Interpretative journalism
As interpretive journalism is defined as a form of journalism that gives the possibility of interpretation of current events and news, as well as by expanding with background information to the reader to form an opinion. Interpretative journalism is also known as explanatory or enlightening journalism.
In contrast to opinion journalism, which takes a stand on the issues themselves, interpretative journalism tries to report objectively and therefore to cite several points of view. The journalist can, however, express a certain opinion by selecting and organizing these points of view.
history
The term interpretative journalism is not common in German-speaking countries. Walther von La Roche clearly assigns journalistic forms of presentation such as reports or features to informative forms of presentation.
At the beginning of the 1980s, Eckart Klaus Roloff introduced the term “interpretive forms of representation” into journalism teaching through his book “Journalistische Textgattungen”. This includes z. B. Reports, features, portraits , essays , interviews and captions.
Interpretative journalism is a relatively new form of journalism. It began in the United States shortly after World War I , when the first magazines appeared to provide in-depth coverage of certain events. These magazines became particularly popular after the Great Depression in 1929 , when many people wanted to be informed about the background to this crisis. In the 1950s and 1960s it finally established itself in newspapers, and later also on radio and television. Today it is the dominant and most respected form of journalism.
From the 1990s onwards, interpretative journalism in the context of citizen journalism on the World Wide Web mixed with opinion journalism , a trend that is slowly taking hold of traditional media as well.
features
The basis for interpretive journalism is the message . Adding expanded information from various sources results in the journalist's interpretation which is as objective as possible and gives the reader the background of the event.
The selection of sources is particularly important in interpretive journalism . A high quality interpretive article contains sources of various kinds and above all from various points of view. The opinions of protagonists involved in the message, but also of experts who are familiar with the respective topic, play an important role here.
Genres
The prime example of interpretive journalism in print media - newspapers and especially magazines - is the background report . It gives an overview of the development towards a current event and gives different viewpoints, among them those of the protagonists of the event - e.g. B. politicians - as well as from experts and sometimes from other journalists. The report is rounded off by data and statistics and, since the 1980s , often also by graphics or diagrams that show the events in a simplified manner.
The report incorporates the journalist's personal experiences and observations. This means that there are intersections with opinion journalism . It usually describes a situation rather than a single event.
The interview is an important source for background reports and reports. In an indirect or mixed style, it also includes background information and personal impressions of the journalist. The difference between the two forms is that the interview in the indirect style allows the respondent to have their say mainly in indirect speech, while in the mixed style the journalist only partially supplements the question-answer scheme typical for interviews with further information.