MediaMedia DiscourseDiscourse::thethe newspapernewspaper (3)(3)

The visualThe visual

ThereThere areare threethree signifyingsignifying systemssystems at workat workin the layout of ain the layout of a newspapernewspaper page: thepage: theheadlineheadline, the body copy and the visual, the body copy and the visual.. AllAllthreethree elementselements workwork togethertogether toto create acreate ameaningmeaning thatthat isis a concrete,a concrete, cohesivecohesive andandcoherentcoherent wholewhole

AllAll textstexts areare multimodalmultimodal

““LanguageLanguage alwaysalways…… comescomes in the companyin the companyofof otherother semioticsemiotic modesmodes.. …… WhenWhen wewe writewrite,,ourour messagemessage isis expressedexpressed notnot onlyonlylinguisticallylinguistically,, butbut alsoalso through a visualthrough a visualarrangementarrangement ofof marksmarks on the page.on the page. AnyAnyformform ofof texttext analysisanalysis whichwhich ignoresignores thisthis willwillnotnot bebe ableable toto accountaccount forfor allall thethe meaningsmeaningsexpressedexpressed inin textstexts..””

((KressKress andand vanvan LeewenLeewen, 1998: 186), 1998: 186)

TheThe rolerole of the visualof the visualimageimage

PhotosPhotos,, cartoonscartoons,, graphsgraphs,, tablestables,,chartscharts, are, are strategicallystrategically distributeddistributed ononthe page.the page.

The visualThe visual hashas aa lotlot toto saysay howeverhoweverdominantdominant thethe rolerole of theof the writtenwrittencounterpartcounterpart in the news story.in the news story.

InteractiveInteractive techniquestechniquesbetweenbetween thethe twotwo modesmodes TheThe writtenwritten and theand the visualvisual messagemessage maymay

eithereither complement each othercomplement each other

ororhave the opposite meaninghave the opposite meaning

Some readers may find written texts moreSome readers may find written texts moresignificant,significant, othersothers willwill favourfavour the visual.the visual.

The visual in theThe visual in the popularpopularpress andpress and qualityquality paperspapers

PopularPopular presspress: a: a largelarge visualvisual toto thethe leftleft,,center orcenter or rightright of the front pageof the front page

Quality papersQuality papers: (unless the news it anchors: (unless the news it anchorsis of such importanceis of such importance asas toto meritmerit aa greatergreaterproportionproportion on the page) the ratioon the page) the ratio betweenbetweenthe visual and thethe visual and the writtenwritten texttext willwill favourfavourthethe latterlatter..

SalienceSalience

SalienceSalience cancan bebe judgedjudged on theon the basisbasis ofofvisualvisual cuescues suchsuch asas::

The visualThe visual isis placedplaced in thein the foregroundforegroundor backgroundor background

ItsIts sizesize TheThe useuse ofof colourscolours

FramingFraming

FramelinesFramelines oror spacingspacing betweenbetween visual andvisual andtexttext in the layoutin the layout maymay indicateindicate thatthat eacheachelementelement isis toto bebe readread separatelyseparately

ThereThere isis aa readingreading pathpath impliedimplied onon eacheachpage, apage, a ““trajectorytrajectory”” ((KressKress andand vanvanLeeuwenLeeuwen) the) the readerreader isis encouragedencouraged totofollowfollow..

HeadlineHeadline plus visualplus visual

ItIt sendssends thethe readerreader toto anotheranother pagepageforfor thethe articlearticle itselfitself..

WhenWhen thethe headlineheadline and visual areand visual areprintedprinted immediatelyimmediately belowbelow thethemastheadmasthead and inand in colourcolour,, theythey arearegivengiven saliencesalience..

ConclusionsConclusions

WhateverWhatever thethe positioningpositioning of theof the variousvariouskindskinds ofof writtenwritten texttext and visual,and visual, therethere isis aareasoningreasoning behindbehind itit forfor thethe communicativecommunicativepurposespurposes of theof the newspapernewspaper ((ideologicalideological,,informationalinformational,, semiologicalsemiological, or, orcomplementingcomplementing eacheach otherother).).

RelatedRelated andand UnrelatedUnrelatedTextsTexts AA newspapernewspaper isis mademade of aof a numbernumber ofof

differentdifferent texttext typestypes.. TheseThese textstexts areareclassifiedclassified accordingaccording toto whetherwhether theythey arearehard or soft news, specialhard or soft news, special topictopic newsnews((sportssports,, artsarts) or) or headlinesheadlines,, subheadingssubheadings,,captionscaptions toto the visualthe visual..

YetYet therethere areare otherother textstexts:: advertsadverts,TV,TVguidesguides,, horoscopeshoroscopes, Job and, Job and PropertyPropertyadvertisementsadvertisements,, traveltravel offersoffers andand othersothers..

RelatedRelated textstexts

RelatedRelated textstexts areare editorialeditorial commentscomments,, lettersletters toto thetheeditor, opinioneditor, opinion columnscolumns.. TheyThey cancan bebe defineddefined asasargumentativeargumentative textstexts.. TheseThese articlesarticles maymay include ainclude avisual of thevisual of the journalistjournalist, or a, or a significantsignificant visualvisualrelatingrelating toto thethe texttext.. WhatWhat characterisescharacterises thesethesearticlesarticles,, whichwhich isis absentabsent elsewhereelsewhere,, isis thethe useuse ofofthethe firstfirst personperson pronounpronoun,, sincesince itit isis herehere thatthat thethenewspapernewspaper cancan moremore openlyopenly expressexpress itsits opinionsopinions..

EditorialsEditorials areare moremore anonymousanonymous,, neverthlessneverthless theytheyare full ofare full of statementsstatements reflectingreflecting thethe opinionsopinions of theof theauthorauthor..

UnrelatedUnrelated textstexts

UnrelatedUnrelated textstexts areare thosethose whichwhich inviteinvite aa reactionreactionfromfrom thethe readerreader suchsuch asas::

SoulmatesSoulmates,, classifiedclassified adsads, job, job advertisementsadvertisements.. TheyTheyareare intentedintented forfor thosethose whowho areare lookinglooking forforsomethingsomething: a partner,: a partner, anan objectobject, a job., a job.

ThereThere areare alsoalso otherother informinginforming kindskinds ofof adsads suchsuchasas:: birth,birth, marriagemarriage announcementsannouncements,, obituariesobituaries,,whichwhich maymay take the format of a news story,take the format of a news story, withwith ororwithoutwithout aa photographphotograph of theof the deceaseddeceased..

CrosswordsCrosswords,, puzzlespuzzles, word, word gamesgames.. WeatherWeather forecastforecast Radio and TVRadio and TV guidesguides

TheThe readerreader and theand theretrievalretrieval ofof informationinformation

TheThe readerreader willwill adoptadopt hishis readingreadingstrategystrategy in the searchin the search forfor informationinformationthatthat appealsappeals forfor itsits newsworthinessnewsworthiness totohimhim personallypersonally.. ItIt isis unlikelyunlikely thatthat twotwodifferentdifferent readersreaders willwill readread articlesarticles ininthethe samesame orderorder inin spitespite of the layoutof the layoutthatthat attractsattracts attentionattention..

TheThe impliedimplied readerreader ororrecipientrecipient TheThe impliedimplied readerreader oror recipientrecipient isis the onethe one referredreferred toto in the newsin the news texttext,, ratherrather

thanthan thethe actualactual one holding theone holding the newspapernewspaper.. ExamplesExamples:: a) NOT SO FAST MS BOND (a) NOT SO FAST MS BOND (impliedimplied readerreader, BBC, BBC royalroyal correspondentcorrespondent,, jennijenni

BondBond)) b) Ib) I’’LL KNOCK IT ALL ON THELL KNOCK IT ALL ON THE ‘‘ED, MAMA (EdwardED, MAMA (Edward’’s implied voice)s implied voice) c) CAN IT, EDWARD (implied voice of the Queen)c) CAN IT, EDWARD (implied voice of the Queen)

d) YOU F***ING IDIOT (Prince Charlesd) YOU F***ING IDIOT (Prince Charles’’s supposed imprecation to his brothers supposed imprecation to his brotherEdward)Edward)

The above headlines regard a news story about the Royal Family.The above headlines regard a news story about the Royal Family. PrincePrinceEdwardEdward hadhad apparentlyapparently abusedabused hishis prerogativeprerogative byby filmingfilming hishis nephewnephew PrincePrinceWilliamWilliam forfor hi private film company,hi private film company, whenwhen thethe RoyalRoyal OrderOrder hadhad specificallyspecificallybeenbeen givengiven forfor the pressthe press toto back offback off

Implied voices and readers are a useful technique toImplied voices and readers are a useful technique to ““personalisepersonalise”” the newsthe newsstory and make comment by giving its perspective of the story.story and make comment by giving its perspective of the story.

The actual reader is witnessing a kind ofThe actual reader is witnessing a kind of royalroyal soap operasoap opera

The newspaper asinteractant The newspaper is not only the recipient of the

information, but it can also become the activeparticipant in a news event in which theyparticularly wish to show their ideological stanceand place themselves in a favourable light. (See ex.The Cross is Saved / Victory for the Daily Expressin cruisade to stop crucifixes and Bibles beingbanned )

The technique of indicating personal intervention inthe story and consequent reliability is a commonfeature in broadsheets.

Media Discourse

The Internet

The bottomless hole ofinformation The Internet is a new medium of

journalism. Print media adapted to coexistwith their on-line counterpart, whichrepresents an evolving rather than arevolutionarised form of news reporting

Newspapers have not only developed an on-line version of their daily editions, but also adigital one.

Difference between theprinted, on-line and digitalversion of a newspaper

The digital version is a perfect replica of theoriginal printed one.

The on-line edition is not. It is not necessarilylimited to the same news that appears in thenewspaper, rather it offers accessibility, throughlinks, to a number of other external sources ofinformation, even though the news stories are thesame. In conclusion, the content is deeper andwider than in the newspaper or on television. It canbe defined a user-friendly version of news.

The hypertext

Information on the computer screen isprovided by what is commonly known ashypertext.

Its basic characteristics are: It is an electronic document that contains

links to other documents, offering additionalinformation about a topic.

The links are controlled by the reader who,therefore, has a more active role, retreivingthe desired information regarding aparticular news story.

Information retrieval:newspaper vs Internet In newspapers the journalist is in an

authoritative position to impose a fixedorder of events and a story line

On the Internet the information isretrieved from different sources.Hypertexts incorporate multipleperspectives to tell the same story.

Reading is non-linear.

Structure in hypertext

In conventional printed text structure ismaintained by the use of pages,paragraphs, and various other forms oflayout. Our reading is sequential: the readerhas a more passive role

In hypertext, while the structure may becreated by the author with navigational aidsand hyperlinks, it will often conflict with thenavigational path the reader chooses tofollow. The reader’s role is moreparticipatory

The centrelessness ofhypertext

Is there a starting and finishing point to the readingprocess?

Is there a central text around which the hypertextlinks revolve?

How do we define the text on the front page fromwhich the reader starts?

Mc Gann (1995:11) claims there is no central text. The on-line reader is left to create his/her own text

from the multiple texts available.

The characteristicfeatures of on-line news

The fixed written object becomes afluid and dynamic object, blurring thedistinction between reader and writer,whose roles merge into one.

Restrictions of time and space nolonger apply; more data can beincluded.

Differences between newson-line and in thenewspaper A more constant refreshing of stories throughout

the day Modifications in the headlines for space reasons or

because they were not informative enough. Lesser use of photos to complement the story.

Photographs are also modified to fit the computerscreen format

The Internet has the potential of providing past andpresent at the click of a mouse

The distinction between writer and reader isblurred: the roles of reader and writer merge intoone.

On-line news can be updated in real time

The hypermedia story andits links An important feature of the hypermedia

story is that the same links may reappear indifferent hypertexts. The result is“serendipity”, defined by the dictionary as “an apparent aptitude for making fortunatediscoveries accidentally”. That aptitude,however, is real rather than apparent, andinvolves curiosity, which leads to discovery.

A centerless mass ofinformation

The reader is given a wide variety of choiceas to where he may wish to start accordingto his reading interest or purpose.

All information is packed in the form ofheadline links (particularly in the form ofnoun groups and non-finite clauses).

The reader may move from a sequential andlinear reading down a page or node of anews story, to a non-sequential one, as hisattention is easily distracted by the numberof links available.

Deconstructionist theory

The theory argues that “ the boundaries oftexts are vague because meanings of textsare bound up in references to other texts.Texts can also be combined and recombinedendlessly, which always creates newcontexts. … In hypertexts the boundariesare vague and emergent links andstructures… capitalize on this property. Inhypertexts, files can be composed by manyauthors including readers and sources.”(Fredin 1997:36)

The language and structureof Internet news

The information is given in “bite-sized pieces”(Lewis 2003), which makes reading much easier.

The stories are well spaced out, but flanked byinteractive links to hypertext.

The original headlines in the newspaper (see slide25) may be rewritten because they do not fit intothe assigned web space or format, or because theyare not informative enough. They carry several ofthe features examined in the traditional newspaperversion: use of the present tense, omission of thearticle, noun grouping, nominalization….

Forms of interaction (1)

“On-line journalism today is notsimply transplanting text fromtraditional newspaper to the web.On-line journalism involvescondensed stories, hypertext andinteractivity.” (Tanjaukio 2002: 1)

Forms of interaction (2)

“Since meanings are now seen tobe more a product of negotiationbetween readers and texts , texttakes on more the interactivequalities of discourse” (Garret andBell 1998: 2)

Forms of interaction (3)

When texts are transferred ontothe web or modified for suchpurposes, they lose theirboundary markers and become acomponent part of an infinitewhole.

Forms of interaction: (4)Intertextuality

Another form of interaction is the onebetween various texts and text types.Hypertexts turn the potentialconnections among texts into actualones, allowing readers immediateaccess to associated texts. Documentsare no longer linear and fixed butmultidimensional and dynamic.(Goodman and Graddol 1996:121,122)

From reader to writer

The reader becomes an activeproducer of stories. He takes the roleof author. The hypertext reader will goon reading, creating his/her personalfinal text, until he/she is satisfied.Each user will create a unique storythrough his sequence of choices

Conclusions

The Internet has shown itself immune tocensorship.

Knowledge is power. No surprise some 45 nations,including China, are trying to restrict Internetaccess. (Boyd 2001 : 406)

The article on-line usually is identical to the originalone in print, only the form is altered from a unified,linear story to a non-sequential narrative withreader controlled links. The on-line newspaperappears to be more reader than contentcontrolled. The reader can compile his news storythanks to the bottomless hole of information athis disposal.