins work; students were required to find and submit a U.S. newspaper article filed from outside U.S. borders that met

50、Boorstins criteria for a pseudo event. Students showed how features of the reports language confirmed Boorstins discussion.Other analyses were based upon Edelmans ideas on the construction of political enemies. Students found and submitted newspaper articles that degraded and demeaned U.S. enemies,

51、such asNoriega and Hussein; they isolated conventions by which enemies were constructed in the news.To dramatize the impact of conglomeration and consolidation on international news, another assignment was a two-person presentation on media barons who dominate the ever-shrinking world of internation

52、al journalism. Individuals and organizations profiled have includedRupert Murdoch, Robert Maxwell, Katharine Graham, Jean-Luc Lagardere, Hachette SA, Reinhard Mohn, Bertelsmann AG, Al Neuharth, Time-Warner, Gapital Gities, and Ted Rimer.The final project was a research paper that introduced the clas

53、s to international news research. Each student was to carry out a preliminary quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the work of a U.S. Moscow correspondent. Using a brief coding scheme, developed by students themselves, each student researched for a three-week period: story subject, place

54、ment, length, location in the Soviet Union, Soviet and American sources, and other topics. Each student was encouraged to probe stories using insights from Boorstin and Edelman. That is, were stories basedupon pseudo events, as Boorstin suggests? Did U.S. news use the Soviet Union as a political ene

55、my, as Edelman suggests? In final classes, students compared results of their papers, attempting to bring together the analyses and insights of the semester.EvaluationThe major weakness of the course discussed here: too much ground to cover. Entire seminars are taught on critical analysis of news language and conventions - and entire seminars are devoted to surveys of media systems. The combination of the two areas, although producing rich insightsinto international reporting, definitely strained the limited time and