Annexed Text

Our third lecture was conducted by Skye Doherty, an experienced journalist who casually explained her past in Fleet Street, much to our amazement.

Text was the topic of lecture 3 in JOUR1111, and what a multifaceted media platform it is. To think, 26 letters, plus a few other symbols, constitutes the complete basis of all media today. Aside from the basic necessity of text for communication and expression, text entwines the cyber world linking it together. We search, copy, create, edit, mould, move and control text. It is the blood and bones of media’s existence; in fact, I am finding it difficult to express in plain text, just how important this medium is.

Along with text, we learned about the writing technique called the inverted pyramid, which is actually an upside down triangle. The most important part of the story comes first, which must include who, what, when, where, why and how. Then come the extra details, followed by the most irrelevant facts. As we were shown, the purpose of this is not only to catch reader’s attention and hold it as long as possible, but to allow the text to physically fit a variety of media platforms. For example, a newspaper can support a long, detailed story and there is room for lots of text. However websites need to show the story in a much smaller space. Thus, rather than rewriting the whole story, the desired amount of sentences can be cut off the end until it fits the required area. In this way, a single story written according to the inverted pyramid structure is suitable for a whole range of mediums. Headlines, on the other hand must be changed according to the media type they are presented in. A newspaper headline, can be sarcastic, satirical, pun-ridden and ­metaphorical, whereas a website headline must be literal and to the point, usually only a few words. Yet again, a tweet is limited to approximately three, yet expected to be equally as effective. I now realise the depth of word mastery and manipulation required of journalists in this age of new media.

Online hypertexts are another example of online articles, however these are made almost entirely of links to other information. The story may consist of a headline, by line and visual, then a list of links to other sources, news reports and matters of interest surrounding the one story. We were shown an interesting example of this, a story following the banks in the US during the global financial crisis, entitled Bank Street. It is simply an animation of a person walking down a city street, while bank logos are on each building. Each logo acts as a hyperlink to a more detailed explanation of the bank’s journey through the crisis.

At the end of the lecture, we came to discussing new means of journalism outside the boundaries of plain reporting. Skye introduced us to the idea of news games, which report events, simultaneously allowing user interaction with the story line. The example she showed us was Cutthroat Capitalism, a game based on the economic tactics of pirates off the coast of Somalia. The game is played from the point of view of a pirate, with the overall aim being to negotiate as high a ransom as possible by attacking ships. I found it fascinating that a game such as this can help instil understanding of a realistic concept.

After learning that all may not be lost in the future of journalism, my mind has been opened to the many possibilities that exist for new journalistic mediums. With the arrival of web 3.0, and the shifting focus from old to new media, I am now aware that journalism of the future of journalism does not have to be defined by current mediums. Despite a changing future, text remains the basis of all journalism and the ability to utilise it effectively is vital.