Semiotic Laboratory - News
"Only the person who understands what the text is supposed to
be answering can understand it correctly."
(Manfred Muckenhaupt)
When writing a report, journalists are guided by the four
"W's" and the "H": Who?
Where? Why? When? How?
Our dialogue with the news text could begin with these five
questions in order to examine how news reports are put together.
The questions that we can ask depend on the kind of event.
In this module we are concerned with monologue texts as
presented by news readers, with the sequencing of the pictures
and the news trailer.
Are there differences in and with
news presentation?
- News Trailers in Comparison:
Broadband Video (Real Media)
Videos with the friendly permission of the broadcasting companies
Questions:
| 1. | How is the image window constructed? |
| 2. | Which colour is dominant? |
| 3. | Are the scale of the scene different? |
| 4. | How different are the clothes, make-up and studio design? |
| 5. | What expectations are awakened? |
| 6. | Is the theme formulated as a headline? |
| 7. | Which of the headlines are formulated factually and which in tabloid press style? |
| 8. | Is the location geographically apparent? |
| 9. | What information about the subject can be gleaned from the images? Is the information helpful? |
| 10. | How is the news presented? |
| 11. | What is the content? |
| 12. | Who is addressed by the news? Target groups? |
| 13. | How helpful is this information? |
| 14. | What feeling do the pictures give? |
| 15. | What impression is intended to be transmitted? |
| 16. | What effect does the music have? |
| 17. | How is the text spoken? Are their recognisable differences? |
| 18. | Which programmes show more film material? |
| 19. | Which programme has the shorter reports? |
| 20. | Which news subjects are to be found in both programmes, which in only one? Why? |
| 21. | How long are the reports? |
| 22. | How many reports do the individual stations send? |
Television as contemporary history:
The ARD News Bulletin (OnlineArchiv)
Preparing information over the years. ARD
annual review 1952 - 2001 - "Fifty years of moving
images. Every epoch has its own language, it's own view
of things, it’s own way of writing history. The film
and texts are contemporary documents…they speak for
their times."