The Construction of News Essay Example for Free

The Construction of News Essay What makes the use of visual and verbal strategies in news construction so important? The answer has to do with the fact that what makes any good news item attractive is its ability to capture and retain the attention of the audience. There are many ways you can use to get your audiences attention, but visual and verbal strategies have been tested and proven to be the most effective. Any news item in the print media, radio or television, however news worthy it might be, will not be taken with the seriousness it deserves if visual and verbal cues are not used. The human mind reacts to more readily to statements which are accompanied by powerful verbal and visual connotations than it does blank, or what Simmons calls ‘imageless’ statements. News papers utilise pictures as a means of capturing attention. Televisions on the other hand make use of moving images, or what is commonly known as video. Pictures speak a thousand words, moving images speak millions. Images, whether still or moving, are indispensable in the media industry. These are not only appealing to the eye and/or ears, but they also help the reader, viewer and listener to grasp the message better. Television journalists usually use videos taken from the source area of the news material. It would be very monotonous and even tiring if TV news lacked live shots of their news. These videos serve the same purpose as picture serve in newspapers. They are a powerful means of capturing and retaining the audience’s attention. War scenes have always had more impact on the viewer because of the images used. The coverage of the war in Iraq managed to elicit a lot of strong, albeit differing views and emotions. This can be attributed to the effectiveness of the kind of images that were used by news channels in broadcasting this news. According to Pfau and Haigh, the use of images in television war stories is very influential. They say that television news provides viewers with a â€Å"front row seat to view combat†. In other words, it gives the audience a feeling of presence, like they are a part of the combat out there in the battle field. Abrahams argues that television news communicates more emotion than other news venues. This tendency is even more pronounced with graphic images of war which he says are â€Å"among the most powerful visuals known to humankind Not all images taken from a scene are used in the final news item. The images are usually edited to suit the needs of the audience. Dramatic images often make interesting news material and video journalists will always strive to the best part of a video clip to show to the audience. This kind of news presentation has been criticised in the past for being partial. Brown, in his Video Aid techniques book, says that news makers usually look out for the most bizarre, which also happens to be the most negative part of a video shootage to use in their news. This has a way of making people misunderstand a situation. For example, many news channels, while covering the Iraq war, usually depicted the brutality of the terrorist insurgents over civilians, yet they failed to report the brutality of some of the American soldiers to the same civilians. Many people thought that the Iraqis actually liked all the American soldiers and yet the situation on the ground was far much different. Film and television have also had a big role to play in how images are used in the other news media. The pictures used in newspapers and magazines reflect what the reader had already watched in a film or on television news. The pictures that journalists use are put in such a way that the message they contain will be reinforced in the readers’ mind. News broadcasters also use creative language to hold their audience’s interest in a particular news story. They do not use the normal street language, nor do they confine themselves to the formal language. Rather, they construct their news in such a way that the words they use are appealing to the listener. The verbal strategies have to be used hand in hand with appropriate non-verbal cues in order to achieve to the maximum, the desired effect. Radio journalists only have their voices to rely on when presenting news to their audience. They usually use sophisticated, yet understandable languages. They have to use high levels of creativity since their presentation is only verbal. In most cases, journalists are able to present a news item to the listener in such a way that the listener feels like he/she is part of the events happening in the news. Images in the news media are also important in the presentation of societal norms and expectations. The media, most often than not, depicts what is happening in the society. Therefore, many news editors prefer to use images that people can relate to or are used to. Conclusion Journalists have had a major role to play in writing and reproducing major occurrences in the history of human kind. Today, it is possible to get a video clip from the Second World War due to a journalist’s efforts. It is also possible to access newspaper articles from long as the 1800s. There are many images depicting past events that should never be forgotten. These are preserved in various museums and media houses for posterity. Therefore, it can be said that journalist have over the years utilised the development of images to preserve the history of humankind. Journalists have also used visual and verbal strategies to showcase the social injustices that are plaguing much of the world today. It is through the images presented in our media that we are able to appreciate and grasp what is happening around us. The media showed the world what was happening in Darfur, and the world was able to act fast to avoid another Rwanda episode. The famous photographer, Mohammed Ali, received worldwide acclaim for highlighting the Ethiopian famine which was killing hundreds of people in Ethiopia. Though journalists have used images for the good of people who are viewing them, there needs to be some regulation on how they present these images. For instance, they should use images that show both sides of the story in order to avoid misplaced understanding among the audience.