Ambush journalism
As ambush journalism refers to a method of reporting, public passenger unexpectedly confronted with questions and these moments of surprise takes advantage. The aim is to obtain information and statements that a well-prepared interview partner would otherwise not reveal.
Definition and characteristics
When defining the term, the linguist Guntram Platter refers to the French word “embûcher”, which means “to lie in a bush”. According to this, ambush journalism can be described as “journalism in ambush and ambush”. According to Platter, the following "nasty rhetoric tricks" are often used in ambush journalism:
- to play the naive layman,
- covertly insult
- to doubt
- directly disparage
- question the interviewee's integrity,
- Inflate trivialities,
- moralize,
- Manipulation through hypotheses - the trick with the subjunctive.
distribution
The method of ambush journalism is particularly widely used in tabloid journalism . In television journalism, the program 60 Minutes on the US broadcaster CBS , in which tough, surprising questions are asked of interviewees in front of the camera, is a prime example of ambush journalism. German TV political magazines such as Monitor or Report follow a similar approach.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Guntram Platter: Ambush Journalism (ambush journalism). In: German Association of Trade Journalists (ed.): Journalistic Genres. UVK-Verlag, Konstanz 2016, pp. 117–126.
- ↑ Gunnar Schultz-Burkel: Ambush as Art, Ambush Journalism as Art in the program “60 Minutes” deutschlandfunk.de, February 13, 2010, accessed on May 29, 2016.