Why Text?

So, seeing as my blog has sat empty and barren for a while now, well more like a couple of days, but going by internet time it’s basically been fossilized, dug up and placed on display at the museum of natural history, so I thought it was high time to actually write something and what better topic to start with than the importance of text. To be more specific, I’m referring to the importance of text in Journalism. Now I’m not necessarily an expert on the topic of text in Journalism, however I do have my own personal bias towards the realm of text, that being I absolutely adore it and was the inspiration for my coming to journalism, so I will have a strong opinion on the topic.

Speaking for myself and possibly regurgitating some of what Skye Doherty (Guest speaker at the most recent lecture) said, text is one of the most wonderful aspects of journalism. It provides the author with near unparalleled creative control of their work, can be worked on literally at any time, from any location (within reason) and most of all it is fun. That may come as a shock to some of our less than savvy writers out there, but I defy you to find a person who hasn’t enjoyed writing at some point in the life, just look at all the Fan Fiction writers.

Text in journalism is one of those amazing things that are more of a hybrid field, rather than something completely unique, combining elements of creative writing and informative writing. While some may say informative writing and journalism are one in the same, I will point out that while studying psychology, little expositions and spurts of flamboyant language were frowned upon and standard simple writing was the norm. To say though, that journalistic text actually has a standard form would be a lie, as the various new fields (and to an extent the old ones) have begun to develop a style that is endemic.

Take hypertext for a moment, the standard writing style for internet based news and a portion of which was talked about during the lecture. As Skye put it during the lecture, hypertext does not follow the standard set up presented by traditional news (tabloids, broadsheets etc.), but rather something unique to the internet. Where a broadsheet would have the most important news starting from the top left, hypertext can begin and appear based on what the site is partial to. 

For example, in a story on the Brisbane Times website, the main story will usually contain not only information on the topic, but links to other related news and other significant stories adorning the sides, steadily becoming less important as you scroll down the screen. Other websites, such as the BBC, will not only occupy their paragraphs with some other suggested media, but have archives of nearly every other piece of news based on that topic that can be found and in many cases, create individual timelines to provide the reader with a clear and linear path to obtaining that information, less they want to be the man who jumped in the deep before he learnt how to swim.

As noted by Skye though, hypertext or at least the headlines, have to be slightly closer to the letter, to make it easier on the overburdened search engines. This does remove the possibility for such enlightening titles as “Pants down Mr. Brown, Gordon Browns secret shame,” but it does not hamper the stories creativity, though in my opinion a mysterious title has always drawn me in more than say “Gordon Brown caught naked and drunk outside 10 Downing Street,” I don’t know, that might just be me. 

For me that part that stood out was that the various ways in which text is delivered, require different tactics and different means of presentation as opposed to the just one. For example, when writing for a broadsheet, one must apply the standard method that journalists have honed for years, catchy headline, overt picture, tantalising intro and a strong story that elaborates on the already enticing intellectual feast. When the same story is then transferred across to an online version though, everything has to change. A new straight mans headline must be contrived, new body of text that gets to the point, then elaborates on the final details and in general a smaller more concise piece literature. The same intro can be used but that really will be all that remains of the carcass that was once the headline story. 

As it stands though, text is one of the most integral parts of journalism and its significance cannot be understated. Skye did a wonderful job of explaining what it means to work in text Journalism and based on other lectures, this was one of the most enjoyable.