Message rules

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News rules are the principles by which journalists formulate their news . The term comes from journalism and communication studies and belongs to the field of news research .

Principles

One of the organizational strengths of news journalism is that it can produce news simply and consistently with the help of rules and routines . News rules are not only listed in specialist books and reference works, they are also recorded in internal news papers and primers of newsrooms . Regardless of these published and editorial-internal books and primers, news rules are predominantly imparted orally in practical journalist training (“learning on the job”).

In this way, news journalists learn numerous general and special rules, which, however, can differ from one another in the respective editorial offices. Nevertheless (at least in western, capitalist, democratic news journalism) there are clear similarities. For example, the American sociologist Gaye Tuchman distinguishes five overarching principles with which the individual message rules can be summarized:

  • Comparison of contradicting viewpoints,
  • Support of statements by facts,
  • Differentiation of own and third-party statements,
  • Outline information in a specific arrangement as well
  • Separation of messages and comments.

Comparison of contradicting viewpoints

When comparing contradicting viewpoints, journalists give not just one, but several statements on the same topic. On the one hand, they avoid one-sided reporting, especially since they are often unable to judge the correctness of the statements (for example in expert disputes about technical risks or war reports on military successes). On the other hand, statements that contain certain news factors (such as the clarity of the formulation or prominence of the speaker) have an advantage (regardless of the content ). In addition, the contradictory nature of the statements makes evaluating a topic difficult, if not impossible.

Supporting statements with facts

When supporting statements with facts, an attempt is made to test these statements. Most statements can also be supported by the fact that they come from as many credible sources as possible. Another option is to have them verified by independent professionals. However, this in turn can lead to multiple professionals making contradicting statements on the same topic. The selection and weighting of the supporting facts must ultimately be made by the journalists.

In addition, the restriction to allegedly “pure” facts (such as figures or quotations) can lead to simplistic reporting. Examples of this are mere lists of war victims (“body count”) or media-directed statements by politicians (“speech bubbles”). Here, the "factual dimensioning" necessary to understand events is neglected - that is, the classification of the facts into their backgrounds, causes, effects and contexts.

Differentiation of one's own and third-party statements

When differentiating between one's own and third-party statements, certain journalistic stylistic devices are used to identify other people's statements in direct or indirect speech. Statements in direct speech are marked in the press with quotation marks and on the radio with certain expressions such as " ... said literally ... ". In addition, original recordings (so-called "original sounds") with corresponding statements can be used on the radio. Statements in indirect speech are expressed through the use of the subjunctive in both the press and on the radio .

However, these procedures only formally separate the statements of the reporter and other persons. Here, too, the selection and weighting of third-party statements are ultimately made by the journalists so that they can assign their own views to other people. Regardless of this, statements that meet certain news factors (such as the clarity of the formulation or prominence of the speaker) have an advantage (regardless of the content ).

Organization of information in a specific order

When structuring information in a certain arrangement, the so-called “inverted pyramid” principle is generally used. This pyramid principle implies that messages begin with the most important information and then follow more and more insignificant information.

In relation to individual news reports, this means that at the beginning there is a concise introduction ("lead sentence") with the key information about the respective event. These core information such as an answer belong to so-called "W-questions" ( W he w as w ann w o w ie and w done arum?). Usually, the exact source of the news and other important information follow in the second sentence, as well as more details in later sentences. (See also: lead style ). The background, causes, effects and relationships of the respective event (factual dimensioning) are at the end of the report.

In relation to entire news pages or programs, the pyramid principle means that the main reports ("lead stories") appear on the front page or at the beginning of the program, and then increasingly insignificant ones follow - up to "human interest" reports, sports and weather. Backgrounds, causes, effects and connections can mostly only be presented on the back pages or in subsequent programs. Using this pyramid principle, individual messages or entire pages and programs can be structured in such a way that they can be shortened from the back as required, depending on the printed pages or broadcast minutes, without the core information or main messages being lost. However, this also means that information about the background, causes, effects and connections of events is first truncated. In addition, it is of course also true here that the journalists decide what the “most important” information is.

Separation of messages and comments

When separating messages and comments , the procedure is usually to ensure that articles expressing opinion (such as comments, criticisms or glosses ) are expressly identified as such. However, here too, facts and expressions of opinion are basically only separated formally. In this way, the news is partially aligned with the comments (synchronization) so that the overall picture of the reporting appears more uniform. Even when journalists formally adhere to the separation of news and comments, they still have the opportunity to manipulate. Apart from that, the boundaries between message and comment are fluid, because many so-called “comments” offer little more than a comparison of the respective points of view. Such a “neutral” commentary, which wants to please all sides, shows journalistic balance even where this is not necessary at all.

Message routines

Journalists also formulate their news with news routines. For example, the Dutch literary and communication scholar Teun van Dijk distinguishes five main routines that news journalists work with:

  • Selection,
  • Reproduction,
  • Summary,
  • Conversion and
  • Reformulation of texts.

These texts are, for example, agency reports, correspondent reports, press releases or your own recordings - they are to a certain extent the raw material for the later news reports.

When selecting news , journalists try to gauge the importance of events in order to decide whether and how to report them. In this assessment, news factors play a role, such as the proximity of the event or the prominence of those involved. In addition, it is also of great importance how the journalists assess the credibility of the news sources and the expectations of the media users (recipients). As with the news factors, however, no objective yardstick is possible here either, because the assessment of news sources and media users depends on the professional and personal experience of the respective news journalist.

When reproducing ready-made sections of text, agency reports , correspondent reports or press releases are mostly copied verbatim. This simple routine makes news work a lot easier. Journalists adopt other texts in particular when they are pressed for time, when the texts come from a credible source or when no additional information is available. The adoption of ready-made texts is particularly common for international news.

When summarizing extensive texts, the most important information is condensed into a brief message. It does this by leaving out complicated or insignificant details, by generalizing similar or related information, and by bundling a sequence of events into an overarching topic. At the same time, individual information is brought into a clear overall context, the core information about an event is determined and the message header ("lead phrase") formulated.

When converting individual parts of the text, messages are primarily arranged according to the "inverted pyramid" principle. This means that messages start with the most important information and then follow more and more insignificant information. Simultaneously with moving parts of the text, complicated or insignificant details are left out. In addition, additional information is added from other texts, such as new details or information about the background and causes of an event. In addition, individual parts of the text are often replaced by texts with similar content, provided that they offer a different focus or linguistic variety.

In the stylistic and rhetorical reformulation of texts, journalists often use metaphors , comparisons and under- or exaggeration. By choosing certain key terms (such as "insurgents" or "freedom fighters", "demonstrators" or "rioters") they can secretly add a personal or editorial evaluation to the message.

Message style

Across these five principles, the most objective language possible is sought when formulating messages . According to common rules of intelligibility, this message style is characterized by:

  • simple choice of words,
  • concise sentence structure,
  • clear sentence sequence and
  • linguistic stereotypes .

The aim is not only to achieve journalistic objectivity , but also to make the news understandable for less attentive or educated media users .

A simple choice of words includes, for example, avoiding avoidable foreign words and compound nouns. In addition, one should not use empty phrases (such as “express”, “notice” or “explain” for saying). The same applies to metaphors (such as “give the green light” or “get on the way” for commission, decide or adopt) and synonyms (such as “die Hardthöhe” or “the Pentagon” for the German or US Department of Defense). Also, obscuring terms ( euphemisms ) from the bureaucratic language or propaganda (such as “release” for dismissal, “price correction” for price increases or “ethnic cleansing” for mass displacement) should be avoided. This also applies to the use of military words (such as “Etappensieg”, “Kreuzfeuer” or “Schützenhilfe”) in unrelated contexts.

A short sentence structure includes, for example, avoiding judgmental adjectives, double negations or superfluous formulations (such as filler words, pleonasms or tautologies ). Message sentences should also be grammatically active, be written in verbal instead of nominal style and follow natural speech (subject, predicate, object).

For example, it is part of a clear sequence of sentences not to compress too much information (such as names or numbers) and not to form nesting sentences (main information in main clauses, additional information in subordinate clauses). In general, short and long sentences should be separated from each other (neither “hacking” nor “bloating”) and the content of the message should be structured by paragraphs.

To linguistic stereotypes include, for example, fixed terms, word additions or phrases. Fixed terms in messages are, for example, placemarks at the beginning of messages or collective terms such as "Head of State" and "Parliament". Fixed word additions are, for example, expressions such as " ... the western defense alliance ... " or " ... the radical Islamic underground organization ... ". And established idioms are, for example, formulations such as " ... expressed concern / satisfied about ... " or " ... reported from unspecified diplomatic / government circles ... ".

Final remark

The messaging rules described here are neither complete nor widely recognized or even followed. They apply above all to our western, market-based, democratic understanding of news journalism. In countries with a lack of freedom of the press and / or fundamentally different worldviews , different news rules often apply in journalism. Journalists in the eastern, planned economy, socialist social systems of the former Eastern Bloc had to observe the rules of socialist journalism when formulating news. In many authoritarian states, different messaging rules still apply today.

See also

literature

  • Mark Fishman: Manufacturing the news. Austin (Tex.) 1980.
  • Teun van Dijk : Text studies. An interdisciplinary introduction. Tübingen 1980.
  • Teun van Dijk: News as discourse. Hillsdale (NJ) 1988
  • Gabriele Hooffacker , Klaus Meier : La Roche's introduction to practical journalism . 20th edition. Wiesbaden 2017 ( Praktischer-journalismus.de ). Website for the book with additional information on journalism, ISBN 978-3-658-16657-1 .
  • Dietz Schwiesau, Josef Ohler: The news in the press, radio, television, news agency and internet. Munich 2003.
  • Dietz Schwiesau, Josef Ohler: News - classic and multimedia. A Manual for Education and Practice. Springer VS. Wiesbaden 2016
  • Gaye Tuchman: Making news. A study in the construction of reality. New York (NY) 1978.
  • Gaye Tuchman: Professionalism as an agent of legitimation. in: Journal of Communication, Vol. 28, Issue 2/1978, Philadelphia (Pa.) 1978, pp. 106 ff.
  • Siegfried Weischenberg : Message writing . Journalistic practice for study and self-study. various editions, Wiesbaden.
  • Siegfried Weischenberg: Journalism. Theory and practice of current media communication. two volumes, volume 2: media technology, media functions, media actors, Wiesbaden 2004.

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